AustLit
Latest Issues
AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'‘May I?’
'She nodded.
'Andreas settled down beside Annabelle on the steps.
'They sat in silence, watching the harbour city below, their eyes following tiny coloured lights — boats scampering along the surface of the dark water. But it was the night sky with the stars and the moon, and the seagulls chasing insects caught in the upward lights, that held their fascination.
'Finally, they turned their gaze upon each other.
'‘We seem to have a profound affinity. Goethe wrote about the mystery of attraction and the atoms which link people to each other.’
'Annabelle’s eyes brightened. She listened with her whole being.
'‘It’s the title of one of his works, Elective Affinities,’ he continued, ‘the deep affinities between two people — that they choose each other. It’s very powerful. Have you read it?’
'Annabelle felt a shiver of recognition skimming along her skin.'
