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Chapter Four
The Alethiometer
"I hope you’ll sit next toroorandeur of a Master’s lodging You’ll have to shohich knife and fork to use"
"Are you a fearded female Scholars with a proper Jordan disdain: there were such people, but, poor things, they could never be takena play Mrs Coulter, on the other hand, was not like any female Scholar Lyra had seen, and certainly not like the two serious elderly ladies ere the other fe the answer No, in fact, for Mrs Coulter had such an air of glamour that Lyra was entranced She could hardly take her eyes off her
"Not really," Mrs Coulter said "I’e, but most of my work takes place outside OxfordTell me about yourself, Lyra Have you always lived at Jordan College?"
Within fiveabout her half-wild life: her favorite routes over the rooftops, the battle of the claybeds, the tiht and roasted a rook, her intention to capture a narrowboat frodon, and so on She even (looking around and lowering her voice) told her about the trick she and Roger had played on the skulls in the crypt
"And these ghosts caht, they came to my bedroom
without their heads! They couldn’t talk except fornoises, but I knehat they wanted all right So I went down next day and put their coins back They’d probably have killed er, then?" said Mrs Coulter adly They were at dinner by this tinored completely the Librarian on her other side and spent the wholeto Mrs Coulter
When the ladies withdrew for coffee, Da to send you to school?"
Lyra looked blank "I dun - I don’t know," she said "Probably not," she added for safety "I wouldn’t want to put them to any trouble," she went on piously "Or expense It’s probably better if I just go on living at Jordan and getting educated by the Scholars here when they’ve got a bit of spare ti as they’re here already, they’re probably free"
"And does your uncle Lord Asriel have any plans for you?" said the other lady, as a Scholar at the other woe
"Yes," said Lyra "I expect so Not school, though He’s going to take oes"
"I re me," said Mrs Coulter
Lyra blinked The two feh their daemons, either well behaved or torpid, did no more than flick their eyes at each other
"I met him at the Royal Arctic Institute," Mrs Coulter went on "As athat I’m here today"
"Are you an explorer too?" said Lyra
"In a kind of way I’ve been to the North several ti observations of the Aurora"
That was it; nothing and no one else existed now for Lyra She gazed at Mrs Coulter with awe, and listened rapt and silent to her tales of igloo building, of seal hunting, of negotiating with the Lapland witches The two fe to tell, and sat in silence until the uests were preparing to leave, the Master said, "Stay behind, Lyra I’d like to talk to you for a minute or two Go to my study, child; sit down there and wait for me"
Puzzled, tired, exhilarated, Lyra did as he told her Cousins the manservant showed her in, and pointedly left the door open so that he could see what she was up to fro people on with their coats Lyra watched for Mrs Coulter, but she didn’t see her, and then the Master came into the study and shut the door
He sat down heavily in the armchair by the fireplace His daemon flapped up to the chair back and sat by his head, her old hooded eyes on Lyra The laently as the Master said:
"So, Lyra You’ve been talking to Mrs Coulter Did you enjoy hearing what she said?"
"Yes!"
"She is a remarkable lady"
"She’s wonderful She’s the most wonderful person I’ve ever hed In his black suit and black tie he looked as ht that one day, quite soon, he would be buried in the crypt under the oratory, and an artist would engrave a picture of his daemon on the brass plate for his coffin, and her name would share the space with his
"I should have made time before now for a talk with you, Lyra," he said after a fewto do so in any case, but it seeht You have been safe here in Jordan, my dear I think you’ve been happy You haven’t found it easy to obey us, but we are very fond of you, and you’ve never been a bad child There’s a lot of goodness and sweetness in your nature, and a lot of deteroing on in the orld I would have liked to protect you fro you here in Jordan, I er possible"
Sheto send her away?
"You knew that soo to school," the Master went on "We have taught you soe is of a different kind You need to know things that elderly e you are now You must have been aware of that You’re not a servant’s child either; we couldn’t put you out to be fostered by a town faht have cared for you in some ways, but your needs are different You see, what I’ to you, Lyra, is that the part of your life that belongs to Jordan College is co to an end"
"No," she said, "no, I don’t want to leave Jordan I like it here I want to stay here forever"
"When you’re young, you do think that things last forever Unfortunately, they don’t Lyra, it won’t be long - a couple of years atwo lady And believe e a far from easy place to live in then"
"But it’s my home!"
"It has been your ho else"
"Not school I’ to school"
"You need feuidance"
The word feested female Scholars to Lyra, and she involuntarily randeur of Jordan, the splendor and fahouse of a college at the northern end of Oxford, with dowdy fee and mothballs like those two at dinner!
The Master saw her expression, and saw Pantalaimon’s polecat eyes flash red
He said, "But suppose it were Mrs Coulter?"
Instantly Pantalaied from coarse brown to dohite Lyra’s eyes widened
"Really?"
"She is by way of being acquainted with Lord Asriel Your uncle, of course, is very concerned with your welfare, and when Mrs Coulter heard about you, she offered at once to help There is no Mr Coulter, by the way; she is aHer husband died very sadly in an accident soht bear that in erly, and said, "And she’s really going tolook after me?"
"Would you like that?"
"Yes!"
She could hardly sit still The Master smiled He smiled so rarely that he was out of practice, and anyone watching (Lyra wasn’t in a state to notice) would have said it was a grimace of sadness
"Well, we had better ask her in to talk about it," he said
He left the room, and when he came back a minute later with Mrs Coulter, Lyra was on her feet, too excited to sit Mrs Coulter srin of implike pleasure As she passed her on the way to the armchair, Mrs Coulter touched Lyra’s hair briefly, and Lyra felt a current of warmth flow into her, and blushed
When the Master had poured some brantwijn for her, Mrs Coulter said, "So, Lyra, I’m to have an assistant, am I?"
"Yes," said Lyra si
"There’s a lot of work I need help with"
"I can work!"
"And we ht have to travel"
"I don’t erous We o to the North"
Lyra was speechless Then she found her voice: "Soon?"
Mrs Coulter laughed and said, "Possibly But you know you’ll have to work very hard You’ll have to learn raphy"
"Will you teach me?"
"Yes And you’ll have to helpvarious pieces of basic calculation, and so on And because we’ll be visiting some important people, we’ll have to find you some pretty clothes There’s a lot to learn, Lyra"
"I don’t mind I want to learn it all"
"I’e, you’ll be a fa to leave very early in theand go straight to bed I’ll see you at breakfast Goodnight!"
"Goodnight," said Lyra, and, re the few ht, Master"
He nodded "Sleep well," he said
"And thanks," Lyra added to Mrs Coulter
She did sleep, finally, though Pantalaimon wouldn’t settle until she snapped at hi out of pique It was still dark when someone shook her awake
"Lyra - hush - don’t start - wake up, child"
It was Mrs Lonsdale She was holding a candle, and she bent over and spoke quietly, holding Lyra still with her free hand