Alberto is looking forward to using the opera ticket his absent mother gave him for the evening, but panics after finding a mysterious warning him not to do so, without reason. Octaaf convinces him, despite Gert's objections, he may well be a kidnapping target, needing a bodyguard, like the hero in a trashy novel. Octaaf takes the part, but Alberto is frustrated that it also includes 'foretasting' nearly the whole portion, so he sneaks off to plunder the cellar.