"How convenient," she said, smiling up at him.

"I thought so," he said, lowering his mouth to hers. "Now, where were we before my family overran our wedding bed?"

AND AS MILES made her his in that very chilly stable, Abby decided sev-eral things.

One, central heating just wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

Two, condemned heretics made mighty fine lovers.

And three, Sir Sweetums deserved a promotion!

Epilogue.

SIR MAXIMILLIAN SWEETUMS reclined on a most comfortable cloud, con-templating his well-deserved repast. He brought a particularly plump Tender Vittle to his aristocratic nose and sniffed critically. Ah, the bou-quet was excellent! He partook with relish.

"So, Boss, you finished up de job?"

Sir Sweetums was in such a fine mood, he didn't begrudge the bull-dog his interruption of afternoon tea. "Yes, dear Bruno, my task is fin-ished. The Abigail is well settled."

"Yeah, Boss, but dose kids she's gonna get." The bulldog shuddered. "Yikes!"

"Never fear, Bruno. I'll be there to aid her when she needs it. And I'll have a care for her little ones. All part of the job, you know."

Bruno struggled to scratch behind his ear. Once he managed to get his foot within range, he scratched thoughtfully.

"Dese jobs, Boss. Uh, don't you need some help sometimes?"

"Indeed, Bruno, it is a most taxing venture," Sir Sweetums agreed. "Never a moment to sit idly by."

"Den, uh, Boss, I was wonderin', you know, when . . . uh-"

The bulldog was positively aquiver with nervousness. Sir Sweetums looked at his loyal companion and felt compa.s.sion stir within his feline breast.

"Perhaps the next a.s.signment, dear boy. It looks to be quite a tangle to unravel."

"Golly, BOSS, really? I really get to go dis time?"

Bruno leaped up in joy, lost his balance and fell through half a dozen clouds before he remembered how it all worked.

Sir Sweetums sighed. It would be a very long unraveling indeed, with Bruno aboard.

"More cream, Boss?" Bruno bellowed happily from quite a distance. "Anything else I can get yous?"

"Perhaps, something from a different galaxy, my friend," Sir Sweet- ums called.

Bruno bounded off enthusiastically. Sir Sweetums resettled himself to enjoy his peace and quiet. Yes, indeed, how happy The Abigail and The Miles were together. Sir Sweetums basked in the glow of a task well fin-ished. The tranquillity was, of course, destined to last only as long as it took The Abigail to produce a child or two.

Bruno was, unfortunately, very correct about the offspring. Yikes! was the word indeed.

But never fear, dear reader, never fear! Sir Sweetums knew that The Abigail and her dashing Sir Miles would weather any storm together and love each other more for the surviving of it. In time he would, as a mem-ber of the Guardian Feline a.s.sociation, have The Abigail's dark-haired, gray-eyed children to watch over. With any luck at all, they wouldn't in-herit The Miles's propensity for sneezing at the slightest provocation. Sir Sweetums smiled.

It was indeed a wonderful afterlife!

END.