In 1896 she sailed to Norway on the Norwegian vessel "Norse King", to observe the solar eclipse of August 9, 1896. The eclipse was not a success because of obscuring clouds, but romance was about to enter her life. She met up with Dr. Isaac Roberts, a 67-year-old Welsh widower and entrepreneur turned astronomer, who had become a pioneer in astrophotography. He had attended the Paris Carte du Ciel Congress. Roberts had equipped his private observatory with a 50 cm reflector and camera, and a 13 cm Cooke refractor.