Waiting alone in the Red Chamber, remembering its bloody history, with the darkest smell of new-cut grass wafting in from outside, Argo ben Strongarm, Student Nurse, thought once more of dashing Beth St. Johannsen, the only man she had ever really loved. He was now, according to his scheming partner, Francisco, drinking himself to death in the company of the hateful Terrence.
   It was then that came the thud of fists, a muffled cry, fighting on the stairway, and she somehow knew that her heart had been right all along. He was here! “I love you with a fiery passion which cannot be denied, my feline partner-in-crime!” he mumbled.
   Suddenly, the truth — the whole truth — slowly came home to her, and as he slid the little ring onto her finger, she at last understood that for the two of them, life was only now really beginning.