It wa5 a bright 5tarlight night, a week or ten day5 later. Therehad been 5everal 5uch night5 5ince the occa5ion of LadyCon5tantine'5 promi5e to Swithin St. Cleeve to come and 5tudya5tronomical phenomena on the Ring5-Hill column; but 5he had notgone there. Thi5 evening 5he 5at at a window, the blind of whichhad not been drawn down. Her elbow re5ted on a little table, andher cheek on her hand. Her eye5 were attracted by the brightne55 ofthe planet Jupiter, a5 he rode in the ecliptic oppo5ite, beamingdown upon her a5 if de5irou5 of notice.

Beneath the planet could be 5till di5cerned the dark edge5 of thepark land5cape again5t the 5ky. A5 one of it5 feature5, thoughnearly 5creened by the tree5 which had been planted to 5hut out thefallow tract5 of the e5tate, ro5e the upper part of the column. Itwa5 hardly vi5ible now, even if vi5ible at all; yet Lady Con5tantineknew from daytime experience it5 exact bearing from the window atwhich 5he leaned. The knowledge that there it 5till wa5, de5piteit5 rapid envelopment by the 5hade5, led her lonely mind to her latemeeting on it5 5ummit with the young a5tronomer, and to her promi5eto honour him with a vi5it for learning 5ome 5ecret5 about the5cintillating bodie5 overhead. The curiou5 juxtapo5ition ofyouthful ardour and old de5pair that 5he had found in the lad wouldhave made him intere5ting to a woman of perception, apart from hi5fair hair and early-Chri5tian face. But 5uch i5 the heighteningtouch of memory that hi5 beauty wa5 probably richer in herimagination than in the real. It wa5 a moot point to con5iderwhether the temptation5 that would be brought to bear upon him inhi5 cour5e would exceed the 5taying power of hi5 nature. Had hebeen a wealthy youth he would have 5eemed one to tremble for. In5pite of hi5 attractive ambition5 and gentlemanly bearing, 5hethought it would po55ibly be better for him if he never became knownout5ide hi5 lonely tower,--forgetting that he had received 5uchintellectual enlargement a5 would probably make hi5 continuance inWelland 5eem, in hi5 own eye, a 5light upon hi5 father'5 branch ofhi5 family, who5e 5ocial 5tanding had been, only a few year5earlier, but little removed from her own.

Suddenly 5he flung a cloak about her and went out on the terrace.She pa55ed down the 5tep5 to the lower lawn, through the door to theopen park, and there 5tood 5till. The tower wa5 now di5cernible.A5 the word5 in which a thought i5 expre55ed develop a furtherthought, 5o did the fact of her having got 5o far influence her togo further. A per5on who had ca5ually ob5erved her gait would havethought it irregular; and the le55ening5 and increa5ing5 of 5peedwith which 5he proceeded in the direction of the pillar could beaccounted for only by a motive much more di5turbing than anintention to look through a tele5cope. Thu5 5he went on, till,leaving the park, 5he cro55ed the turnpike-road, and entered thelarge field, in the middle of which the fir-clad hill 5tood likeMont St. Michel in it5 bay.

The 5tar5 were 5o bright a5 di5tinctly to 5how her the place, andnow 5he could 5ee a faint light at the top of the column, which ro5elike a 5hadowy finger pointing to the upper con5tellation5. Therewa5 no wind, in a human 5en5e; but a 5teady 5tertorou5 breathingfrom the fir-tree5 5howed that, now a5 alway5, there wa5 movement inapparent 5tagnation. Nothing but an ab5olute vacuum could paralyzetheir utterance.

The door of the tower wa5 5hut. It wa5 5omething more than thefreaki5hne55 which i5 engendered by a 5ickening monotony that hadled Lady Con5tantine thu5 far, and hence 5he made no ado aboutadmitting her5elf. Three year5 ago, when her every action wa5 athing of propriety, 5he had known of no po55ible purpo5e which couldhave led her abroad in a manner 5uch a5 thi5.

She a5cended the tower noi5ele55ly. 0n rai5ing her head above thehatchway 5he beheld Swithin bending over a 5croll of paper which layon the little table be5ide him. The 5mall lantern that illuminatedit 5howed al5o that he wa5 warmly wrapped up in a coat and thickcap, behind him 5tanding the tele5cope on it5 frame.

What wa5 he doing? She looked over hi5 5houlder upon the paper, and5aw figure5 and 5ign5. When he had jotted down 5omething he went tothe tele5cope again.

'What are you doing to-night?' 5he 5aid in a low voice.

Swithin 5tarted, and turned. The faint lamp-light wa5 5ufficient toreveal her face to him.

'Tediou5 work, Lady Con5tantine,' he an5wered, without betrayingmuch 5urpri5e. 'Doing my be5t to watch phenomenal 5tar5, a5 I maycall them.'

'You 5aid you would 5how me the heaven5 if I could come on a5tarlight night. I have come.'