“We’ll do the best we can for you, Miss,” came the not too comforting response. “But right now we have only one servant on hand—a colored woman.”
“Send her out this afternoon,” Nancy ordered in despair. “I must have someone immediately.”
Replacing the telephone on the stand, she went to the kitchen to take stock of affairs there. As she had feared, everything was in confusion. In her haste Hannah had not even ordered the groceries for the following day.
Nancy set about putting things in order. While she was making out the grocery list, she heard her father’s car on the drive.
“Well, did you get a maid?” he questioned a few minutes later when he entered the living room.
“Yes, the agency is sending out a colored woman this afternoon.”
Nancy, observing that her father looked tired, refrained from adding that she feared the worst.
“I’m mighty glad you found someone,” Carson Drew responded in relief. “You’re a wonderful little manager. By the way, I suppose you delivered those papers to Judge Howell all right.”
“Yes, I found him at the court house and had no trouble. On the way back I stopped at Lilac Inn for luncheon and ran into Emily Crandall. She’s celebrating her eighteenth birthday this week. According to her grandmother’s will, she’s to inherit the famous Crandall diamonds.”
Carson Drew whistled softly.
“Quite a windfall, I must say. I remember the Crandall jewels very well. They were very quaint and beautiful.”