“I do,” I said breathlessly. “One day I hope to catalogue stars and comets like Caroline Herschel.”
“Remarkable woman just like her brother,” he said with a nod, and ushered us toward a narrow corridor. “I shall leave you in Mr. St. Clair’s capable hands.”
“Thank you, sir,” Tarik said.
With a smart bow, Mr. Pond took his leave, presumably tocontinue the work that was going on in the observatory to chart and track celestial data for timekeeping and navigation. Just because we were here didn’t mean the scientists stopped what they were doing—their celestial-measurement efforts were too important to the navy and maritime navigation. I was very aware that we were intruding in a space not designed for ordinary citizens.
Dumbfounded, I stared at Tarik when he took my arm once more to lead me in the direction the Astronomer Royal had indicated. “How did you do this?” I whispered. “John Pond is notoriously reserved in his dealings with the public and purported to have a temper.”
“My mentor and one of the Fellows at Trinity, Mr. Peacock, arranged it via a letter of introduction at my request,” he replied softly.
“Why?” I asked.
“You know why,” he said. “For you. This is your dream. You helped me find mine, and I wanted to help you discover yours.”
I swear to God I nearly melted. My mouth opened and closed as I stumbled, my knees going inexplicably weak at the sheer sweetness of him. “Tarik, I…”
“Thank me tonight,” he said with a grin and a swift kiss to my temple. “We’re late!”
We hurried through the building, though not so fast that I couldn’t take in all the charts and instruments that were used for measuring positional astronomy in the different rooms. The building was dimly lit with a minimum of light, the stone walls covered in maps, logs, clocks, and star charts. We stopped to stare in utter amazement at the Troughton Transit Instrument, whichwas a large brass-and-steel telescope permanently mounted upon a stone pier that had been built four years ago. It was used to measure and track stars crossing the meridian line, in order to determine Greenwich Mean Time. Since the astronomers were already actively working in silence, Tarik and I only observed, but still, it was astounding to watch history being recorded.
“This way,” Tarik said, herding me in another direction to climb the steps to a nearby tower.
The scents of oil and ink filled my nostrils as we entered a room with a seven-foot reflecting telescope, similar to the ones William Herschel had designed, its long brass tube resting on a stone pier. I exhaled, noticing there was only one scientist in here, standing near a large refracting telescope. He spotted our arrival and beckoned us over.
I blinked and stared at Tarik with wide eyes, hope exploding in my chest at the chance of possibly looking through the viewfinder. “Could we…?”
He winked, his lips curling into a knowing smirk. “Anything you wish, chérie.”
“Mr. St. Clair, my lady,” the man said bowing and canting his head. “I am Alec Biggs, at your service. Mr. Pond asked me to assist you this evening. Welcome.”
He accompanied us around the room and then indicated the large mural quadrant with a set of wooden steps beside it that took up nearly the entirety of one wall with its large triangular brass frame. “This is used to track and trace the stars, noting infinitesimal movements with precision. It’s how we create the navigational maps for nautical use.”
“That is amazing,” I said breathily.
He pointed out celestial star maps that had been meticulously drawn that hung on the far wall before returning to the instrument he’d been standing beside when we had arrived. “This is a Dollond refracting telescope used for planetary, lunar, and double-star observations. The lenses are five inches in aperture. The mount here is clock-driven so we can track the movement of the stars across the cosmos.”
I listened in rapture. “May we look, Mr. Biggs?”
He pointed to the viewfinder. “Please, go ahead. It’s currently positioned to Jupiter.”
Jupiter!Practically vibrating with excitement, I put my eye to the lens. After waiting for my vision to get used to the aperture, and gently adjusting the focus, I gasped at the horizontal grayish bands on the surface of the spherical planet as well as its four moons, three on one side and one on the other. “Oh my God, it’s incredible. Tarik, you must see this.”
He took his turn, and then I went back for another longer look. “Jupiter is the largest planet in this solar system, and that’s why we can see it relatively clearly,” I murmured. “Galileo Galilei discovered the moons in 1610, over two hundred years ago. He thought they were stars at first, and then realized they revolved around the planet.”
“Did you know it’s the fastest rotating planet?” Mr. Biggs asked.
“Truly?”
He nodded. “It takes about ten hours for a full rotation.”
“Marvelous,” I whispered. Mr. Biggs clasped his handsbehind his back, waiting for me to finish my extended perusal, taking in everything including the strange red spot I noticed between the horizontal bands. “It’s so fascinating.”
“Let me know if you have any more questions,” he said. “I shall leave you to explore at your leisure while I continue my work on the mural quadrant.”
Tarik’s eyes were warm as he stared at me, walking forward to take my shaking hands in his. “Newton also used Jupiter’s moons as evidence of gravitational theory, similar to the Earth and the sun.”
I nodded. “Proving that it’s universal.”
