"She is coming here. I dare not meet her. I must go away again. I am hunted to death—I am hunted to death! I was hunted from Blue Cliffs, and now I am hunted from Charlottesville! Where shall I go next? To Richmond? Yes, of course, to Richmond! And there I will stay. For there is room to hide myself from any one whom I do not wish to see. And in a few weeks he will go to Richmond to settle there permanently. But I will go some few weeks in advance of him, so that he will never be able to say that I followed him there!"
Having formed this resolution, Mary Grey then set about, immediately to engage lodgings for the Blue Cliffs party.
She knew that her hostess, the bishop's widow, had one vacant room: that would accommodate two of the ladies, and therefore she resolved to make a virtue of her own necessities and give up her own room for the accommodation of the other two.
She proposed this plan to her hostess, who at first opposed the self-sacrifice, as she called it. But finally, being [persuaded] by Mary Grey, she yielded the point, and fervently praised the beautiful, unselfish spirit of her young guest, who was ever so ready to sacrifice her own comfort for the convenience of others.
Mary Grey then wrote to Miss Cavendish, telling her of the arrangement, and then explaining:
"You must know, my dear girl, that my health is not improved. For the last twelve months it has been growing steadily worse. My nervous system is shattered. I can not bear noise or tumult or excitement. I dread even to meet strangers. Therefore I think I shall go away and stay during this carnival of a Commencement. I hope that you and Laura will occupy my vacant chamber. The chamber adjoining is already vacant, and I have engaged it for Mrs. Fanning and Electra. I know I have paired your party off differently from your pairing; but then I like the thought of having you and Laura in my deserted chamber. I think I shall go to some very quiet village far from the bustle of company. Forgive me for not remaining to meet you, and set me down as very, very nervous; or, if that will not excuse me in your eyes, set me down as crazy; but never, never as ungrateful or unloving.
Mary.
"P.S.—Mr. Lyle must find accommodations at the hotel."
Having finished, sealed and dispatched this letter, Mary Grey went to work and packed her three great trunks for her journey. That kept her busy all the remainder of the day.
The next morning she dressed herself and went to call upon her friends and bid them good-bye. They were very much surprised at the suddenness of her departure; but she explained to one and all that she rather wished to avoid the crowd, bustle and confusion of Commencement week, and had therefore determined to leave town for a few days, and that her rooms with the bishop's widow would be occupied in the meantime by her friend Miss Cavendish, of Blue Cliffs, and her party.