II
Lord Radcliff was well versed in astronomy, and I was an attentive student. We began with mathematics, something I didn’t associate with the night sky, and that was the most difficult part of my studies. Even so, he was as patient as he’d always been with me over the years and I kept at it with fervor. When he found my understanding adequate, we moved on to charts, star names, how they moved and why. Every lesson was something new and I devoured it.
Shortly after my fifteenth nameday, I returned home from my instruction one evening to find my father in the sitting room with another man. Father was more relaxed than I’d seen him in months, and they laughed with ease. All I could see of his guest was dark hair as he faced my father.
“I’m home,” I announced, dutifully slipping off my sh
