will have to get along without ancestors. Think of the many people who would like to do that, and be comforted."
"Who?" She had never heard of such a thing.
"People, for instance, whose ancestors have perished on the gallows, or, in America, have practised trades."
She did not understand, as often she did not, and he went on:
"I shall have to serve in the capacity of ancestors,—let us say ancestors-at-large,—and the real ones will have to go—or rather not come."
Again he had the joke to himself; his wife had gone away to cry.
At first she decided to run away from him. But this, she reflected, would not probably please her relatives, since they had unanimously agreed upon the marriage for her. Besides, she preferred to remain. She had acquired a strange liking for Pinkerton and her new way of life. Finally she undertook a weak remonstrance—a very strong one, in fact, for a Japanese wife; but Pinkerton encouraged her pretty domestic autonomy. Her airs of authority were charming. And they grew more and more so.
