No question of marriage seemed to be disturbing the mind of
this juvenile husband of hers. The _primum mobile_ of his gravitation
was apparently the equatorial telescope which she had given him, and
which he was carefully adjusting by means of screws and clamps. Hearing
her movements he turned his head.

'O here you are, my dear Viviette! I was just beginning to expect you,'
he exclaimed, coming forward. 'I ought to have been looking out for you,
but I have found a little defect here in the instrument, and I wanted to
set it right before evening comes on. As a rule it is not a good thing
to tinker your glasses; but I have found that the diffraction-rings are
not perfect circles. I learnt at Greenwich how to correct them--so kind
they have been to me there!--and so I have been loosening the screws and
gently shifting the glass, till I think that I have at last made the
illumination equal all round. I have so much to tell you about my visit;
one thing is, that the astronomical world is getting quite excited about
the coming Transit of Venus. There is to be a regular expedition fitted
out. How I should like to join it!'

He spoke enthusiastically, and with eyes sparkling at the mental image of
the said expedition; and as it was rather gloomy in the dome he rolled it
round on its axis, till the shuttered slit for the telescope directly
faced the morning sun, which thereupon flooded the concave interior,
touching the bright metal-work of the equatorial, and lighting up her
pale, troubled face.

'But Swithin!' she faltered; 'my letter to you--our marriage!'

'O yes, this marriage question,' he added. 'I had not forgotten it, dear
Viviette--or at least only for a few minutes.'

'Can you forget it, Swithin, for a moment? O how can you!' she said
reproachfully. 'It is such a distressing thing. It drives away all my
rest!'

'Forgotten is not the word I should have used,' he apologized.
'Temporarily dismissed it from my mind, is all I meant. The simple fact
is, that the vastness of the field of astronomy reduces every terrestrial
thing to atomic dimensions. Do not trouble, dearest. The remedy is
quite easy, as I stated in my letter. We can now be married in a prosy
public way. Yes, early or late--next week, next month, six months
hence--just as you choose. Say the word when, and I will obey.'

The absence of all anxiety or consternation from his face contrasted
strangely with hers, which at last he saw,