Then, as she looked into his eyes, she knew that it was what he wanted to hear.
He was in fact looking at her as if she was something not only enormously special but also sacred.
His lips were on hers now and he kissed her gently at first.
Then, as if he could not help himself, he kissed her again more demandingly and more passionately.
She felt as if the fire that burned in him had joined the starlight within her and turned it into fire.
It was the fire of purity, which burned away evil, the deceit, the lies and all that was wrong and wicked.
It was the fire of the Divine that was like the heat of the sun and yet it was in itself everything that was pure and beautiful like the glory of the flowers and the song of the birds.
Then, as the Earl swept Noella through the Gates of Paradi
