A Lesson in Secrets_ A Maisie Dobbs Novel - Jacqueline Winspear [44]
At that point he opened the glass partition again. “You can double back now, Archie. Find a suitable point where Miss Dobbs can catch a bus to Pimlico.”
The driver nodded.
“Well, thank you for the consideration, Mr. Huntley. At least you didn’t ask me to walk the whole way.” Despite the comment, Maisie smiled as she left Huntley, and made her way back to the flat.
Maisie spent Sunday preparing for the week ahead and hardly saw Sandra, who left after breakfast to visit her husband’s grave, a weekly pilgrimage of devotion. Maisie left the flat before Sandra emerged from her room on Monday morning, and was grateful for another trouble-free drive on the London–Cambridge road, a route which followed the old coach road, and was marked by ancient milestones at intervals along the way.
Arriving at the college mid-morning, Maisie was informed that an important formal announcement was to be made at noon, when students and staff would gather in the assembly hall—formerly a ballroom in the days when the property was still a private residence. Matthias Roth was to inform the assembly of Greville Liddicote’s passing, though she imagined there would be no mention made as to cause of death. Maisie’s first class was not until after lunch, so she went directly to the staff room, where refreshments were being served. As she waited in line for coffee behind other members of staff—she was becoming accustomed to the bitter brew—she learned another snippet of news: Rosemary Linden had departed the college without notice, leaving only a list of tasks completed and instructions regarding the efficient execution of her duties. Her stated reason—in a brief note penned in her precise copperplate hand, according to staff-room gossip—was that she did not wish to work at the college without Dr. Liddicote at the helm.
Maisie took a cup of coffee and made her way over to speak to Francesca Thomas, who was seated in an armchair, making notes in red pencil on a student’s heavily fingered assignment. She held her coffee cup in her right hand and wrote with her left.
“Dr. Thomas, may I join you?”
“Ah, Miss Dobbs. Of course, do join me.” She cleared a stack of papers from the chair next to hers. “There you are. Did you have a restful break from college?”
“Yes, I returned to London. You?”
“Oh, I seldom venture out of Cambridge. I rent a flat in town, just a small bed-sitting-room really. And I belong to a choir, so there is usually a practice to attend. There is always something to do in the city.”
“Yes, I was here as a student—well, you know that, from my interview here.”
“Indeed.”
“It’s a shame about Miss Linden leaving—and quite suddenly. She seemed so efficient, I cannot imagine her just going off without a by-your-leave.”
Thomas shrugged. “She was young, and of course she was the one who discovered Greville—a lot for her to deal with, I think.”
“Do you know where she lived?”
“I believe she came from Suffolk. She was a country girl who had come to Cambridge for some town life, I would imagine. But of course, the academic world is more insular than it might first appear, and if you are not a student at one of the colleges here, you are considered ‘town’ rather than ‘gown’—and never the twain shall meet.”
“Yes, I see what you mean.” Maisie changed tack. “The college must be very different for you, coming from a larger university.”
Thomas smiled. It was not a broad smile, not an expression that would welcome a long-lost friend, or accompany joy. Rather, it was measured, a smile of knowing as opposed to celebration. “I see you have discovered rather a lot about me, Miss Dobbs.”
Maisie was quick to respond. “I looked up the senior members of staff before I joined the college—it’s quite simple to find out—because I assumed I would be interviewed by a committee, and I decided to hazard a guess as to who would be on that committee. Knowing something