106. Love's Dream in Peril

But Adella had never felt anything quite like the glow that was now spreading through her whole body and pulling her towards the young man who stood beside her. In another moment she would be in his arms and everything would be forgotten. Digby let go of her hand. “I am sorry,” he said. Adella knew that she must hurry, that there was still a little way to walk to the teashop and then the long road back out of town to Mottram’s, but she could not. The golden spell of the Botanical Gardens did not want to let her go and her steps were slow and heavy as she walked beside Digby to the entrance. As they stood beside the great stone archway, he drew her to him. “We must leave this other world we have stepped into,” he sighed, “but before we do – ” Adella felt all her breath leave her body as his lips touched hers. It was the sweetest sensation, as if all the sunshine, the heavenly scents of the gardens, every blissful moment of the magical time she had spent with him, was caught up in his kiss. Then he released her.