with her gaze and her desire fixed upon the orb, whenever possible. From her
room a stairway led [191] to a tall turret, circular, with a glass dome, so as to
favour all such observations. But on this night the garden tempted her. Nox
erat et caelo fulgebat Luna sereno inter minora  sidera. The moon hung above
Capri, two hours from her setting. Iliel held her vigil upon the terrace, by the
side of the basin of the fountain. When the moon was not visible, she would
always replace her by looking upon the sea, or upon still water, for these have
much in common with the lunar influence.
Something — she never knew what — drew her eyes from the moon to the
water. She was so placed that the reflexion appeared in the basin, at the very
edge of the marble, where the water flowed over into the little rivulets that
coursed the terrace. There was a tremulous movement, almost like a timid
kiss, as the water touched the edge.
And, to the eye of Iliel, it seemed as if the trembling of the moon's image
were a stirring of vitality.
The thought that followed was a mystery. She said that she looked up, as if
recalled to her vigil, and found that the moon was no longer in the sky. Nor
indeed was there any sky; she was in a grotto whose walls, fantastically
draped with stalactites, glimmered a faint purplish blue — very much the
effect, she explained, of luminous paint. She looked down again; the basin
was gone; at her feet was a young fawn, snow-white, with a collar of silver.
She was impelled to read the engraving upon the collar, and was able to make
out these words:
 
Siderum regina bicornis audi,
Luna, puellas.
 
Iliel had learnt no Latin. But these words were not only Latin, but the Latin
of Horace; and they were exactly appropriate to the nature of the Great [192]
Experiment, "Luna" she had heard, and "regina";  and she might have
guessed "puellas" and even "siderum"; but that is one thing, and an accurate
quotation from the Carmen Saeculare is another. Yet they stood in her mind
as if she had always known them, perhaps even as if they were innate in her.
She repeated aloud:
 
  "Siderum regina bicornis audi,
  Luna, puellas.