Hey everyone! Sorry for the long wait. I've had a tight schedule and I've been generally lazy. Hope you can forgive me.
I remind that all feedback is appreciated. It motivates me to continue.
Disclaimers: see chapter 1.
Chapter 14 End of the Evening
The other members of the Cholet family were beside Carlotta in a second.
"Cara! Darling, what's wrong? Speak to me!" Cholet said, while kneeling beside his wife.
"I did warn you that my story is not suitable for all. Madame, who had obviously been feeling ill all evening, reacted too strongly. Perhaps Anatole, you could help Miss Cholet and viscount de Chagny to take Madame back inside and help her have some cold drink" said the always calm voice of Count Paradise, coming from behind his mask.
"Yes, I'm more than happy to help" Anatole Garron, the grandson of Duke Alistair Garron, replied.
As he, Charles de Chagny and Maria Cholet helped Carlotta to inside, Cholet watched after them, not sure if it was alright for him to stay. Count put his arm to his shoulder. "Do not worry for Madame, she is tougher than that. Now, where was I? Ah yes, the box. Lajos please open it and show our quests what is inside.
Lord Ambrose d'Arcy felt his inside turn cold when he watched as Lajos with a simple trick with a hairpin opened the lock of the old wooden box. Then he lifted it open and held it in his arms to show everyone that inside the box was…..nothing. It was empty.
WHAT?!!! No, that's impossible! I put the baby there myself, there should be a corpse! This is…this is not right, d'Arcy thought, trying very hard to hide his surprise. Then he realised his way out of this one. "An empty box, Count. I don't know how you tried to entertain us with all this but I'm not amused the slightest" he said with an icy voice.
Count chuckled. "Yes, it is an empty box indeed. And before I bought this house this empty box had been buried here for almost 20 years".
"So what? It's not a cry to bury boxes" d'Arcy said.
"But isn't it strange to bury an empty box? I can't see any reason for doing something like that" Count said, leading them to a right direction.
"You mean someone dig out before you did, Count?" It was Countess Christine de Chagny who spoke. For a moment Count was startled for this had been the first time during the whole evening that she spoke to him. He quickly pulled himself together.
"That is correct. You see, a certain man, who had lost his job during the war and become a criminal, had been following the people coming in and out of this house for weeks. During that night when the baby was born he silently watched from the shadows as the father buried the child under this tree. When the father had left the criminal, thinking he would find a hidden treasure, started to dig. It was easy for him to open the lock and you can imagine his surprise when he found the baby. You can also imagine his surprise when the baby cried".
Christine gasped. "It was buried…alive?" she asked.
"Yes, Countess. The criminal, no matter how vile he was, did not have a heart to kill a baby. So he buried the box back below the ground and took the baby to an orphanage. You probably remember that there were lots of those for children who had lost their parents in the war".
"What then happened to the baby?"
Count shrugged his shoulders. "Who can tell? Maybe he died, maybe he is still alive. The parents soon started to continue their lives as if nothing had ever happened".
"How monstrous" Christine whispered.
Count Raoul de Chagny turned to d'Arcy. "Ambrose, it is your duty as the chief prosecutor to find these culprits and send them to gallows" he said.
"Do we know the identities of the parents?" d'Arcy asked from the Count.
"I'm afraid that the man who told me this story did not know that much" Count replied smoothly.
"There you go then", d'Arcy said. "We have no names, no bodies and no actual information. Only some shady stories from some drunk most likely. I can't start a case based on a rumour" he said.
"Why not? You do it all the time, after all. Aren't there countless of cases that you have started based only for an accusation or rumour? And haven't you always found someone to throw to prison or send to the gallows?" Count asked.
Ambrose d'Arcy didn't answer; he just bit his lip furiously.
Suddenly the Count started to tremble and he fell to his knees. Behind his mask came an anguished cry of pain and surprise. His hands were trembling uncontrollably. In a blink of an eye Lajos, the always silent servant, was at his side, helping him up. And someone else was by his side also. Two gentle hands carefully touched his hand.
"Count, are you alright?" asked the concerned voice of Christine de Chagny. For a moment Count managed to raise his head enough to look at her in the eyes. As that happened Christine felt the same strange turmoil of emotions in her as she had felt the first time she saw the Count's eyes.
Count sighed. "I'm fine" he said, though it sounded forced. "Just an old injuries from the war bothering me. But maybe this is a sign to end the evening. It already seems that everyone have lost their appetites after my story. Please, tell to others that I'm sorry but I'm afraid I have to retire now" Count said and then Lajos helped, or practically carried, the masked man inside the house. Almost instantly Nadir appeared to guide the others back to the house.
Inside the house:
Carlotta was starting to regain consciousness. Charles, Maria and Anatole had laid her to couch. Maria was pressing a cool rag to her forehead.
"Mother, are you feeling better?"
No, no I'm not feeling better at all, was what Carlotta thought. However, she could not show it. "Of course, never better! Why, Maria, you sometimes worry too much of me" she said happily, shakily standing to her feet.
And she is back to normal, Maria thought grimly.
Just then Nadir appeared to the landing. "I'm sorry to disturb, but my lord has informed that the evening must be cancelled. He apologizes and says that Madame Cholet is welcome to stay until she feels better" the dark skinned man said.
"Oh, I'm perfectly well. Come on, Maria, let's find your father. The silly man must be worried" Carlotta said, taking the first chance to get out of this house.
"It was a pleasure of meeting you, Madame Cholet", Anatole Garron said and held Carlotta's hand in his, "I hope we shall meet again". He then turned to Maria and took her hand as well. "I hope I shall meet you also, Miss Cholet" he said and planted a kiss to her hand.
Carlotta was feeling much better, seeing the young man's actions. Already all kind of plans for the future started to form in her head. "I'm sure you will see plenty of us in the future, Baron Garron" Carlotta said.
"Please, call me Anatole, Madame" the young man said, smiling.
Maria followed her mother out of the house, feeling uncomfortable. Something about the young man, the way he had looked at her AND her mother made her uneasy.
Charles started to follow them out. He hadn't yet made an opinion of Anatole Garron, but the way he had been constantly so near to Maria had irritated him. Just as Charles was leaving Anatole approached him.
"Do not even pretend of knowing anything about the Count. Let me tell you straight that no one understands him better than I do" he whispered to him and before Charles could even react, he was gone already.
Confused, Charles left the room and saw Harry appearing, followed by Phillip and Meg, whom he had been looking for. Harry winked to Charles with his usual playful manner and it was enough to tell Charles what Meg and Phillip had been doing….wherever they had been.
Phillip was trying to again speak to Lord Ambrose, but hardly had he even opened his mouth when the chief prosecutor took his daughter by arm and dragged her out of the house with an incredible speed.
Gaping Charles turned to his parents as if asking an explanation. His father shook his head dismissingly and his mother had a strange, far away look in her eyes. She seemed to be lost in her thoughts. Feeling that asking would lead to nothing, Charles silently followed them out of the house.
Inside the dark house, the masked Count laid in a bed.
"Seems I don't have as much time left as I was planning" he whispered to the dark room.
To be continued…