When Mary woke, she could tell by the position of the sunlight on the bedroom wall that it was long past her usual time of rising. She washed, dressed briskly and rushed downstairs, where she found only her aunt and Mr Ryder still at the breakfast table. Mrs Gardiner sprang up and looked keenly into Mary’s face, her hand reaching out swiftly to touch her brow.
‘Thank God, there’s no fever! And you look very well rested.’
‘Yes, thank you, I feel entirely myself.’
‘I’m very relieved. And you’ll be pleased to hear that Miss Bingley has also suffered no ill effects.’
‘She is absent only because she is taking her breakfast in bed,’ said Mr Ryder. ‘All in all, I think we may count our excursion a success. A great natural event seen at close quarters, and all of us alive to tell the tale!’
‘I am not yet ready to find your misadventure a joke, Mr Ryder,’ replied Mrs Gardiner severely. ‘I should not like to be in a such a state of anxiety again as I was yesterday afternoon.’
Mr Ryder apologised, begging Mrs Gardiner’s pardon; but he smiled at Mary from under his penitent brow. She busied herself with the tea things, declining to meet his eye. She was not to be distracted from the only object of importance that morning – that of seeking out Mr Hayward and speaking to him with all the honesty and frankness of which she was capable.
‘Are the other gentlemen already out?’ she asked. ‘They must have left very early.’
‘Mr Gardiner is certainly gone,’ replied her aunt. ‘Once he knew you were quite well, he took himself to the lake with his rod. Mr and Mrs Hurst have gone to Grasmere village. I have not yet seen Mr Hayward.’
‘Tom often takes a walk before breakfast,’ said Mr Ryder. ‘No doubt he will appear at any moment, demanding strong coffee.’
Again, he tried to catch Mary’s eye, and again she applied herself to her tea. She thought she would stay close to the inn for the rest of the morning, waiting for Mr Hayward to return. She was so absorbed in thinking what she should say to him that she hardly noticed as the innkeeper approached their table. He handed Mrs Gardiner a letter which she read and passed wordlessly to Mary.
My dear Mrs Gardiner,
It is with much regret that I must tell you I have been summoned back to London to attend to some urgent business. I’m sure you will understand nothing but the most pressing obligation would have persuaded me to leave in so hurried a manner. It is extremely distressing to me to be obliged to go without saying a proper goodbye, which seems small recompense for your prodigious kindness in having me with you over the last few weeks.
I intend, once my business is concluded, to take this opportunity to visit my mother in Hampshire and stay there for a while. I hope at some later date to see you once again in Gracechurch Street; but until then, I hope I can presume on your generosity to bid farewell on my behalf to Mr Gardiner, Mr Ryder, and the rest of our party, assuring them that only the need to catch the Keswick fly prevents me writing to each in person.
I beg to be remembered to Miss Bennet.
Yours in haste,
Tho. Hayward