Lady Constantine then had the pleasure of beholding a waggon, laden with

packing-cases, moving across the field towards the pillar; and not many

days later Swithin, who had never come to the Great House since the

luncheon, met her in a path which he knew to be one of her promenades.

'The equatorial is fixed, and the man gone,' he said, half in doubt as to

his speech, for her commands to him not to recognize her agency or

patronage still puzzled him. 'I respectfully wish--you could come and

see it, Lady Constantine.' 'I would rather not; I cannot.' 'Saturn is lovely; Jupiter is simply sublime; I can see double stars in the Lion and in the Virgin, where I had seen only a single one before.

It is all I required to set me going!' 'I'll come. But--you need say nothing about my visit. I cannot come to- night, but I will some time this week. Yet only this once, to try the

instrument. Afterwards you must be content to pursue your studies

alone.' Swithin seemed but little affected at this announcement. 'Hilton and

Pimm's man handed me the bill,' he continued.

'How much is it?' He told her. 'And the man who has built the hut and dome, and done the

other fixing, has sent in his.' He named this amount also.

'Very well. They shall be settled with. My debts must be paid with my

money, which you shall have at once,--in cash, since a cheque would

hardly do. Come to the house for it this evening. But no, no--you must

not come openly; such is the world. Come to the window--the window that

is exactly in a line with the long snowdrop bed, in the south front--at

eight to-night, and I will give you what is necessary.' 'Certainly, Lady Constantine,' said the young man.

At eight that evening accordingly, Swithin entered like a spectre upon

the terrace to seek out the spot she had designated. The equatorial had

so entirely absorbed his thoughts that he did not trouble himself

seriously to conjecture the why and wherefore of her secrecy. If he

casually thought of it, he set it down in a general way to an intensely

generous wish on her part not to lessen his influence among the poorer

inhabitants by making him appear the object of patronage.

While he stood by the long snowdrop bed, which looked up at him like a

nether Milky Way, the French casement of the window opposite softly

opened, and a hand bordered by a glimmer of lace was stretched forth,

from which he received a crisp little parcel,--bank-notes, apparently.




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