Chapter 21 – Goodbye To France (The Encore)

(A/N –I've rewritten this Chapter at least 4 times, and I THINK I've stuffed everything I need to into it this time . . . Also, while I don't want (or intend) to give away the store - let me give you the "POTO in 15 minutes" version of "The Phantom of Manhattan" since finding it in most local libraries is a gigantic headache (and I've gotten at least three "never got hold of THAT book" messages (it's much more fun when we're all on the same page.).

The author starts with WHY he and ALW both loathe the last third of the Leroux version, which more or less amounts to - there are too many internal inconsistencies for it to hold up under a good internal fact checker's analysis - (and I have to agree with a lot of his points there, I didn't fall in love with Erik until I saw the stage play, mostly because of those same inconsistencies, though I HAD read the book a few times before.)

The story starts twelve years after POTO with an "I'm dead but you need to know this" letter from Madame Giry to Erik, in which she reveals that Raoul is and always was both impotent AND sterile, which means Christine's child is Erik's - and coincidentally, that Raoul married Christine out of gallantry as well as affection. Oh, and there is NO Beneath A Moonless Sky in this version, (which I happen to think is one of the three best songs IN the whole of LND), Erik seduces Christine in the lair after "Point Of No Return" while Raoul is pelting down the stairs with Madame, with the rest of the Opera crowd pelting along behind, howling for blood. (Really fast work, especially for a virgin male.)

Erik, who by this time is the driving financial force of Manhattan, (with a secretary/butler/servant named Darius) gets this letter and goes into overdrive, writing a new opera called the Angel Of Shiloh - set in the South during the Civil War, and enticing Christine, (the operatic toast of Europe - her only operatic rival is Nellie Melba) and her son, who travels with her, (accompanied by Meg, whose role is, more or less, Christine's personal maid,) over to sing the role by the sheer genius of the work. (Money is no enticement to this Christine, Raoul is doing very well in that regard, thank you.)

To continue, Darius has one driving force, Money (forget any other emotion - the man is utterly and completely Amoral), AND he has taught Erik to value $$$ just as much as he does, (oh, and he is Erik's monetary heir, which is WHY Darius stays with him) and one major flaw, Opium, which he uses to communicate with his Master - who he calls Mammon, but we get enough hints from the dialogues between Mammon and Darius to get several hints of his REAL Name . . .

And once Darius realizes who this child is, he tries to shoot Pierre, (Gustave got a name change in this one,) Christine fatally intercepts the bullet, and Erik, without even thinking twice, plugs Darius right between the eyes with the pistol he always carries (Erik? With A GUN?). Christine survives just long enough to tell Pierre who his father is, which Raoul, who IS on the scene for all this, confirms. And the kid, who has met Erik before this for all of three hours (most of which time they were both onstage performing IN The Angel Of Shiloh) and has NEVER seen Erik's bare face, without a second thought, goes and takes off the hat and the mask, hugs Erik, who is crying so hard he can barely see, much less stand up, and says, "I want to stay with you, father."

But in the Forsythe version, Christine's relationship with Erik amounts mostly to fear mixed with fascination, there is NO love there on her part, nor any hope of it, (not to mention the "seduction" as described by Christine, skirts perilously close to rape,) which is one reason I don't like the book much - and neither does most of the general public!

End of summary, we go ON now!)

Having sent Christine off to fetch Gustave, plus anything she wished to take with her from Madame Giry's place (or anyone – Tia fully expected Christine to show up with Madame in tow), Tia went the few blocks to the Opera Stable yard, where she had one last thing to fetch from Paris . . . a certain Lipizzan stallion named Cesar – now that Erik HAD a stable to put him in. (Ciara had drawn the line at part of her becoming a long term stable for ANY horse, but had consented to transport him once there was somewhere ELSE to put him.)

She was leading the horse back (he had cost her 10 Gold Napoleons, plus two more to the stable master to get him to sign the Bill of Sale), since SHE was not much of a rider, when she saw Christine, Gustave in one arm, valise in the other, and Madame entering the park from another entrance. Madame appeared to be arguing.

As Tia got closer, she could hear Madame, an aggrieved tone in her voice, "And you're just going to go off in Le Bon Dieu knows what contraption on the say so of a girl you've barely met?"

