"No." Monsieur Firmin said.
"Absolutely not." Monsieur Andre added in support of his business partner.
Raoul was not used to the usually fawning managers of the Opera Populaire telling him no and it was evident in his voice when he spoke, "Why not?" he asked tightly.
"Monsieur le Vicomte, look around." Monsieur Firmin said incredulously. "Half the people in this theatre are scared out of their wits, the other half has gone gallivanting around the cellars hunting the opera ghost. We only managed to show half of the opera, which no doubt the papers tomorrow will have a field day with. Our lead tenor was strangled and we still don't know whether he will survive the night. And you want us to gather every together and organise search parties for you?"
"It's not that we don't care about Mademoiselle Daae," Monsieur Andre cut in quickly, "Of course we do. But circumstances being what they are, I don't think we would be able to gather enough people to assist you."
"Are you not the managers of this theatre? You employ everyone who works here; surely you can direct them to assist in the search for Mademoiselle Daae. I'm not suggesting that you ask the audience, although surely there would be some people kind enough to help and of course their assistance would be appreciated."
"Well perhaps we could..." Monsieur Andre started, seeing the Vicomte's perspective.
"No, absolutely not." Monsieur Firmin reiterated.
"Firmin, it might help if we gave people something to do, instead of having everyone wandering aimlessly around the theatre." Monsieur Andre argued.
"And let the audience and our patrons see that we are giving credence to the idea that there is an opera ghost who steals young sopranos during the middle of an opera? No. The best thing we can do at the moment is try and get everyone out of the theatre and then we can work on limiting the damage in the morning." It was obvious that Monsieur Firmin was trying very hard to stay calm.
"You would put the reputation of this theatre above the safety of a young woman?" Raoul demanded.
"When the theatre's reputation is what is ensuring the ongoing livelihood of everyone who work in this theatre? Yes." Monsieur Firmin retorted. "What do think will happen to all the other young women who work at the Opera Populaire if tonight ruins us? There aren't enough jobs in the city for an entire corps of ballet dancers." He continued, waving a hand in Meg's direction.
"But the audiences love Christine," she interrupted, "Wouldn't it help the theatre if she was here. And singing." She mentally scolded herself for sounding so awkward in front of the managers and the Vicomte. Whilst the Vicomte seemed to have regained his confidence since leaving the cellars she seemed to have lost her's.
"Of course." Monsieur Andre said graciously, "But there is the other issue of whether Mademoiselle Daae wants to be found." He looked nervously at Monsieur Firmin who just rolled his eyes at his partner.
"What?" Raoul said in a dangerously low voice.
Monsieur Andre looked at Monsieur Firmin again, hoping that he would elaborate for the Vicomte but he just waved a hand at him, indicating that he should continue. "Mademoiselle Daae was very...familiar with the gentleman on the stage. One might say almost intimately so. She certainly didn't conduct herself in that manner during rehearsals with Monsieur Piangi."
Whilst she would never admit it Meg felt that Monsieur Andre did have a point. But still she didn't believe that it automatically discounted the possibility that Christine had been taken against her will, not after what had happened during Christine's last moments on the stage.
"There were people in the audience, other patrons even, who suggested that perhaps what they were seeing wasn't being acted. Certainly what the gentleman sung at the end wasn't a part of the opera and he did call her Christine, rather than Aminta. It certainly wouldn't be the first time that a young lady has left the theatre under those sorts of circumstances..." he trailed off, not quite sure how to phrase the next part delicately.
Meg knew exactly what Monsieur Andre was trying to say and she was quite certain that none of the girls who had ever left the theatre to be with a lover had been taken from the stage in the middle of a performance. Still she decided not to say anything.
"Oh for goodness sake Andre," Monsieur Firmin said, shaking his head in disgust, "What my partner is trying to say is that it seems just as likely that Mademoiselle Daae choose to leave with that man. After seeing their performance I'm inclined to say that it is actually more than likely. And we are not going to go chasing after a girl who's run off with her lover."
