Something stirred iudy window and a glow of light sho for a moment. She remembered what she had to do and tapped on the glass door. It opened almost at once.
「Good girl. e in quickly. We havent got long,」 said the Master, and drew the curtain back across the door as soon as she had entered. He was fully dressed in his usual black.
「Arent I going after all?」 Lyra asked.
「Yes; I t prevent it,」 said the Master, and Lyra didnt notice at the time what an odd thing that was to say. 「Lyra, Im going to give you something, and you must promise to keep it private. Will you swear to that?」
「Yes,」 Lyra said.
He crossed to the desk and took from a drawer a small package ed in black velvet. When he unfolded the cloth, Lyra saw something like a large watch or a small clock: a thick disk of gold and crystal. It might have been a pass or something of the sort.
「What is it?」 she said.
「Its ahiometer. Its one of only six that were ever made. Lyra, I urge you again: keep it private. It would be better if Mrs. Coulter didnt know about it. Your uncle—」
「But what does it do?」
「It tells you the truth. As for how to read it, youll have to learn by yourself. Now go—its getting lighter—hurry back to your room before anyone sees you.」
He folded the velvet over the instrument and thrust it into her hands. It was surprisingly heavy. The his own hands oher side of her head and held her gently for a moment.
She tried to look up at him, and said, 「What were you going to say about Uncle Asriel?」
「Your uncle prese to Jordan College some years ago. He might—」
Before he could finish, there came a soft urgent kno the door. She could feel his hands give an involuntary tremor.
「Quiow, child,」 he said quietly. 「The powers of this world are very strong.
Men and women are moved by tides much fiercer than you imagine, and they sweep us all up into the current. Go well, Lyra; bless you, child, bless you.
Keep your own sel.」
「Thank you, Master,」 she said dutifully.
Clutg the buo her breast, she left the study by the garden door, looking back briefly oo see the Masters daemon watg her from the windowsill. The sky was lighter already; there was a faint fresh stir in the air.
「Whats that youve got?」 said Mrs. Lonsdale, closing the battered little suitcase with a snap.
「The Master gave it me. t it go in the suitcase?」 「Too late. Im not opening it now. Itll have to go in your coat pocket, whatever it is. Hurry on down to the buttery; dohem waiting....」
It was only after shed said goodbye to the few servants who were up, and to Mrs. Lonsdale, that she remembered Roger; and then she felt guilty for not having thought of him once since meeting Mrs. Coulter. How quickly it had all happened! But no doubt Mrs. Coulter would help her look for him, and she was bound to have powerful friends who could get him back from wherever hed disappeared to. He was bound to turn up eventually.
And now she was on her way to London: sittio the window in a zeppelin, no less, with Pantalaimons sharp little ermine paws digging into her thigh while his front paws rested against the glass he gazed through. On Lyras other side Mrs. Coulter sat w through some papers, but she soon put them away and talked. Such brilliant talk! Lyra was intoxicated; not about the North this time, but about London, and the restaurants and ballrooms, the soirees at embassies or ministries, the intrigu