A/N: This is a pseudo-continuation from the story I wrote recently, Notes Replayed, and the events I referenced in the final chapter. It's not required for you to read that to read this (though it would be nice if you did) but just know, in Notes Replayed, after All I Ask of You Christine chose Erik over Raoul and the events played out until the two actually escaped the Opera House with the help of the Girys.
The plan is for this to be a series of short stories filling in the gaps of the final chapter of Notes Replayed and they won't be in order all the time, but rather just as the ideas come to me.
Also Marguerite is very heavily inspired by Alexandre Dumas' La Dame Aux Camilias which is one of my absolute favourite tragic love stories.
Enjoy (hopefully)!
Tuppence x
Marguerite and Tomás welcomed Erik and Christine to their home with such efficiency, it appeared they were not unaccustomed to the art of secrecy and Christine couldn't help but wonder why, but knew it would be rude and improper to pry. Tomás may have been only related to Madame Giry by marriage but in attitude and efficiency he bore an uncanny resemblance to his sister-in-law.
"The items Antoinette sent on are in your respective rooms." He informed them, "Mlle Daaé your box of personal items from your dressing room have not been touched and is on your bed. I have followed Antoinette's strict instructions and have not disturbed your compositions in the slightest, but have left them exactly as they were delivered. They are on your bed. It's best-"
At this point his wife Marguerite, a woman with Madame Giry's eyes, golden blonde hair effortlessly swept into a fashionable updo and a wide, welcoming smile, placed a hand on his arm and interrupted him.
"Monsieur, Madamoiselle; enchanté." She greeted them both, "Forgive my husband's formal welcome. He comes from shall we say noble stock? And old habits die hard. We have some food ready as I'm sure you're both hungry. Then after you've eaten I'll show you both to your rooms"
It was the middle of the night and the sky seemed to have reached it's peak of darkness, twinkling stars and a slither of a crescent moon the only source of light to fall on the long stretches of countryside that surrounded the remote summer cottage in Bougival.
Outside the cottage, on the fringes of the door a creature moved, almost indistinguishable from the night that surrounded him and apparently immune to the cold spring air breezing through the night. He could not sleep. Too much had happened in so short a period of time and it had been so very long, decades in fact, since he had slept in an ordinary bedroom in an ordinary horse with ordinary people sleeping in the other rooms. It did not feel normal or comfortable to him as it did to anyone else. To him it felt strange and threatening. So he had come out here, in the darkness where he felt most at home, and on his own where he felt most comfortable. At least he presumed himself to be alone, but the sudden small glow of a candle flame drew his attention and his head immediately turned to see who the perpetrator was. He found Marguerite stood there with a candle melted to an old brass plate and dressed in a heavy woollen night gown, her golden hair now plaited out of the way.
"Madame," He said to her, "You should return inside; it is too cold"
"And you are immune to such weather I presume Monsieur?" She replied, an eyebrow raised. "Now why are you out here and not inside asleep with everyone else?"
"I believe it is considered improper to pry into other-"
"Yes, well," Marguerite cut him off, "My life hasn't allowed me to be one for propriety and from what little I hear from Antoinette, neither has yours"
Erik did not deign her with a response, but merely turned his head away, his mask reflecting the candlelight back to her, as he silently cursed Antoinette Giry for any information she may have shared with her sister. No matter how small or insignificant, it had not been hers to share.
"So propriety aside for the moment," Marguerite continued, aware he was trying to snub her but ignoring the attempt nonetheless, "Do you want to explain why you are stood here in the early hours of the morning when you could be inside, enjoying the bed my husband and I so kindly prepared for you?"
He did not answer. She didn't give up.
"Is it anything to do with the young girl you brought with you?" She asked and saw his eyes flick in her direction even if not another muscle moved, "With men it's always a girl. I know that better than anyone," This last comment she said with a wizened bitterness that caused Erik to now turn and look at her openly, a faint curiosity barely visible in his expression.
"I have made a grave mistake," He finally said, "Not the first, but the first I have regretted"
"A mistake?"
"I have tainted a young, impressionable girl and destroyed her life and her home for my own selfish desires" He shook his head in disgust, "She does not deserve this life and she does not deserve this" He gestured angrily at his own face and Marguerite frowned; she knew he hid something behind his mask but her sister had never divulged the information. She presumed it was some kind of scar, something that had permanently marred him as a child, but at such anger in his voice directed at his own appearance, she now began to doubt this theory and wondered whether it was something much worse (but what that something could be she had not even the faintest idea).
"How have you tainted her?" She asked, "She did not seem to be here against her will. Quite the opposite in fact"
"She is young and foolish and does not know the decision she is making," He countered, "Nor the implications of it. That's why I have to make it for her- do the one decent thing I have ever done in my life"
"Now, listen," Marguerite said, stepping towards him, her tone suddenly sharp, "Girls, no matter how young they are, are always more than aware of the decisions they are making despite all the men's arguments to the contrary. We're never as naïve as we're presumed to be. Ignorant at one point, perhaps yes, but not naïve. If a girl wants to be used, she'll let herself be used (preferably by someone rich rather than poor if that's the case), if she wants to rebel, she'll rebel, if she wants to settle she'll settle- and if she thinks that something is a chance worth taking then odds are it is. Now you may pity yourself, you may even feel angry, but do not insult that young girl again by implying she doesn't know her own mind. May I remind you that she is not the one pacing outside in the middle of the night, replaying her own thoughts over and over again"
"I do think, Madame, that you are crossing a line..." He warned her, though his anger wasn't really in the statement. He found it hard to truly become angry at this woman who seemed frustrating insightful and wasn't afraid to share such insights.
"That doesn't concern me," She said, waving her hand as if to wave the point away "You know, a long time ago, I almost lost Tomás through my own stupidity. Thought I would drag him down, ruin him, ruin his family. He'd be disinherited, cast out from society. I tried to save him from all that. Allow him to live the life I believed he deserved. It didn't occur to me to ask him what his opinion was in the matter and what was the life he wished to choose. Through pure luck I was given a second chance and I made sure I didn't make waste of it." She looked at Erik and put a hand on his arm, and actively tried to ignore the surprise she saw in him in reaction to this contact, "You and I are both creatures of the night," She told him, "And we have both been sent someone to guide us into the light. Do not be a fool and turn away from it." She let go of his arm and turned back to the house, "And make sure you come in soon. Dawn isn't too far away," She added before disappearing with her candle, leaving Erik shrouded in complete darkness once again.
