“Mary!” he called out. Where on earth could she have gone? He needed that book.
“Lord Radley?”
He turned and when he caught sight of one of the college groundskeepers, he could have cried.
“Please tell me you have your set of keys upon your person; I need to access Professor Gray’s rooms,” he said.
The groundskeeper scowled. No groundskeeper worth his salt would be wandering the university grounds without his master set of keys. “Of course, I have my keys. Though they are no longer Professor Gray’s rooms,” replied the man.
Hugh nodded. He was in too much of a hurry to discuss the passing of his old professor. In his mind, as long as Mary remained in residence, they would always be Professor Gray’s rooms.
The groundskeeper unlocked the door, then, after promising to come back and lock it again once Hugh was gone, he took his leave.
Hugh hurried into the room, sighing with relief as he spotted his book.
“Thank heavens for that,” he muttered, as he picked it up.
He paused for a moment; something in the room was different. He looked at the piles of books and papers. They were stacked and arranged neater than he had ever seen them. He had not noticed the changes when he had been here earlier with Mary, his interest focused on her. He slowly took in the rest of the room.
Papers which were normally haphazardly thrown together had been put into neat bundles and tied off with string. The bookshelves were now full. Mary had made mention of having been cleaning, but until this moment, Hugh had not thought to ask why. The professor had always liked the messy look of his rooms, and Mary had sworn to keep them exactly as he had left them for at least the first year after his passing.
He poked his head inside Professor Gray’s old study and was surprised to be greeted with the sight of a tidy room. Hugh had never seen the top of the professor’s desk before. The sight was disconcerting.
Now that is odd. What have you been doing, Mary?
He steeled himself as he opened Mary’s bedroom door. He was invading her privacy, but his concerns held his mind. As he saw the bedding which had been folded and put to one side, a rising sense of panic gripped him. The cupboard where her clothes should hang was empty.
“Calm down, Radley. She has just been getting things ship-shape before leaving to visit her mother’s family,” he told himself.
His words, however, were cold comfort. Not more than an hour ago, Mary had told him she had not had confirmation of her visit from her relatives. Yet she had clearly gone somewhere and taken all of her possessions with her.
Stepping back into the main room, he found the groundskeeper waiting. “Did you find what you were looking for, my lord?”
Hugh frowned. He barely noticed the book in his hand.
“Yes and no,” he replied.
“It’s a pity about the Professor and Miss Gray. They were always kind to the staff around here,” said the groundskeeper.
Hugh tightened his hold on the book. “What do you mean?”
“Not that it’s my place, but it would have been nice if Miss Gray could have stayed on at the university for a little while longer. But I suppose they needed the rooms for the new professor, and she had to go.” The groundskeeper nervously jangled the ring of keys he held in his hand. University staff were meant to be seen and not heard.
Cold, hard realization settled heavily on Hugh’s shoulders. Mary was not visiting relatives; she had left St John’s College for good. And she hadn’t told him.
Think. Think what to do.
He rallied his thoughts. “You wouldn’t by any chance know where Miss Gray has gone, would you?” he asked.
The groundskeeper shook his head. “Not exactly. Though, she did make mention that she had found a room in a boarding house not far from the market square when she visited the office just before she left.”
“How long ago did she leave?”
“Not a quarter of the hour ago, I would say. She may not have got that far from the college grounds,” replied the groundskeeper.
After slipping the man a coin and wishing him a merry Christmas, Hugh raced outside and to the waiting travel coach. He flung open the door.
“They have thrown Mary out!” he cried.
Adelaide’s eyes grew wide. It took an instant for Hugh to realize that it wasn’t so much about his revelation, as the volume at which he had delivered it. Charles put a finger to his lips. William stirred in his sleep and let out a soft whimper.
Everyone held their breaths. To the relief of all, William remained asleep.
“What do you mean?” replied Charles quietly.
Hugh caught the attention of the coach driver and issued brief instructions. He then climbed aboard and closed the door.
“The university needed the rooms for the new professor, and Mary has had to vacate them. One of the groundskeepers told me Mary left only a short while ago. I’ve asked the coach driver to head down toward the market square and see if we can spot her,” he explained.
Charles took up a position on one side of the coach, while Hugh sat at the other window. He dropped the glass window down and poked his head outside.
“Where are you?” he muttered.
As the coach entered Bridge Street, it slowed to a crawl. Being the week before Christmas, everyone was out in the town center. And all, it would appear, were headed toward Cambridge Market Square. Hugh snarled his frustration. They would never find Mary in this crush of carriages and people.
He rapped on the roof of the coach and instructed the driver to pull over to the side of the street.
“What are you doing?” asked Charles.
“If you keep going and continue to look out on the other side of the street, I will see if I can make headway on foot. Just remember she will be wearing red,” Hugh replied.
He hurried away from the coach,
