They were back on the streets of New York again, nearly as lost as they were when they'd gone in to see the medium. It was difficult to say whether Raoul or Christine looked the more dazed and unsatisfied, and the fact that they walked in the same direction was mere coincidence. All Raoul wanted was a bed to lie on, and all Christine wanted was- well, her husband back, Raoul supposed. But when had he ever been good at telling what Christine wanted?
Finally they found a bench, and Raoul didn't so much sit as collapse.
"I'm a curse," he sighed. "In this world or the other. All I do is ruin everything. I'm loved and wanted by no one-"
"You're certainly not wanted if all you'll do is feel sorry for yourself!"
After an awkward moment in which Raoul looked up at her as if he was a student receiving his teacher's scolding, Christine blushed and sat down beside him.
"That came out slightly harsher than I intended. But only slightly. Yes, your predicament isn't enviable, but so what? The man I fell in love with didn't cower when faced with a man thought to be incorporeal, or flinch from fire headed his way, or believe the Phantom's lies when he claimed I belonged to him, and that any who interfered were nothing but insolent slaves of fashion. The man I fell in love with didn't berate himself for failure when I was abducted, but ran after me with the speed of a beast. Where is that man?"
"You know as well as I do. He's in my world, on a Coney Island boardwalk."
Christine shook her head.
"I don't believe that. I mean, I believe my husband is where you say, but I don't believe there's none of him in you. My god, would you even believe your Christine if she told you she'd chosen you once and for all?"
It was hard for Raoul to answer that. It was also hard for him to sit there and do nothing when Christine spoke to him so plaintively. He'd rarely, if ever, argued so heatedly with his wife, or born her open scorn and disapproval. Perhaps it was preferable to the unspoken despair and betrayal he had shared with her.
With renewed determination, he stood up.
"There's only one way to find out, and it's not by sitting and waiting. Come- I have one more place to look before we give up."
He didn't need to say the words 'Coney Island' for Christine to gather his meaning. After looking about the street to see if they had bothered any New Yorkers with their loud quarrel (showing just how new she was to America and how little she had learned of New Yorkers,) she stood with him and even offered the hint of a smile. Raoul extended his arm and she took it, almost affectionate in her touch.
Almost affectionate. There he was, feeling sorry for himself again.
"I don't know what you expect to find," she said as they went to hail a carriage.
"Neither do I. But why bother expecting anything, when all I've met with since coming here is surprise?"