Illya walked down the street holding hands with Marion Raven. Following 'The Quadripartite Affair' and 'The Giuoco Piano Affair', the two of them had become very good friends, and Illya was looking forward to taking the relationship to the next level.
It was a sunny but breezy day in New York City, the Saturday before Easter. Marion was talking about her plans for the upcoming holiday.
"I'm attending the morning service at the Episcopal church on the corner of the street where I live, and afterwards, some friends have invited me over for lunch," she told Illya. "Won't you come with me? My friends told me I'm welcome to bring a date."
"Are you referring to the church service or to dinner?"
"Well, both! The church's auditorium is always beautifully decorated with white lilies. I think you'd really like it."
"I would be happy to accompany you to your lunch date, but I believe I will pass on the invitation to church," Illya replied. "Religion was not a part of the culture I grew up in, and I have never felt comfortable inside houses of worship."
"Oh." Marion was disappointed, but she knew better than to press the matter. "Oh, look!" she suddenly squealed excitedly.
Illya's eyes followed hers to the cocker spaniel puppy in the front window of the pet store they were about to walk past.
"Oh, isn't he cute!" Marion continued. "I want to hold him!"
Smiling indulgently, Illya held the door of the pet store open for her, and they both walked in.
"Please, sir, can you get the puppy in the window out for me?" Marion asked the pet store's manager.
"Sure, Miss," the burly man answered. He unlocked the kennel and fetched the puppy.
"Oh, you are so adorable!" Marion enthused, struggling to hold onto the wriggling, squirming ball of fur as it enthusiastically licked her face. "Isn't he, Illya?"
Knowing that it would break Marion's heat to part with the puppy, Illya paid the store manager for it and they left the pet store together, Marion all smiles as she held her prize.
They'd only gone a couple of blocks when a cat dashed across their path and, quick as a flash, the puppy escaped Marion's arms and took off after it.
"Oh, no!" Marion cried.
"Do not worry," said Illya. "I will get him back."
Yet even the swift feet of the UNCLE agent proved to be no match for a dog on the trail of a cat, and the Russian had soon lost sight of the puppy.
"I'll never see him again!" Marion sobbed.
Just then, they heard the squeal of brakes followed by a thumping noise. "I didn't see him!" the car's driver insisted as he emerged from behind the wheel.
The blond's heart was in his throat as he and the other man walked around to the front of the car. Illya sighed in relief when he saw that the driver had hit, not the cocker spaniel puppy, but a stray dog. After helping the other man to wrap the injured animal in a blanket and place it in the back seat of his car for transport to an animal hospital, the Russian resumed his search for the puppy he'd just bought his friend. After about a half hour, a policeman walked up to the couple holding the puppy.
"Is this your dog?" the policeman asked.
"Yes!" Marion cried gratefully. "Where did you find him?"
"In a back alley rummaging for food," the policeman replied. "It was a lucky thing that I found him when I did, as there was a loose Rottweiler just a couple of yards over who would have had him for a snack."
"Oh, baby!" Marion cooed as she took the puppy into her arms. "We'd better get you right home before anything else can happen!"
The puppy, totally oblivious to his new master's words, continued to lick her face enthusiastically.