But behind them, the maids were exchanging bewildered glances.
They were unable to follow what was being ant in the conversation, although they can understand each word that is being said but the when joined together, they couldn’t understand it all.
But their mistress’s reaction was unprecedented they had never seen her talk to a man this much before.
"And the moon, you see," Miss Evelyn went on, her voice trembling with excitent. "I have watched it carefully. It shows us different faces every few days sotis it’s a thin crescent, sotis a half circle, full, and then it follows the sa pattern back again.
"That implies it’s not flat, doesn’t it? I have deduced that maybe it is so kind of a sphere, and we’re only seeing various parts of it illuminated as it moves."
"Yes," Alex said simply, impressed again by her intelligence.
"Then the earth itself," Miss Evelyn pressed on, her thoughts already leaping ahead. "I have watched ships sail away from harbor.
They just shrink until they disappear. First the hull disappears, followed by the sails as if they are sinking behind so curve. Otherwise, on a flat earth, that wouldn’t be possible."
"Yeah, it would not," Alex agreed, curious to see how much she had summarized from observation alone.
Miss Evelyn’s hands were clasped tightly together now, her usual calm shattered by the confirmation of these discoveries. "If the earth is a sphere, and the moon is a sphere, and the sun...." She hesitated, and then asked, seemingly out of nowhere, "Does the earth move?"
"What makes you ask that?" he was taken aback by her question, and responded to her question with a question.
"Since the stars seem to move across the sky throughout the year. Either the stars revolve around us in so kind of cosmic dance." She looked him straight in the eye. "Or if we are revolving...."
"The second explanation is right," said Alex softly.
"So, we move not the other way around?" she whispered. "The earth itself travels through the heavens. But how? Following what path?"
"A circular path around the sun," Alex said. "As do those wandering stars you observed... each one following a circle of varying distances."
"Around the sun," Miss Evelyn murmured weakly. "Not the earth revolving around the sun, but we revolving around the sun. The sun is just standing still while we revolve?"
"Yes."
Miss Evelyn pressed a hand to her forehead, trying to process the implications. She had suspected so of this for a long ti, but getting confirmation from soone else was entirely different.
"But still it does not make sense; if we move, why do we not feel it?" she asked. "Surely if the ground beneath our feet travels through space, we should sense that motion sohow?"
"Have you ever ridden in a smoothly moving carriage?" Alex asked.
"Of course."
"When it is moving at constant speed on a level surface, can you sense the motion?"
Miss Evelyn’s eyes widened as the understanding struck her. "Only when it changes speed or turns. When it’s steady..." She left the sentence hanging as she realized the implication behind his question.
"The earth’s motion is steady," Alex confird. "Everything is moving in sync: earth, air, water everything. So, we aren’t going to feel anything."
"Everything is moving in sync..." Miss Evelyn whispered, her brain stretching to take in this brand-new idea of reality.
She actually swayed slightly on her feet. Alex instinctively reached out to steady her, not noticing the maids tensing behind them.
"Miss Evelyn!"
The crisp voice of the maid sliced through the garden atmosphere.
Both Alex and Miss Evelyn turned to see the two maids standing much closer now, alarm etched prominently across their faces.
Miss Evelyn blinked, realizing how tightly she was gripping Alex’s hand, how close she was to him, to the point of forgetting all rules of propriety while she was so carried away with her passion.
Her face turned crimson with embarrassnt as she hastily let him go and moved back to a more proper distance.
"I.... forgive ," she stuttered. "I have no idea what ca over . That was totally inappropriate."
"Your curiosity is not inappropriate," Alex said softly.
"Miss Evelyn, we have to go back inside right away," the maid stated firmly. "It is much too late. Your father will be worried about you."
Miss Evelyn nodded chanically, though her mind was still reeling with questions about the universe that had been laid open before her.
One final glance was cast upward at the stars.
They appeared to have undergone a total tamorphosis, as if she were seeing them for the first ti ever in her life.
The universe had opened infinitely in her understanding within a single conversation.
She would never be able to look into the night sky in quite the sa way again.
"Brother Alex," she whispered as they set off in the direction of the manor. "I have so many more questions."
"Perhaps we can continue another ti," Alex suggested gently, acutely aware of the maids’ hostile stares returning with renewed intensity, if he dared to stop her, he might not be able to see the sun tomorrow.
Miss Evelyn nodded unwillingly, though her expression showed she would have gladly stood in that garden until dawn asking questions if propriety allowed it.
When they got to the entrance of the manor house, she turned to him again.
"Thank you," she replied. "Brother Alex, in the past, people told that I shouldn’t ask such scandalous questions, that I shouldn’t be like this, since this kind of curiosity isn’t very ladylike. Thank you for listening to , for not brushing off.
I’m not sure if everything you told is the truth, but I’m satisfied with this, with the fact that I’m being listened to, taken seriously."
"A person who says so is a fool," said Alex decisively. "Your mind is remarkable, Miss Evelyn. Never let anyone succeed in convincing you otherwise."
His voice was full of sincerity, and this caught her breath.
With the agitated maids pushing her inside, Miss Evelyn cast one last glance at Alex as she left the Estate.
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