Preserving whitespace between nodes - XSLT

Hi, 

I have an XSLT question that I'm unable to answer, and I'm starting to
think there may not be an answer. Before I give up, allow me to consult
your expertise.

I'm trying to preserve significant whitespace between element nodes
during transformation. For example, if I had some XML like:

  <x>text <x>text</x> <x>text</x> text</x>
(note the space in the middle, between nodes)

...and some kind of simple transform like:

  <xsl:template match="*">
    <x>
      <xsl:apply-templates/>
    </x>
  </xsl:template>

... I end up with:

<x>text <x>text</x><x>text</x> text</x>
(space is removed)

I understand why this is happening... I'm just looking for a way around
it, if there is one. It becomes significant when the element nodes
ultimately indicate text-range formatting, such as:

<div>text <b>bold</b> <i>italics</i> text</div>

...which erroneously becomes "text bolditalics text."

Thanks for any insight.

Russ