Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) was an English novelist and poet. In the novel "Two On A Tower" Lady Constantine breaks all the rules of social decorum when she falls in love with the beautiful Swithin St Cleeve. He is younger than she and stands below the social ladder. The tower in question is a monument to the astronomical observatory where together the lovers 'sweep the heavens'. Science and romance are destined to collide, however, as work, ambition and the pressures of the outside world intrude upon the pair. In what Sally Shuttleworth calls 'a drama of oppositions and conflicts', Hardy's story sets male desire against female constancy.