Poor Psyche went on looking for her beloved, all over the world. But she had no chance of finding him, because he was now back home with his mother, and in fact in bed - in severe pain from that nasty burn.

Meanwhile, a rather unpleasant bird was on its way to inform Venus of what had been going on. This gull found the Goddess of Love enjoying a dip in the ocean - and told her: her son was bedridden with a dreadful wound; he'd been having a sordid affair with a girl; and that the gossip was she herself had had a nervous breakdown and gone on a seaside holiday! And that as a result the whole universe was in complete disorder - with love having completely gone out of everyone's lives!

This revolting bird poisoned Venus' mind - she believed the story about her son, and demanded the name of the Nymph, Muse or Grace who'd dared seduce her innocent son. "Unless I'm completely mistaken," piped the talkative gull, it was a mortal. I think her name was something like ... Psyche!"

Her vacation abruptly curtailed, Venus went straight home, and straight to her son's bedroom. "You lazy, disobedient little lecher. How dare you? I told you to ruin that girl's life, and instead you have the cheek to go and sleep with her yourself! Well, I'm not too old to have children - I can have another son! Or I can confiscate your little toys and give them to someone who knows how to handle them. I'm anyway sick of you always shooting your arrows at me, and sneering at me - and showing no respect for your stepfather either. I know you're always making Mars fall in love with other women just to annoy me. But I'm going to make you so sorry you ever set eyes on that mortal girl, Sunny Jim."

Perhaps wisely, Cupid pretended to be asleep. Venus, fuming and snorting, went off to consider his punishment. She bumped into Ceres and Juno.Her auntie Ceres asked her (though she knew perfectly well) why her lovely face was all red and puffy. "Help me, auntie," pleaded Venus. "I'm looking for a creature called Psyche: she's disappeared after - the scandal of ... her ridiculous affair with ..."

"What's the problem?" said Ceres innocently. "Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love. What could be more natural - especially as your son has so obviously inherited his mother's talents! How silly you look - trying to ban your son from doing the thing you encourage everyone else to!"

"And you have to remember, sweetie," said Juno, "that he's not a little boy any longer. I think he's quite old enough to sort out his own love life!" Ceres and Juno were not being entirely honest - she like all the goddesses was scared of Cupid, and thought it safer not to say anything nasty about him - just in case.

Venus was not impressed by their unhelpful attitude - and went back to the seaside. Meanwhile Psyche was still searching for her husband - determined to whatever she had to to win him back. One day, she saw a temple on a hilltop. She went inside, and found it was all in a terrible mess - offerings of corn, sheaves of barley, sickles and scythes were strewn about all higgledy-piggledy. Without thinking, she started tidying it all up - and soon the goddess whose temple it was arrived. It was Ceres.

"Why thank you, dear," she cooed. "Fancy looking after my temple for me so nicely, while Venus is going mad trying to find you."

"O please, please help me!" Psyche begged. "Just let me hide in your temple so I can rest for a few days. I'm so exhausted."

"Of course! I'd love to!" said Ceres. "But my niece and I are very close. I'd never do anything to offend her. Get out of my temple this minute, or I'll have you arrested."

When a little later, she found another temple and took refuge there, it wasn't really a surprise when Juno, after saying how much she'd love to help, refused and threw her out - because she'd never do anything to offend her daughter-in-law, the goddess who'd married her son Vulcan.

Psyche, now desperate, decided the only thing left was to give herself up - go to Venus and try to win her round. She had no idea how she was going to do this. Venus meanwhile had got out the best chariot, and drove, accompanied by the usual chirping flock of birds, straight to Jupiter's palace, to demand the services of Mercury, the gods' own media specialist. She told him "I want an announcement made to all mankind". And she described the massive reward for whoever found Psyche, who she claimed was her escaped slave girl. And she handed over a picture, and her full dossier. Then she went home.

Mercury lost no time. All over the world he flashed - proclaiming everywhere:"Oyez, oyez! If anyone do apprehend the person of one Psyche, an escaped slave of the goddess Venus, he shall be rewarded by the said goddess with seven kisses upon the lips, plus one to include full tongue involvement."