"How dare you?" Raoul shouted, taking a threatening step towards Monsieur Firmin. Meg immediately took a step forward as well, foolishly hoping that she would be able to hold the Vicomte back if he decided that violence was the answer. "How can you possibly believe that Christine would choose to go off with that monster? Didn't you see her face? She was terrified."
"It wouldn't be the first time that a man has scared his lover during a fight." Monsieur Firmin shrugged.
"Do not call her that thing's lover." He ground out.
"It doesn't matter what I call her. The point is that we will not be conducting any searches for Mademoiselle Daae tonight." Monsieur Firmin said resolutely.
"Perhaps we can consider it tomorrow." Monsieur Andre said, hoping to soften the blow.
"So you won't help one of the most generous patrons of the Opera Populaire search for his fiancée after she has been kidnapped from your stage." Raoul stated, "If you two gentleman are unwilling to assist I will have to withdraw my patronage immediately."
The past months of dealing with the Opera Ghost had made Monsieur Firmin much braver when it came to demanding patrons. "The de Changy patronage is a family patronage, I highly doubt you family would allow you to withdraw it because of a former chorus girl. Besides, if we aren't able to salvage the theatre after tonight, your patronage will be worthless."
Raoul was about to argue the point further when they were interrupted by one of Monsieur Andre's clerks, "Excuse Messieurs, the Comte Dampierre would like to speak with you. Immediately." He said, glancing over at the very angry looking Comte who was comforting his scared wife.
"Wonderful." Monsieur Firmin groaned, immediately walking towards the Comte.
"Our apologies for Mademoiselle Daae." Monsieur Andre said before quickly running after his partner.
Raoul was about to follow after the managers, determined to make them listen to him when he felt Meg's restraining hand wrap around his arm. He looked down at her questioningly.
"Do not follow them Monsieur, they have made up their minds. Perhaps tomorrow, when they are calmer." Over the past few weeks Meg had seen that the managers were becoming more stubborn and she knew that the Vicomte wasn't going to be able to achieve anything tonight beyond further irritating the two men.
"Tomorrow could be too late. He could have taken her miles from here by then." He said, pulling away from her and again stepping towards the managers.
"If Christine is in the main part of the theatre someone will find her eventually. But if she's still down in the cellars...You would find very few men in their right minds willing to go down into the cellars tonight, not past the first few levels. I think that some would even be willing to lose their jobs to avoid it." Meg wished she had had the opportunity to tell the Vicomte this earlier.
"What do you suggest then?" he said, deflating slightly.
Meg paused for a moment, she hadn't actually thought about what else they could do. "I've already been down there. I'm sure I could find my way down again. I didn't have much time to search for Christine before because of the mob. But maybe she was hiding from the mob and if we go down again we'll find her."
"You would be willing to do that for Christine?" Raoul asked, astonished. He had been surprised to find Meg in the cellars to begin with, he certainly didn't expect that she would willingly return.
"Of course." Meg said indignantly, "Christine is my closest friend. Follow me." She ordered, stalking back to the areas of the theatre that were closed to the public. Not even looking to ensure that that the Vicomte was following her she deftly wove through the crowds. Only once they reached the entrance to the cellars that they had come out of earlier did she check to see that he was still behind her.
Their descent into the cellars was much quicker than Meg's first trip, now that she knew where she was going, but Raoul found that once they had passed the first levels of the cellars he no longer recognised where they were.
"Are you sure this is the way?" he asked. This route was nothing like the one Madame Giry had directed him to take and he wondered whether her daughter was getting them lost.
"These cellars are huge, there's more than one way to get down." Meg informed him, "Here, this is the last level." She said, pointing to the exposed hole in the floor. On her return she hadn't stopped to find a way to close the trapdoor and it didn't appear that it was going to automatically close.
When they reached the torch lit corridor Meg noted that a few more of the torches had been extinguished and she hoped that it was simply because they had run out of fuel. On seeing the door, Raoul quickly took the lead and was about to open it when Meg said, "Wait. Listen. Is the mob gone?"
Raoul placed his ear up against the door, "I can't hear anything."
