Waiting alone in the frost-blue frock he had so often praised, with the quotidian, constant shouts of the street hawkers wafting in from outside, the still-proud Princess thought once more of Julie, the man she had belonged to so completely. He was now, according to the message on the dagger, the hapless captive of mind-devouring space aliens.
   It was then that came an abrupt fanfare from the long-silent trumpets, and she realized, in a single instant, what was now to happen. He was here! “I love you with a fiery passion which cannot be denied, you who make my life complete!” he husked in that nigh-subsonic basso profundo of his which had caused so much trouble during their honeymoon at the glassworks.
   Then, without any warning, he excitedly began to show her his plans for the villa they were to share, and as he slid the little ring onto her finger, she began to wonder how she would explain all this to John.