Spires, a white man, who is completely unaware of this phenomenon. He insists that sunshine and outdoor play would be good for his daughter Natalie, despite Mrs Spiers' objections. When Mrs. Spiers tells Natalie to "call [her] daughter Miss Olivia," as she "requires it of all inferiors," Mr. Spiers is not present (34). If he had been, perhaps he would not have been so concerned about Olivia tarnishing the image of his white femininity, and subsequently dissuaded Mrs. Spiers again. Later, Mr. Spiers' absence opens the door for Natalie to step in and save the day. When this ordeal is over, he allows Natalie to have an ongoing relationship with the Spiers for nearly a decade, referring to her as "the brave little girl who got [his] wife and daughter out of a death trap, by Jove! " (38). Mr. Spiers is not uncomfortable with Natalie in the same way that Mrs. Spiers is, most likely because he does not recognize her version of femininity, or her femininity in any form, as a threat to Olivia's white female heterosexuality. This fits into a historical pattern in which white men in the 18th and 19th centuries simply did not realize that their wives and daughters were having erotic relationships with other women or accepted these relationships as entirely harmless (Smith-Rosenberg). Even if Mrs. Spiers seems to believe it