Chapter 24 – Preparations

When Marie came back half an hour later, Erik was still fighting for his composure. She smiled inwardly. She had expected him to be deeply moved by his mother's letter, after all, she had always known that this "boy" was particularly sensitive.

She patted Erik on the shoulder. "Are you ready now to see the rest of the house?" she asked. "It seems to be in pretty good condition, although it has been uninhabited since your mother's death. Except for some repainting and maybe some new furniture, the house is ready for you." Erik nodded. After having read his mother's letter he felt welcome in these rooms for the first time in his life. To his surprise, he noticed that there were several rooms he had never seen before.

Erik lovingly glanced at the beautiful old piano in the living room. This was the same instrument on which he had made his first attempts at music. He could not resist going over and running his long slender fingers over the keys. Like the rest of the house the instrument seemed to be in rather good shape, if slightly out of tune. This would have to be one of the first things he'd have to take care of if he wanted to live here. No, he corrected himself. He would have to tune the piano before moving here.

Marie showed Erik the desk in which Madeleine kept all the family documents, and to his delight he found everything that he might need for his plan, neatly put together in a folder, which he took with him. He knew that these documents would allow him to lead a normal life. For the first time since he could remember he could actually prove his identity.

After having inspected the ground floor, Marie took Erik up and showed him the bedrooms. The first door she opened led to what seemed to be the master bedroom. Erik gazed at the room in wonder. The wall paper with the discreet floral design, the beautiful double bed with its fresh white linens, the dressing table in front of the huge mirror, the elegant combs and brushes on that table, the delicate white lace curtains in front of the windows – everything in this room spoke of a man's love for his wife and of his desire to make her as comfortable as possible.

Marie smiled. "Your father had this room furnished like that when he was engaged to your mother. It was his very special wedding gift to her. This is where they slept until Charles's death. Afterwards your mother could not bear the sight of this room anymore. She moved to one of the guest rooms. But what do you think? If everything goes as planned and you can bring your Christine here, will she be comfortable in this room?" Erik gazed around the room, his eyes shining. He apparently had also inherited his father's taste, since everything was exactly the way he would have done it if he had to decorate a room for the woman of his heart. He also noticed that the room was big enough to allow for little Philippe's bed being put there as well. "I think she would love this room," he whispered, in awe.

Marie then showed him the smaller bedroom, where his mother had slept after his father's death. "You were born here, Erik," she told him. He looked around the austere room. It spoke of loneliness and depression. Apparently his mother had wanted her room to look as empty and sad as she felt after having lost the love of her life. "This could be my room," Erik thought. "The slightly depressive atmosphere here matches the hopelessness of my love for Christine."

The next room Erik inspected was another smaller one. It was particularly bright and friendly, since its windows faced both east and south. It was also situated right next to the master bedroom. Erik smiled again. This would be the ideal room for Philippe once the boy grew a bit older.

After they finished their tour of the house, Erik turned to Marie. "This house will do nicely," he said. "I would have had to look for an apartment of my own, if…" he did not finish the sentence. "Of course a few minor things need to be touched up upon. If I put together a list of what I want to be done, would you see to it, Marie?" The elderly lady smiled at him. "Of course, Erik. I will make sure everything is ready, by the time you want to come and live here. Come now, I do not think you remember much of the garden, after all, the only times you were allowed to go there as a child was once it had become dark."

Erik followed her outside and looked around the little garden. There were flower beds, two or three big fruit trees which also provided ample shadow, and a grassy area where a little boy could play. Philippe would love this garden once he was a bit older.

Marie had been somewhat anxious about Erik's reaction to his old home, but the longer their inspection took the more she became convinced that Madeleine's letter had helped her son to put the past behind and to see this house from a different point of view: as a safe haven for the family he hoped to have soon.

Xxxx

Erik suddenly remembered that he had not discussed his plans with the Mayor yet. Since his train was not leaving anytime soon, he asked Marie if she thought it would be possible to talk to the town official once more. Marie nodded. The Mayor's office hours would only be over in about another hour. Therefore the two of them headed back to the town hall.

The Mayor was a bit surprised to see Marie and Erik return so soon, but he supposed that they might have some further questions regarding Erik's inheritance. He was very astonished when Erik asked him if he could count on the Mayor's support in a legal affair he was considering. Once the Mayor heard more details, he at first shook his head hesitatingly. It was no small thing to plot against a member of the nobility. He asked Erik for more details, which family was he talking about? Erik thought for a moment if it was wise to give away this bit of information, but he realized that if the Mayor decided to support him, he would learn the name in question sooner or later anyway. He nodded resolutely. "I won't be able to keep the details confidential indefinitely," he said, "and Marie said I can trust you. Our adversary in this case will be the Comte de Chagny."

