Page 55 of Playing the Scoundrel

“It’s a telescope!” Miss Follett cried, reaching out to touch all the pieces. “Can we go put it together, Mrs. Dunn? In the stairwell by the front windows?”

The elderly woman sighed but waved her hand, dismissing them. “If you must.”

Miss Follett’s childlike excitement was infectious, making Henry chuckle as she clasped the case and hurried out of the dining room. “We might not have nearly enough altitude, but the sky is rather clear without fog tonight, so perhaps we’ll be lucky.”

He met solidly with her back in the entryway where she’d stopped, then turned to face him. “Wait here.” Miss Follett pressed the case into his hands and disappeared into the dark library. Henry leaned his head into the room.

“What are you doing?”

She stood at the bookshelf, tracing her finger across each spine until finally she found the one bound in blue leather. “We’re going to need Mr. Messier for this.” Biting her lip, likely to contain her excitement, she grabbed his spare hand, pulling him up the stairs. “Come on!”

Once they were on the plane by the second story windows, in between the main floor and the upstairs, Miss Follett immediately dropped to her knees and pulled the case out of his hands.

“You seem to know exactly what you’re doing,” Henry said, crouching down next to her as she deftly put the pieces together.

“When I was growing up, we had a similar model, though not nearly as nice, but eventually it fell into disrepair, and we couldn’t use it anymore.”

“Why didn’t you replace it?”

She paused only for a moment, not meeting his eyes. “We couldn’t afford to. It wasn’t a necessity, so there was no justifying the expense.”

The desire to take care of her, to provide for her every whim, was slowly overtaking him. Henry had just gifted her a telescope, and he had so much more of his heart to give. But would she ever see him as more than a rake? If she could apologize to him, did that mean there was room in her heart to love him as well? Would she be willing to give him another chance?

The telescope slowly began to take shape, the three long legs first, and then Miss Follett delicately put together the lens, the long tube, and the eyepiece. Then she turned her back on it as if forgotten, reaching for her book and violently flipping through the pages.

“As we are currently in London, and today is March…” She looked up at him.

“March the fifth, I believe.”

She flipped a few more pages, then put her hands gently on the telescope, leaning to peer through the eyepiece. Miss Follett huffed in frustration, leaned to remove the cover from the lens and blow off any dust, then returned to the eyepiece. Slowly a smile spread across her lips, making Henry’s heart soar. He hoped it was everything she had hoped for.

“What do you see?”

“Nothing yet.” She pulled back, her eyes sparkling with delight, even in the dimly lit stairwell. “But it’s just a joy to see beyond my own sphere again. This tool is magical.”

Placing her hands on the telescope, she slowly moved the position of the lens, in a similar fashion to how he remembered his mother doing. Out of all his childhood memories, the few happy ones he had, Henry was glad to know he could savor one of the good ones and share it with Miss Follett.

“How are things going?” called Mrs. Dunn from the dining room.

“I’ve almost found something,” Miss Follett said, returning to examine her book for reference. She peered through the eyeglass once more before pulling back. “Here it is! Look, look!”

She tugged on Henry’s hand and moved out of place so he was standing before the telescope. He leaned over, looking into the eyepiece, and saw a small circle. It was blurry and an off shade of blue, but distinctly round and brighter than the dark surrounding it.

“What am I looking at?” Henry asked.

“That’s the planet, Uranus.”

Henry pulled back. “A planet? I thought we were looking at stars.”

She grinned. “William Herschel is a German astronomer who discovered this planet some thirty years ago, and it was eventually named Uranus, after the father of Cronus in Greek mythology. I’d written his coordinates in the margins here, but Herschel’s notes say it’s difficult to view at times in March, so I was hoping we’d catch a glimpse.”

Her face was alive. Not just in beauty, but in passion. This study, this research, made her glow. Henry had no desire to take credit for it, but it made him want to shower her in affection. He had to fight off the urge to take her face in his hands and kiss her senseless. So instead, he simply said, “You are spectacular, do you know that?”

She flushed and shook her head, moving to take a look inside the telescope again. “And you are ever the flirt, Mr. Godwin.”

He chuckled, but her words brought out a sudden change in his thoughts. “Miss Follett, if you don’t mind, I have a request of you.”

She stood straight, giving him a smirk. “In exchange for the telescope?”

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