“Well,” Miss Godwin demanded.“Does Olive meet your standards?”
“Yes,” he admitted as he helped Miss Godwin up into the carriage.“I had to hold myself back from proposing on the spot.”
The sparkle faded from her eyes.“As I thought.You’ll make a wonderful couple.”
They remained silent during the ride back to her cottage.When they arrived, she scrambled from the carriage and hurried toward the front door.
Christopher hesitated.He should just drop her off as planned.Definitely not come inside.
She reached the first step.
“I have a broken telescope,” he blurted out.
She paused with her fingers on the door handle.“With you?”
He nodded.“With me.”
“Bring it here,” she said, and disappeared inside.
Kicking himself, he dug the cloth-wrapped package from its hiding spot behind the rear squab and hurried to follow her.
The door had been left ajar.He nudged it open and stepped inside.Neither Miss Godwin nor her maid were anywhere to be seen.
He closed the door and hung his hat and coat on the rack before venturing toward the corridor.
“I’m here,” he called out.“With my broken telescope.”
“I’m here,” she called back from a room just beyond the kitchen.
He approached with caution, and then all but dashed inside like a child arriving at a fairy kingdom.
“You have an observatory?”he said in wonder.
“A miniature observatory,” she demurred.“A makeshift private chamber I use for observatory-like activities.”
It was not a grand room, but it was perfect for its purpose.A telescope stood on a wide platform in the center of the room.The large window directly above it opened at an angle, allowing an unobstructed view of the night sky whilst protecting the viewer and his device from the elements.
“This is splendid,” he heard himself babbling.“I never expected you to have…”
When he finally tore his gaze from the skyward window, the true nature of her telescope jumbled his thoughts.It was not a “serviceable unit.”It was not a “respectable device.”It was the exact same precision-forged, incredibly expensive model as the one wrapped in linen under his arm.
His jaw fell open.“How on earth do you have a—”
“You expected me to use one of those?”She motioned across the room toward a retired telescope that had been the height of efficiency twenty years prior.
“Something like that,” he admitted.
“You weren’t wrong.It’s just not my only machine.”She lifted a shoulder.“My father purchased that one for me when I was a child.I bought a replacement more recently.”She gave him a crooked smile.“I wanted my best chance at seeing the heavens.”
“You have good taste,” he said, matching her lopsided smile with one of his own.
He handed her his wrapped parcel.
She grinned when she unveiled its contents.
“Ten minutes,” she said.“I’ll have you on your way with your telescope in working order.”
“You’re fortunate to have a permanent place to keep yours.”He admired the dais.“I’ve investigated the best spots on the castle roof, but they aren’t protected from wind or inclement weather.Brilliant idea to build this room.”
