Chapter 1
The soprano's velvety aria soared high above the swell resonating from the orchestra pit. Her face one of angelic beauty and her voice filled the gigantic Opera Populaire with words of passion and loss. Although the posters hung on the exterior walls of the opera house displayed her maiden name, the audience easily perceived that this was not the same Christine Daae who had charmed them so many months ago. Her voice then had been pure and beautiful, and yet her inexperience of life had been palpable. Now however, one could hear that she had lived, really and truly. Her voice, while still retaining its purity, was darker somehow, and conveyed the journey of love, passion and self-discovery that she had endured in the last year. This gala performance to celebrate the re-opening of the ruined opera house, as well as her long-awaited marriage to its patron showed Paris that Christine Daae was now different in far more than name.
From the wings, the dancers watched the prima Donna in reverence. Marianne Parmousse was among them, and her limpid blue eyes filled with tears as Christine's song slowly but surely drew both sadness and joy from so many of her audience.
Marianne had been a member of the Opera Polulaire's ballet since her parents had been killed in a riding accident fourteen months previously and although she loved her work, and tried tirelessly to perfect her performance, she felt very alone. Despite the kindness of most of the company, she was well aware that she was different from the other girls. She was bigger than they, and yet lacked their phenomenal strength. Dancing, although a way of life for Marianne, did not come easily. She had to practise privately for hours after the others has finished, just to meet their standard in performance, and although Mme. Giry, the ballet mistress was essentially very kind, she often spoke words of sharp exasperation to her. She also envied the other girls their beauty and delicacy. Although unusually graceful, even for a ballerina, Marianne was not beautiful. Her face, though elfin and pretty was deemed by most to be marred by a prominent nose, and her hair, while golden and luxuriantly thick, was unfashionable and difficult to tame. Marianne's real ambition was to sing, but she dared not voice this secret dream to anyone, for fear they would laugh at her. Christine Daae was widely renowned as the most beautiful soprano in France, and she knew that no one would want a plump, plain ballet dancer who had never had a singing lesson. What pained her most however, was the fact that she knew that she could sing. Before her parents died, her father had lovingly christened her his 'nightingale' and their small garret in 'La Rue de l'Eglise' had often been filled with her singing. But after that dreadful day, Marianne's talent had seemed to the world to evaporate. She could not sing before anyone. At her parents funeral she had been asked to sing one of the pieces her mother had loved, but when she stepped onto the alter, her voice would not come. As well as killing her parents, the drunken cab driver had destroyed Marianne's hope for happiness.