Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1903-01-18
CHAPTER XIII
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ri. MYSTERY OF MARY.

the butler. ran rs foiiowss
Regret TO Inform you THAI AIRS. Court
snay WIZ found drowned III the river this
morning. Can yon como here? NY ia.s
4rrns IS very anxious to see you :
Without a moments delay sent re-
ply III tho affirmative. and after searching
81 the A. y. c. foUi.s. thai had train
s at o'clock from Kings Cross. This i
took, :1;n. after a., anxiaiis totrne.- ar
rived .r,,ly AT the Manor. sii tho blinds
of which wcrc closely drawn.
Parkinson, wi,ite.faced and agitated,
Thin nervous .lguse III coat slightly
200 large for him, had been watching my
approach, up the drive anc held open the
door for me.
ahl,. ,.oc;er.. the did fe;.cw gasped
.Its terrib,t--tergihie. TO tllinl; that poor
Miss Mary shoa!d die Ike that"
Tell me all a,eoEt IT. l demanded
quickly. Gene. and led the Tay into
the ,norai.g-roo.n.
awe cont lsnow anything about Il. sir
It's I'll mystery the gray.faced old
ran replied. when une OF the house
maids Went up 10 Miss Mary's room at
y 5 O'clock this morning 20 take her tea,
rs ;.sual she feceired no answer to her
knock Thinking she was asleep she re-
sufnnd half an hour later. only to fand
aes absent, and ;l:at the bed had not been
slept 81. We told the mistress never
.ai.akiag that such an awful fate had
,,etailen roo- Miss Mary. Mistress was
sn.i.maa 10 believe That che had gone
~ on sonee wild excursion somewhere,
for of late she's been IN the habit Of
going away fer a t,ay or two without tell
ing rg. AT first hone OF lis dreamed
.lat anything had happened. until just
before u O'clock Reuben Dixon's lad.
Bi.o'a been out fishing. came UP. shout
ITs,-1 yt,{
under some bushes close to the stile that
lands into the Monks Wood at first we
t..c4dn't believe it--but with the others
ite-s down rost.hasfe, and there she wac,
Poor thing. under the surface, with her
ct*ss caught in the bushes that droop into
ne water. Her hat was gone, and her
Lair unbound foated out. waving with
.he current. We at once got boat, and
took her out, but she was quite dead.
-Four men from the village carried her up
here, and they've placed her III her own
ROOM
1.-THE police know about it, Of course?''
Yes. we told Jarvis. The constable
He's sent a telegram 20 ou,idl.. /, think"
And what doctor has seen herr?
Doctor Goys1t from Peterborough
Hes here poE>"
...An. must SEC him. He has exam
ined the body d1snppase?
81 expect SO. sir. He's been a long time
IN the room.
And how is it believed that the poor
young lady got into the water" l asked,
anxious to obtain the local theory.
Its belieyednshat che either fell in or
was pushed in. q long way higher up;
because halt a naila away. not far from
the lock-, there's. distinct marks in the
long grass showing that somebody went
off the path 10 the Shrink OF the river
And close by that spot they found her
black silk SHAWL
She wen. eui without a hat. then?"
] remarked rccollectii2g that when she
had met her husband in secret she had
worn a shawl. Could it be possible that
she had met him again. and that he had
made away with her? The theory seemed
II sound one in the present circumstances
1T seemed to me- sir. that the very
TACT Of her taking her shawl showed that
she did not intend 70 be out very long
The butler said.
II would almost appear that she went
in the night in order ia nse. somebody
] observed.
The old man shook his head, sorrow
fully, saying:
Poor Miss Mays never been the same
since her husband died. sir. She was
often very strange in her manner Be
be case OF deliberate suicide. She was
utterly broken down by the awful blow"
don't see any motive for suicide,'
j remarked. Then ! asked. HAS she
ever been known 20 meet any one on
the river bank at night"
Old Parkinson was usually an ifnpene-
srable person. lie fdgeited. and / saw
that my question was an awkward one
Ter him TO answer without telling lie.
The truth Will have TO be discovered
about this. You know went on There
fore. If you have any knowledge likely
TO assist us at the inquest it is your
duty to explain
Well. Sir" he answered, after a short
pause TO tell the truth, in this last week
or so there have been Some funny ru-
inbrs in the Village
About What?'
People say that she was watched BY
Drake. Lord Hdassington's game-keeper,
who saw her al nclock in the morning
walking arm lii arm With an old gentle.
iaan. 1 heard the lumor down at the
Golden Ball, but wouldn't believe it
s!iS. Mr.. ConrtenaS's only been dead "a
month or two. The man Drake is a bragg,
siag fellow, and think most people dis.
credited his statement.
NFell..'' said, 1T might possibly have
itccn true. It seems hardly conceivable
fhst she should so wandering alone by
:!se river al night She surely had some
saalsne in going there. Was she only seen
ty the sasne-Reener ca one occasion p,
Only, once But. OF course. he soon
spread 1t about the Village. and il formed
1ar a week a nice little titbit OF gossip.
las so,a az heard it I took steps to de-
~ it,
1T aeve, reae',e. t:.s yca:sg lady's
sass .''
1 .son. no. tho old servant answered.
We were careful, to keep the scandal
10 on se!ves. knowing how is would
pain ..er. Shed had sufficient trouble
IA her life. poor 1hing.' And with
LIARS In his grey old eyes. he added:
u have known her ever since She was
child in her cradle. It's awful that
scr c;id should come like this
lie Was most trustworthy and de-
voted servant. having spent nearly forty
years Q; his lite fl the service OF the
family, until lie ned become almost part
OF it. His voice eniverea witt. emotion
ssheh he spoke OF the dead daughter OF
the house. tst he knew that, toward me
y Was not n servants privilege to en-
areiS sSries. the grief he felt
pat other questions regarding the
wotia:a.s ,eceEi actions. and he was COM
reiied 10 admit that they had ct late
:isen quite anaccanntabls. Her absences
were frc;airi2t. and she i appeared to some
s riacS make iNEg end 1,,ys,criaf,s ioDr,,eys