The omitted nights

An original fiction passage set in the nineteenth century.

Miriam had been told to make a fair copy of the observatory notebook before the evening lecture. At first, the task seemed ordinary. She transferred the dates, the times and Mr Vale’s brief descriptions into the new volume, taking care to reproduce even his impatient dashes. Then she reached three pages on which the words cloud hid the sky had been crossed through.

Mr Vale stood behind her chair. “The lecture concerns what we observed, not what prevented observation,” he said. He placed a finger on the clean page. “Our patron expects a clear account.” Miriam asked whether an account could be clear if it contained only successful nights. He replied that twenty years of work might be lost because a young woman preferred completeness to understanding.

She continued copying. Where the crossed-out entries should have appeared, she left three narrow spaces. They looked, she thought, like shut windows. Before she could decide whether to fill them, their patron entered with two visitors and asked Mr Vale whether the sky had been watched on every night since the prediction was made.

Mr Vale began to answer, but Miriam rose and placed the original notebook beside the fair copy. “The record is not mine to explain,” she said. The patron read the crossed-out lines. Mr Vale did not look at her. His hand remained on the back of her empty chair, gripping it so tightly that the wood gave a small complaint.

The lecture was postponed rather than cancelled. After the visitors had gone, Mr Vale called Miriam exact, although he did not make the word sound like praise. She felt no triumph. Sitting down again, she filled the three spaces. She also restored an observation Mr Vale had crossed out because the writing was uncertain, even though it supported his prediction. When she closed the two books, neither appeared cleaner than the other.

“Miriam is presented as honest, but the writer prevents her honesty from seeming simple or heroic.”

Evaluate how successfully the writer presents this idea. Support your judgement with detailed references to the passage.