M. Mabeuf, in his venerable, infantile austerity, had not accepted the gift of the stars; he had not admitted that a star could coin itself into louis d'or.

That birth date is in April 1979, when the supernova explosion that signaled the collapse of the star was spotted flaring brightly in the M-100 galaxy by a school teacher using a telescope.

Rainier had begun courting Kelly, star of Dial M For Murder and Rear Window, the previous year.