"Good." Meg whispered and pressed herself up against the wall as Raoul struggled to operate the complex latch that Meg hadn't noticed the first time. After a few moments he was finally successful in opening the door and walked through. As she followed him through she pulled a chair over to the door to prop it open.
"My god." Raoul gasped, taking in the ruins of the Phantom's lair, "What happened down here?"
"The mob." Meg explained briefly, also surveying the damage. It was almost heart breaking to see the once beautiful furniture lying on pieces on the floor. The organ that was against the far wall was severely damaged, as though someone had attacked it with a large hammer and the bench that had been lying on its side was nowhere to be seen. Meg doubted that the organ could be repaired, even if anyone cared enough to try. "I could hear them coming when I was down here, that's why I left."
"Do you think they could have found Christine?" Raoul asked fearfully. Meg had obviously left because she was afraid of what the mob might have done to her had they found her in the Phantom's lair. Could they have found Christine and turned their destructive attention on her? Especially if they believed that she was involved with the creature, like Andre and Firmin had suggested.
"No," Meg said, trying to sound confident, "If they had attacked her they would have left her here." She didn't believe that they would have bothered taking her back to the theatre and if they had they would have been stopped from doing anything foolish by the managers and the authorities.
They walked further into the lair and Raoul could see where he had come in the first time. "Christine?" he called out, "Christine darling, please if you are here say something. I know that you are scared but I promise you are safe now. Mademoiselle Giry and I are here and we know how to leave this place."
The only sound in the cavern was the lapping of water.
"She's not here Vicomte." Meg said gently. She wrapped her arms around herself in an effort to ward off the chill in the air. "We should go."
"What if Christine is still down here? Do you want to just leave her down here? Anything could happen to her. She could be hurt." he argued.
"We can't stay here all night," she replied, although she felt as thought it was probably close to dawn by now. "If Christine was here we would have found her. We'll keep looking for her on the way back up, but I really don't think she's here anymore."
"You're right." Raoul relented. He hated not knowing where Christine was but staying in the Phantom's lair wasn't going to assist them at this stage.
Their trip back to the theatre was the slowest yet, as they tried to explore every room, passage and corridor in the cellars without getting lost. Their voices because hoarse, a combination of calling Christine's name and inhaling the dust that was everywhere.
"Did you find her?" Madame Giry greeted them as they exited into a rarely used corridor of the theatre. That she was waiting in that particular corridor seemed strange to Raoul, as though she knew that this was another way down to the bottom of the cellars.
"No Maman." Meg answered sadly. "She hasn't come back here then." She said turning to address Raoul, who was resting against the wall.
"You knew how I could find him the first time," Raoul said slowly, "Where is he now?"
"What do you mean?" Meg asked, puzzled as she took in the way the Vicomte was looking at her mother.
"I do not know." Madame Giry said.
"I don't believe you. You knew exactly where he was before, where he had taken Christine. Why wouldn't you know his secrets now?" he straightened up, using his height to try and intimidate Madame Giry.
"He would not share all his secrets with me. If I knew where Christine was, don't you think I would have gone to her, to find out if she was alright?" she argued.
"After tonight I don't know where your loyalties lie. Perhaps you would choose that thing over Christine." He threw back at her.
"How dare you? I love Christine like a daughter. That's why I told you where you could find her," her knuckles were turning white from the grip she had on her cane.
"Where the Phantom almost killed me!" Raoul exclaimed, "Perhaps you were helping him all along..."
"That's enough," Meg interrupted, moving to stand in front of her mother. "My mother would never hurt Christine, how dare you suggest such a thing? I think you should leave now, there's nothing more that can be done tonight."
"But she..." he started.
"No. Do not speak to her like that ever again. Come back in the morning if you can behave like a civilised gentleman. But if you say one more word against her I will have the stagehands throw you out, I don't care if you are a patron." She concluded, folding her arms across her chest.
For a moment both women thought that the Vicomte was going to argue and Meg was afraid that she would have to follow through on her threat to have the stagehands throw him out. But he didn't say anything, simply turned around and walked down the corridor, leaving Madame Giry and her daughter to make their way back to the dormitories and try to get some sleep.
