Free King of Morning, Queen of Day by Ian McDonald

enough) to be seen to be associating with people who believe there really are faeries at the bottom of the garden!
    I had hoped that time would draw its veil over this Craigdarragh Case, but quite the reverse has happened—public and press interest, already high from the construction of the stellagraph, has been fanned into veritable incandescence by reports of photographs of faery folk, from within the same family. No; I am afraid only one course of action was open to me, which, loath though I was to exercise, I nonetheless have taken: I have had to resign from any involvement and association with Project Pharos.
    I do sincerely hope, my dear Dr. Desmond, that even at this late stage, funds will be forthcoming (though, alas, I cannot foresee from where) for the completion of the project. Certainly, if successful, it will bring more lasting glory upon Craigdarragh than a whole legion of faeries.
    Once again, I am most sincerely sorrowful that situations should have forced me to such a pass. Would it had been otherwise.
Faithfully,
    Maurice: Clarenorris
    August 3, 1913
    Blessington & Weir, Ltd.
    Commercial Bankers
    119 Merrion Road
    Dublin
    Dear Dr. Desmond,
    We have recently been in receipt of a letter from you requesting the creation of a mortgage facility for the completion of your project to the sum of £22,000 against the deeds of your property, Craigdarragh House.
    We are pleased to inform you that your application has been successful; a meeting has been arranged between our Sligo representatives, Mooney, Talbot & O’Brien, Marine Finance, Ltd., and their solicitors, and yourself and your solicitors, to formalise the agreement. Please telephone us to confirm the date and the arrangements: our number is Dublin 3617.
    We at Blessington & Weir are glad to have been able to aid you in the completion of your work, and we await your communication in the near future.
Sincerely,
    Caius E. Blessington,
    William Weir the Younger

Dr. Edward Garret Desmond’s Personal Diary: August 4, 1913
    T HE HEADY SENSATION, LIKE that of fine old claret, that comes when one plucks triumph from the very brink of disaster! I am not ashamed to say that I despaired when I received the news of Lord Fitzgerald’s withdrawal from the project for the flimsiest of motives. Thunderous words such as treachery and betrayal struggled with nobler sentiments more proper a member of the peerage as the thought churned over and over in my mind: This is the end, Desmond—all come to naught and ashes.
    But now, since the settlement of the mortgage (Blessed Muse, that touched me with such inspiration in my darkest hours) and the payment of all my most pressing creditors, everything is changed. It is like a particularly fine spring after a long and dismal winter. Amazing, the total change of mood and character effected by the deposit of a few pounds sterling in the vaults of the First Sligo Farmer’s Bank! Now work has resumed; the last of the 176 pontoon sections was completed in the shipyard today. Already the central cross is being assembled in Sligo Bay. Not being much a mariner myself, I made my inspection by telescope from the cupola atop the old Pollexfen Shipping Line office and was filled with a most immodest pride to see out there an object which, alone I think of all man’s achievements, will be visible from interplanetary distances. In addition to the work on the pontoons, a small steam tug has been chartered from the harbour commissioners to lay the electrical cable. Incredibly (normally, I would hesitate to use quite such hyperbolic language, but for once, I feel justified in its usage), the great task looks like it will be completed by the allotted date, despite a body blow that would have crippled any man of lesser conviction, lesser zeal, lesser evangelistic determination than I. Mr. Michael Barry has been in daily contact concerning the connection of the stellagraph to the county grid. I have had replies from many members of the astronomical