It seemed like a miracle to Erik what kind of effect the sound of this name had on the Mayor. He shook his fists in anger and shouted "de Chagny! I take it this Comte is related to that scoundrel who was courting my friend's daughter in Rouen last spring, all gooey-eyed and lovesick! When he assaulted two of the maids, my friend chased him out of the house. It was then found out that he was head over heels in debt and had only courted poor Sophie because he desperately would have needed her dowry to cover his most urgent obligations."

Erik faced the Mayor: "Let me guess, mid- to late twenties, dark blonde hair, greenish eyes?" The Mayor nodded. "So you have met this poor excuse of a man as well? And he is related to the Comte, isn't he?" Erik was not really surprised to see his suspicion confirmed. It would have been a strange coincidence if somebody other than the wannabe-Vicomte had acted so shamelessly. "Théophile-Auguste de Chagny is the old Comte's nephew," he explained. "Though I think he is the son of the Comte's cousin rather than a brother's. But he is also the man who tried to get rid of his cousin Raoul's widow and her unborn child so that he could inherit the title and the family assets."

The Mayor held out his hand to Erik. "M. Chabrier, I am at your disposition. That family has brought enough pain and heartbreak to people we care about. I will help you fight this Comte and make sure the young lady and her son will be fine. Have you talked to her about your plan?" Erik shook his head. "Not yet, I had to make sure first I would be able to pull it off. As it was, there were a few problems I had to solve before I could talk to her. One of them was my lack of personal documents. I actually came here to see Marie to ask her if she could help me get a duplicate of my birth certificate." The Mayor laughed. "I guess you won't need that anymore since the original should be at your house." Erik showed him the folder. "Not anymore," he said. "This problem is solved."

"Well, and you have my support for whatever service you need," the Mayor grinned. He would love to help hurt this holier-than-thou de Chagny family. Erik hesitated. "You are aware, though, that my… the lady in question and her child will not be able to leave Paris before this is settled. Would you mind coming there to issue certain documents?" The Mayor thought about it for a few minutes. "Do you have planned ahead enough to have a specific date in mind?" he asked. Erik shook his head. "Not yet. There are a few more things I have to check and I have to talk to Christine, of course. I will probably know more in two or three days."

The Mayor considered his schedule for the next two weeks. Nothing important was expected to require his presence. "Give me a day or two of advance knowledge," he finally told Erik. "And I will be able to go to Paris for whatever formalities you want me to conduct. As the registrar official of your hometown, I am qualified to do so even if we are not here in Boscherville. There is a telegraph at the local post office, so it will be easy to send me a short note," the Mayor added.

Marie beamed. "Oh yes, Erik, please let us know! I think I could use this as an excuse to visit my dear Francine in Paris!" Erik was delighted at her enthusiasm and promised to contact her once he would have talked to Christine.

Xxxx

After their visit to the Mayor Erik had barely time to give Marie a list of the things he wanted changed or repaired in the house, before it was time for him to head to the train station. He arrived in Paris shortly after midnight. Nadir and Darius were already fast asleep, so Erik went to bed as well. He could not find sleep, though. Too much had happened these past two days.

The next morning, Nadir gave his young friend an inquisitive look. Erik seemed so… it was hard to describe, but the man behaved as if a huge burden had been lifted off his shoulders. "So how did it go?" he asked curiously. "Did you manage to get that duplicate?" Erik gazed at him, radiant. "That and much, much more! Nadir, I own a house! A huge house, large enough for a family, with a small garden around. My mother left it to me together with a substantial amount of money and some jewelry. And imagine Nadir, she apparently did love me after all!"

Nadir was surprised. Erik had not told him much about his childhood, but one of the things he did know for sure was that Mme. Chabrier had forced her poor little boy to wear a mask because she found his face revolting. He could only begin to imagine what it might mean to Erik that she had apparently learned to care for her disfigured son after all and had left all her belongings to him.

"I am so happy for you, Erik," he said, sitting down at the breakfast table. "You must tell me everything. That you have a house now certainly takes care of another problem we had been facing," he added. Erik nodded. "It gets even better. The Mayor is going to help us. He will even come to Paris for all the formalities, if I can give him one or two days of advance knowledge. He hates the de Chagny family, because Théophile-Auguste courted his friend's daughter and while doing so assaulted two of their maids, trying to rape them. It turned out he only courted the girl because he wanted to get her dowry."

Nadir was impressed. This was getting better by the moment. The Mayor's support could prove invaluable to them. "Now all we need is Christine's consent," he said. "And, of course, once you have that, we need to find a trustworthy priest. Do you think we can ask somebody at St. Cécile where she sometimes hears mass on Sundays?"

Erik grinned. "I may have a solution for that as well," he said. "I have to go see somebody today."