Tia was close enough by now to interject. "Why not? Erik did, and he was in America OVERNIGHT, with not so much as a scratch on him. And I didn't charge him so much as a centime for passage, either. Madame, I assure you, you need not fear that Christine will be harmed, nor you, should you choose to come along. But I will not force you, there's something to be said about an ocean voyage, as long as you're on the right ship. But this horse and I need to get back NOW, I have several tasks that need constant vigilance, and I've spent as much time as I dare in this city." Tia spied two men, in livery, bringing up about four more valises. "Madame Christine, do you have anything at the country estate you wish to retrieve on our way out?"

Christine shook her head, and said a thank you to the men, (she had already told her goodbyes to Meg, whose husband had showed up during the interval, and loaned her two footmen for an hour, to transport her luggage "to wherever Madame thinks best".) Tia made their faces go bright when she tipped each one with a Gold Napoleon left over from her buying trip.

"Then," said Tia, slipping her ring into Ciara's door to unlock it, "let us get bags, horse, and all right in there," Ciara's door opened up into a clear space with plenty of room for a horse, plus a center post to hitch him to, "and then you gentlemen are free to go where you will."

Madame Giry sniffed. "I shall take the Lorraine, next month. I have already booked a ticket."

"As you will, Madame. We will be there to greet you at the dock in New York."

The men, with such a large tip, did not even hesitate, but took the bags in, tied the horse, bowed, and left. Madame Giry said goodbye to Christine "for a time, write to me when you get there," and quickly went off "to pack".

Tia and Christine went in, with Tia shutting the door, and leading Christine to a door across the room. This led to the same room Christine had already been in, and Tia indicated a room just into the next corridor. "If you would care to rest, or refresh yourself, this is my guest bedroom."

"I – need to ask you a question."

"Yes, Madame?" Tia turned to her, all attention.

"You have been around Erik much more than I – what should I say to him?"

"Hmmm, well, this is more or less up to you, but, were I starting over, I would ask for a new start, with no pretenses. Madame, you HAVE to know that Erik has, in almost thirty years of life, gotten exactly two kisses, both of which were from you. He knows very little about Male/Female relationships, save by observation of the Opera employees, and even YOU must admit, that's not exactly a great example of love. All he knows of love is what is found in the pages of books, of Opera, and from you. Mold him into your ideal, and he will probably thank you for it, but remember, he's LEARNING as he goes, and he can't and won't pick up anything subtle, unless you teach him to first."

Christine was startled by that. "He seems so confident – "

"About music, yes, he has a natural genius there, but about people? How could he learn when his face scares everyone away? Even his mother thought of him as cursed, and the time he spent in the cage in the Gypsy camp didn't –"

"WHAT? What cage?"

"His bitch of an alcoholic mother sold him to Gypsies at the age of seven. He spent years in a cage, being marketed by them as the "Devil's Child," pelted with filth, and beaten twice daily. Look, you had a normal childhood, you learned how to deal with people from watching other people. He had none of that. The only way he got out was by literally strangling his "owner," who was beating him at the time, and a ballet rat who was watching – "

"Madame Giry?"

"She opened the cage, showed him how to get under the Opera House, to get away from the Gendarmerie. He grew up there, rarely leaving . . . I'm still not sure how he got to (or for that matter, out of) Persia, he doesn't talk about it much. But he was drawn to you in spite of everything. You have no idea how much courage it took for him to even say one word to you, behind solid walls or not."

"Oh, Mon Dieu, I've never really understood him at all, have I? I thought . . ."

"Madame, please, it should not be ME telling you these things. Erik needs to tell you himself, if you can coax him to. For now, don't reject his awkward attempts, teach him what you WANT. And if you are the one asking, then he'd probably do damn near ANYTHING."

And Tia left to get Ciara back to Coney Island, arguing the question, "Do we go back to the time we left, and have Christine live those days over, or do we use the date from Paris, and have Erik fretting where we are for days on end?"

They finally came to a compromise, and reappeared in Coney, where Erik was, indeed, looking for her. "WHERE have you been?"

"Getting you a surprise, now calm down, please, you'll spoil the presentation."

"What do you mean?"

"Come with me . . . I got you a new/old horse, for one thing –"

"A new – old horse?"

"I brought Cesar back with me, consider him a birthday present."

"It's not my birthday – Wait, you've been to Paris? Did you see – her?"

At that point, Gustave began fretting in the guest room, and Erik stiffened. "What is that noise?"

Then there were soft whispers, and Christine emerged, with Gustave fussing in her arms, "Tia, can I get some – Erik!"

(A/N – This chapter is getting too long – I'll save the reunion scene for the next chapter – hopefully that one won't be as tricky – but I'm not betting on it! Please Read And Review)