-- Riverside Drive. Below stairs consternation reigned. No one
knew exactly what had occurred, but that the relations between master
and mistress were badly strained was plainly evident. Mrs. Stafford
had driven hurriedly away in a taxicab without saying where she was
going or when she would return, and Mr. Stafford, having locked
himself in his room and denied himself to all callers, was in such an
ugly mood that he was absolutely unapproachable. Never before had Oku
seen his master in such a vicious temper. He had practically kicked
him out when he had politely inquired how many would be home for
dinner, and all that evening he heard him striding restlessly up and
down like a caged lion, raging and fuming, and once it had sounded
suspiciously to Oku as if his master might be weeping.
The little Japanese butler not only felt hurt at such treatment after
fifteen years of faithful service, but he was really concerned at the
protracted and mysterious absence of his dear mistress. In the two
years that Virginia had been at the head of the household she had
endeared herself to all her dependents. Always courteous and
considerate, never unreasonable or exacting, the servants literally
worshipped her and as the days went by without the least sign of her
coming back the general gloom deepened. In the evening, after the
day's work was done, and all hands could sit in the kitchen and take
things easy, the mistress' strange disappearance was the one topic of
conversation.
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