He could talk to her as frankly as he could to a man, that she would not take offence at anything so long as it was in the form of explanation.
On the other hand, there was a subconscious impression that she would be able to read instantly anything unclean in a man's eye.
All her questions would have as a background the idea of future defence.
"The geisha and the sing-song girl are professional entertainers.
They are not bad girls, but the average tourist has that misconception of them.

If some of them are bad in the sense you mean, it is because there are bad folks in all walks of life.

They sell only their talents, not their bodies; they are not girls of the street." The phrase was new, but Ruth nodded understandingly.
"Still," went on the manager, "they are slaves in a sense; they are bought and sold until their original indebtedness is paid.

A father is in debt, we'll say.

He sells his daughter to a geisha or a sing-song master, and the girl is rented out until the debt is paid.
Then the work is optional; they go on their own.