"Thank you for the compliment sir and please, call me Belle or Bella," she smiled.  "There's no need to stand on formalities."  She was about to be alone with him for the first time and she had goose bumps.  She hoped he didn't notice.  She led him into the arboretum on the way out, naming some of the tropical plants kept there.  They had donned their jackets on the way out, since the wind was nippy.  The garden was truly amazing, with many paths winding through the lush greenery leading to the rose garden, where benches and arbors abounded.  On the other side of the rose garden were bush-high fruit trees, some bearing several types of fruit, thanks to grafting.  Beyond that was a hothouse, where the gardener raised the seedlings and worked on graftings and cuttings.  During the summer, their home was teeming with beautiful vases full of flowers throughout the house.<br/><br/>"Oh, you must see this," Belle said as she took the Ambassador's hand and led him to the hothouse where her favorite plant was kept until the warm season returned.  Leading him in, she walked about half-way through the hothouse before coming to an area where plants were kept under ultraviolet lights.  She walked up to one in particular, her face showing childish excitement, and pointed.  "Have you even seen anything like this?" she enthused.  "Our gardener created it, and he calls it "Vamp Rose."  It was a beautiful rose, solid black with red fringe along the petal edges.  It looked as if it had been spray painted.  Belle reached out and cupped the flower in her hand, unable to resist, and leaned in to smell it.  "And it has a lovely bouquet.  So many of today's roses have little to no scent, but the Vamp can easily perfume an entire room."  She hesitated a moment, realizing they were still holding hands.