21 Quotes by Hannah Richell

They do not know that I stand here in the corridor, a witness to their soft sighs, the creaking bed springs, the sounds of the forbidden.

They weave between the trees and bracken, leaves and sticks cracking beneath their feet, grey flints and white chalk jutting like shards of bone glinting through the soil. Out of the direct sunlight, the air is soft and green, as if they walk through cool water. The further they go, the thicker the insidious ivy scaling the beech tree trunks and the denser the canopy.

The scrubbed oak table and the pots of herbs and geraniums growing on the windowsill, the old willow-pattern china standing on the dresser, a jug filled with peonies spilling petals on the floor.

There is no one in the walled garden for company but the dog and a lone blackbird fluttering hopefully through the espaliered fruit trees and over the netted gooseberry bushes. The sun is still a low rose-gold blush on the horizon. Dew seeps through her silk slippers but she hardly notices.

Here we are," says Jack.Lillian stops and looks around, marveling at the high, green canopy and the soft light streaming through the branches. Overhead a magpie flits through the branches of a tree, rustling leaves until it takes flight with a mournful cry, its wings beating the air. "This is beautiful," she says."Yes," agrees Jack. "It's like standing inside nature's own cathedral, don't you think?

It's been years since you opened up the gardens or hosted an event. It used to be de rigueur.""Yes, and didn't it also used to be de rigueur that you'd throw yourself at any new man who arrived in Cloud Green?

It's a little early to be falling asleep," says a voice, soft and low, at her side.Startled, she spins to face the man who seems to have materialized from nowhere."By all accounts," he adds, "there are still hours of this to get through."She doesn't recognize him. In the near-darkness his face is smooth like sculpted marble and his eyes shine almost black; his expression is hard to read- playful, perhaps- but it's his choice of words that intrigues her the most.

In the dim light of the swaying Chinese lanterns, it's hard to read his expression but once, as Charles's gaze drifts out across the lawn, she sees his dark eyes slide across to her and wonders if she imagines the slightest twitch of a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth.

This spark between us is so strong. Sometimes, I feel it might steal the oxygen from the air around us.""Exactly." He smiles and leans in to kiss her on the mouth.