Waiting alone in the full knowledge that her fate was now sealed, with the foreboding cries of the frolicking children wafting in from outside, Melissa — she who had always seemed so cold! — thought once more of Xavier ‘Sneaky Legs’ Lexington, the one person left who could help her. He was now, according to persistent rumours, a prisoner in the very castle he had once owned.
   Just then, came the sound she had been longing to hear, and she felt her heart suddenly beat with a new, wild rhythm. He was here! “Without you I am nothing, you little fool!” he intoned with his eyes (for his voice was now silent for ever).
   At long last he once again began to woo her with the sensual voice of his Stradivarius, and as he excitedly began to show her his plans for the villa they were to share, she woke up. Incredibly enough, it had all been a dream.