There was no one around. They walked through the great hall and out into the patio. Still they found no one except the servants.
“I never saw so much help in all my life,” Grace remarked. “Why, just millions of people work here. I haven’t seen the same person twice at all.”
“Didn’t you hear Walker Jamieson say that labor’s cheap in this country?” Nan explained. “Everyone has one or two or three servants. But I wonder where cousin Adair and everyone is now.”
She hadn’t long to wait, for just as she spoke they heard loud voices from the direction of the kitchen at the back, and shortly Adair, Alice and Walker appeared.
“There that’s done,” Adair slapped his hands together as though he had just disposed of a mighty problem. “Trouble, trouble all the while,” he looked at the girls as he spoke. “If it isn’t one thing, it’s another. One moment it’s a mule and the next it’s a woman.” He looked utterly worn out, and Nan felt sorry for him.
“Oh, daddy, don’t take Mrs. O’Malley too seriously,” Alice tried to ease his worry.
“Too seriously! Well, I like that,” Adair exclaimed. “When the best housekeeper in all Christendom threatens to walk out on you, tell me now, what are you supposed to do? Say, all right, go ahead? Just what would you do, now?” He looked at Alice.
She hesitated.
“There,” he didn’t give her a chance to answer, “she’d walk out on you before you did anything. You can’t hesitate in serious matters like this. You have to act. But never mind,” he turned to his guests, “you don’t need to worry. I have acted. Mrs. O’Malley has promised to stay. The Chinese cook has promised to stay. Everyone’s staying. There’ll be no deserting the ship on this trip.”
“That’s fine, daddy,” Alice complimented him. “And now when do we have dinner?”