Xxxx

Father Mansart had moved to his order's convent in Paris almost ten years ago, when it had become too strenuous for him to fulfill the day-to-day duties of a parish priest in Boscherville. As much as he enjoyed the more quiet routine at the convent, he did miss his work in the parish. He had known everybody, had accompanied many of them through the most important points of their lives, from their birth to their wedding, the births of their children, the deaths of dear ones and finally their own death. Now his days were pretty much all alike, nothing interrupted the quiet life at the convent. He very rarely had visitors. Marie Perrault stopped by every now and then. But other than her… he shook his head. He had not seen any other member of his former community since he had moved to Paris.

He was therefore surprised when he was informed that he had a visitor. "Who is it?" he asked the young novice who had told him to come down to the parlor. "I don't know," the latter said. "He's a rather young man, tall. He did not want to take his hat off, must be a bit of an irreverent one, but he said he is from Boscherville."

Father Mansart was excited now. One of his former community members was here to see him! Who could it be? It was good to know that he had not been completely forgotten by the people in Boscherville. He hurried to the parlor as quickly as his old feet could manage.

When he entered the room, the tall man, who had been waiting for him, took off his hat. Father Mansart only saw the man's left profile and recoiled in shock. "Charles!" he exclaimed, aghast. "Charles Chabrier!"

A sarcastic smile played across the corners of the young man's mouth. "As I had to tell Marie Perrault two days ago, I am not Charles. And unlike him, I am still very much alive." He turned so that Father Mansart could see his mask. "I am Erik, Father Mansart. Erik Chabrier, Charles's son, your former student."

The old priest fell into a chair. "Erik," he whispered. "Can it be? Is it really you?" Erik nodded. "If you absolutely must see it to believe me, I will show you my face, but I'd rather not." Father Mansart held out his hand to Erik. "Why ever not, Erik? I have seen your face often enough. And a face is a face, there is no need to be ashamed of yours," he said to his former star pupil. "God loves the faces of all his children."

Erik winced. "I am not sure God still wants anything to do with me after some of the things I did," he said. "But that's not really the reason for my visit." Father Mansart looked him deep in the eyes. "Really, Erik?" he asked after a while. "There may be another reason for your visit, but I can see that your past troubles you," he said quietly and continued to look at Erik as if he could see right through him and to the bottom of his soul.

Erik finally relented. He took off his mask and showed his deformed right cheek and temple to the priest. Father Mansart smiled at him. "That's better, Erik. You need to learn to accept yourself. I see that you still have problems in that regard, though, given your childhood that's not really a surprise." The wrinkled hand reached out to caress Erik's face.

"And now you tell your old teacher what troubles you," Father Mansart said softly. Once again the dam within Erik broke and all his sufferings but also all his crimes poured out of the tortured young man. "Marie said, it's not all my fault and that she and my mother and all of Boscherville are to blame as well," Erik finished. "But that's too easy."

Father Mansart looked at him questioningly. He only now realized that Erik had mentioned his godmother. "You have seen Marie?" he asked. Erik nodded. "I was in Boscherville the last two days. She gave me your address. That's how I knew how to find you."

The old priest faced Erik again. "Marie is a wise woman," he said. "She was right, you are only partially to blame for your past. The larger blame lies with all of us who did not try hard enough to nurture your heart and soul. No Erik, don't interrupt me," he continued. "I can see that you don't take your past lightly and that it will haunt you, maybe till the end of your days. But I can also see that this is the past. You are not this person any longer. You have found yourself again." Erik was amazed. Marie had said pretty much the same.

Father Mansart continued to scrutinize Erik's face. Finally he spoke again. "Let me guess, Erik. I think the real purpose of your visit was to tell me that you have found the person that is able to nurture your heart and your soul, the one who will give you the emotional support that we all failed to give you during your childhood. You came to your old teacher to ask me if I would marry you."

Erik fought for words. "If she will have me," he finally whispered. Father Mansart smiled. "Once you have talked to her, let me know when and where. I will be happy to do this for you, my son."

Erik startled. Where? He had not thought about that yet. Christine was not allowed to roam the town freely. She might be allowed to go to mass, but there would not be enough privacy and the old Comte would hear about it immediately. Where else had Christine been able to go recently? A few shops, a charity bazaar… suddenly it hit him. "The cemetery," he said. "Father Mansart, would it be possible for you to marry us in the small chapel at the cemetery?"

The priest stared at him in surprise. "It is certainly unusual," he said after a while, "but not impossible. Why would you want to get married there, Erik?" Erik shook his head. "There are certain reasons why we would have to keep this secret for a few weeks," he finally explained. "Since my… she visits her father's tomb fairly often. She could go there without arousing suspicion. And I think it would also give us both a feeling as if her father were there to give us his blessings."

Father Mansart seemed satisfied. "Those are valid reasons," he agreed. "Now Erik, go and propose to your bride. Once she has agreed, talk to the administrator of the cemetery to find out a day in the near future when the chapel will not be needed for funerals and then let me know. I am looking forward to meeting your intended, Erik. I am sure she is a very warm and caring person. I only have to look at you, at your brightly shining eyes, to know that you love her with all your heart."