Sophie grinned. “You are always thinking of us.”
“Yes, I am. Now, upstairs you go. I’ll be there in a moment.”
Ellie watched her three friends climb the grand staircase. She’d thoroughly enjoyed her sennight with them, though it was too bad that Lissa had been delayed. Ellie was going to miss having her former classmates about, especially because Dariushad not returned from his trip. It was already a day longer than his last one. She couldn’t help but worry.
Beacham turned from hanging up the final cloak. “My lady, I have told Mrs. Torbett to expect more women.”
“Thank you. Has there been any word from Lord Ferncroft?”
“I’m afraid not, but I promise I will tell you immediately.”
“I do hope he comes home before Christmas.”
Beacham gave her a sympathetic look. “I’m most sure that he is as anxious to be here with you as you are to have him home.”
She nodded, in complete agreement with Beacham. Darius had seemed very happy with her and the children before he left. No doubt he was anxiously traveling homeward even now. “Please have tea and marzipan sent up to my terrace.”
“No cocoa, my lady?”
She grinned. “No. I don’t wish to spoil Lady Georgina too much. After all, she and Lady Rose must leave on the morrow and won’t be able to have cocoa every day.”
Beacham raised his brows. “Then would it not be kinder to allow them their final day of bliss?”
She laughed. “You make a good point. Send up the cocoa along with the tea.”
—
Ellie moved the telescope toward the Cassiopeia constellation. It was well past midnight, and she couldn’t sleep. She missed Darius, and her friends were to leave in the morning. She was so thankful that Sophie said she could stay a couple of more days, since she lived less than a day’s journey away. Or maybe it was the moon keeping her awake. It had been full not three nights past, and was said to affect people. She probably should have dressed in more than her shift and robe, but she didn’t expect to see anyone at this hour.
Though it had been sunny all day, the clouds had moved in during dinner, making it impossible to show Rose theconstellation of Hercules that she wanted to see. But now there were parts of the sky visible, and with the moon behind a bank of clouds, Ellie could definitely do some stargazing. It always distracted her from her worries.
And shewasworried. She worried about her husband.
Looking southward from the top point of Cassiopeia, she found what she sought. Not simply the Andromeda constellation but the Andromeda Nebula. She moved the telescope slightly and locked it into place. The nebula came into focus. Instead of the soft white oblong smear she usually saw, it now looked like a tilted plate. In the center appeared a very bright star that rose above and below the disk. She could even see a smaller nebula nearby. How different the universe looked with a better telescope. It made her want to share all her discoveries with Darius.
She lifted her head from the eyepiece. Marrying Darius had made her life very different, too. Like the telescope showed her so much more, Darius showed her how wonderful life could be. He granted her most fervent wish, to be a mother the very day they wed. Then he’d believed in her and her abilities, and he made all her dreams come true in their bed. As much as her friends insisted she deserved it, the voice of her mother still echoed in her mind, criticizing her, her brothers’ laughter ringing in her ears.
Shaking her head, she chastised herself. Nothing was perfect. Soon Darius would notice her penchant for knocking things over and her shortcomings in running a household when it wasn’t Christmastide. But in the meantime, she would enjoy every moment. So as soon as he came home, she would insist on showing him what she’d found in the stars. Not that he would resist. He was far too kind. So what else did she want to find to show him?
She walked to the cabinet and pulled out her notes, then set them on the small table nearby and gazed out into the darkness of the estate. Maybe she should research if there were any other nebula that had been discovered that she was unaware of.
With her decision made, she brought her gaze back to the sky, gauging if the clouds were dissipating or filling in. The moon’s light remained blocked, except what shone down on the earth directly below it. The rest of the gardens and field were dark and, in the wood—
She frowned. It looked like there was light in the north wood. It was just a sprinkling through the trees, like a new star cluster.
She watched the light to see if it moved, as it could perhaps be the gamekeeper and his men, but the light remained steady. Did someone live there? The gamekeeper lived in the village, but maybe another out-of-doors servant, like the gardener? Curious, she continued to stare at it, wishing she knew what it was. Beacham would know, but he was abed, as was everyone else.
Turning back to her telescope, she grinned. She could make a new discovery, albeit not an astronomical one.
Without a second thought, she unlocked the telescope and turned it toward the light. Once she had it in place, she relocked it and put her eye to the eyepiece. As she focused, she could clearly see a little building. Someone definitely lived there, as light shone from the windows and smoke rose from the chimney. It looked very small, no bigger than her glass terrace. Whoever lived there was up quite late, especially for a laborer. A shadow moved across the light, proving someone was awake and about the small place.
She smiled, excited to see who it was. It could even be an old woman who was granted the small building by the former owner. Or maybe it was a man who’d been hurt saving the former owner and was given the little place to live out his days. Oh, the stories she could make up about the little place.
The shadows moved again, and then a man strode past the window. Her breath caught in her chest. She pulled her head back from the telescope. She knew that stride, but it couldn’t be.
She shook her head. Her flights of fancy were playing tricks on her. Lowering her head to look through the telescope again, she waited. Long moments passed and still there was no movement. Then a man came into view. He looked like the gamekeeper. He stood still, talking to someone. Yes, it was Mr. Archer. Maybe it was a place where he could warm himself on his nightly rounds. That made sense, but that couldn’t have been the original purpose. And whom was he talking to?
Oh, did the man have a mistress that he kept from his wife? She didn’t like that idea at all. If that was the case, then Darius must know. She would have to speak to him about it.
