"I love you!" the Marquis said. "I love you until it is impossible to think of anything else but you. I cannot live without you!"

Then his lips were on hers.

To Mina it was as if there was a blazing light which came from the sky and enveloped them with a beauty that was also part of their hearts and souls.

It was so rapturous, so utterly and completely glorious that for a moment she felt as if she must have died and found Heaven, where she and the Marquis were alone except for the glory of God himself.