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He was late.
The sun was already setting, and all the other guests had likely arrived.
And though Alex only lived a day’s ride from here, it had taken nearly two to make the journey. The roads had been so rutted from recent rain that they’d had to crawl along them to protect the equipment he carried with him.
He only hoped the delicate lenses on the instrument hadn’t been harmed and that he hadn’t missed the event in transit.
The occultation of Jupiter by Venus was due to happen any day where Venus would pass in front of Jupiter in the night sky.
It was an incredibly rare event and had only been recorded by scholars of astronomy three times before this one.
Alex was by no means a scholar, more of an enthusiast really, but he desperately wished to see this phenomenon for himself.
Not that his mother understood.
Perhaps, he wasn’t being completely fair. She rarely made him attend social events and so he always heeded her on the rare occasion that she did, but this party’s timing had been dreadful. This was the one week he didn’t want to leave his seaside home, but she’d insisted he come. His mother, Lady Greenburg, along with her friend, the Marchioness of Farthington, had planned the event for Lady Farthington’s daughter, Matilda. They could not change the date, she’d claimed, something about the Markshires’ ball the week prior and the Wilsons’ hunt just after.
As if he cared about any of that. This particular astrological event had not happened in nearly three hundred years. The Wilsons were sure to have another hunt far sooner than that.
He shook his head as the carriage rumbled to a stop.
He’d written to the marquess, Matilda’s brother, and Benedict had given him permission to set up his equipment in the south field, the place where he’d most likely be able to witness the occultation.
And though he was late, and his mother was sure to be angry already, he was determined not to miss another evening of stargazing.
He’d get his equipment unloaded and set up to see if he had a proper view from this location.
Alex would play croquet, picnic, and ride during the day, do all of the activities he found tedious and dull, but if his mother expected him to him attend the dinners she’d have to plan to have them in the south field.
A man had to be passionate about something and for him that thing was astronomy.
As a child, he’d spent countless hours staring up at the stars wondering what was up there.
His father had thought him a dreamer, but Alex had turned out all right.
His holdings remained steady, his lands produced, and he was well respected among his peers. He’d yet to marry and make an heir but there was time for all that.
With that in mind, he opened the door the moment that the carriage rolled to a stop. “Fitz,” he called to one of his footmen. “If we don’t hurry, we’ll lose the light.”
The three footmen he’d brought with him were well acquainted with his habits and began to help him unload the parts of his telescope without further delay.
“Should I get a stable hand to show us the way?” Fitz asked as he pulled the stand from the back of the carriage.
“Good thinking,” Alex replied with a smile, holding the barrel of the telescope under one arm.
The sky had already taken on a grey hue.
Moving quickly, they made it to the field just as the light finally gave and Alex began to assemble the contraption by feel. It wasn’t the largest telescope he’d seen but it was more mobile than many, and he’d utilize that feature on more than one occasion.
But he’d no more gotten it together when he realized, in his haste, he’d forgotten the most important part. The glass.
He’d taken the reflector out and tucked it in the bench that held all the blankets, wanting to protect the fragile piece.
“Curse it,” he muttered as he straightened.
“What’s wrong?” Fitz asked. “Did you miss Mars and Mercury?”
“It’s Venus and Jupiter and I don’t know. I’d need the glass to find out, but I’ve left it in the carriage.”
