"There's a fine line between love and infatuation, and don't confuse the one with the other."

Christine had always been fragile, but some strange alluring light always glowed from within her. In the past week or so I noticed it becoming dimmer and dimmer. When she saw me follow Erik through the door her entire being lit up. Her face showed more color, the bags under her eyes were noticeably reduced. After Erik gave explanations as to my being there, he left us to catch up with one another.

In the privacy of her Louis-Phillipe room she threw her arms around me as if I were a life preserver. I awkwardly returned the gesture before she led me over to sit on the bed with her.

"Maggie, dear Maggie, you have no idea how glad I am that you're here."

"Christine, you look so—how are you doing?"

She sighed. "I'm not sure how long it's been. Even time doesn't venture below the third cellar."

"It's only been a day."

She nodded, staring off into space. "Sometimes, it seems much longer…"

"Christine?"

"He didn't keep me cooped up here the whole time, you know. I was allowed to visit Mamma Valerius."

"What? Christine, everyone's been sick with worry the way you pop in and out like a scared rabbit. Why didn't you tell anyone?"

A dismal cloud passed over her face and seemed to weigh her down. "He made me promise not to."

As she said this she held up her left hand and a plain gold ring greeted me from its residence on her fourth finger. Needless to say, I was struck dumb. I could only stare at her incredulously.

"Before you ask, no, he did not propose. Just before he let me go see Mama Valerius, he slipped it on my finger and said he was giving me back my freedom, so long as I continued to wear it. As long as it stayed on my finger, he promised he'd always be there for me. "But woe to you if you ever part with it," he warned, "for Erik will have his revenge!""

Erik could be so hopelessly melodramatic. "What did your Mamma Valerius think?"

"Oh! The whole thing was a disaster!" She cried.

"Was she that upset?"

"No, it was just fine in the beginning. It was when Raoul called that everything went to pieces."

Oh dear…even though I didn't much care for the Vicomte, I couldn't help but pity the poor sucker.

"I had just managed to set Mama Valerius's mind at ease—she'd been very distressed over my long absence, you see—when the housekeeper announced that Raoul was at the door, very adamant about seeing the old woman. He'd come to inquire about my disappearance. Imagine his surprise when he saw me sitting there next to her."

"I'll bet he looked an emotional wreck."

She nodded. "Poor, sweet Raoul. I know I didn't help matters any. I wasn't very cooperative in conversation. He didn't give me much cause to be! He hurled accusations and cross-examined me as though I were a criminal."

"Can you blame him? For being so in love, there's not much trust in your relationship."

Christine's eyes were downcast. "Perhaps you're right…but he didn't need to drag Erik into this!" She buried her face in her hands.

"He knows about Erik?" Again she nodded, still covering her face. "Ohhh…that's not good. That's not good at all."

"I know! We were arguing. His suspicions of my recent actions were agitating Mamma. He blamed my Angel for taking up so much of my time and coerced Mamma into demanding a promise out of me to never leave without word again and remain under their protection. I was furious—he was treating me like a misbehaved child! I told him that I am mistress of my own actions and the only one in the world to demand such a thing from me was my husband, except that I have no husband and mean never to marry." Christine broke off, tears brimming. "If you could've seen his face…I wanted to die right then and there. I didn't mean to say it, I was just trying to protect him by keeping him away. I've made him so miserable.

"He saw the ring on my finger and I daresay it drove him to the brink of madness. He claimed that the man who put it there was not worthy of me. I said, 'Why do you condemn a man whom you have never seen, whom no one knows about and whom you yourself know nothing?' That's when he said it. He insisted that I put a name to the voice and when I refused, he confessed to eavesdropping on our conversations in my dressing room and learned the man's name was Erik. I told him in the clearest terms that he must forget about Erik or it could cost him his life. 'Forget the man's voice.'"

Reading her expression, I could guess that was the last thing the Vicomte intended to do.

"I'm so afraid for him, Maggie, he knows too much! If Erik ever found out, there's no telling what he'll do."

Joseph's body on a stretcher flashed through my mind and I shook it off.

"I told Raoul not to come see me anymore unless I sent for him, and I promised I would, but he didn't seem convinced."

"He doesn't believe that you love him."

"That's exactly what he implied. I asked, 'Are people so unhappy when they love?' 'Yes, when they love and are not sure of being loved.'"

"Do you love Raoul, Christine?"

She looked at me as if I'd just broken her favorite toy. "How can you ask that? Of course, I do."

"In what way?"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"I think you know."

She remained silent, eyes flicking over the floor…the wheels were turning. Finally, she looked up at me, an expression of complete blankness in her large blue eyes.

"I don't know. I've known Raoul since childhood. I'm certain I loved him then. He was my confidante—my friend. I always feel safe when I'm with him."

"As opposed to Erik. You don't feel safe with him?"

"I don't feel safe from him. I know Erik would protect me at all costs—even so far as to commit murder for me," she whispered the last part, glancing towards the door as if she suspected him of eavesdropping, "but who will protect me from Erik?"

She started to cry uncontrollably, hugging herself. I came to recognize this as Christine's basic method of defense. Being already shut away with nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, she would shrink into herself-for what better place to escape to then the mind? Not sure how she'd react, I hesitantly put a hand on her shoulder. Like a crumbling structure, she leaned towards me and I put my arms all the way around her, holding and rocking her like a small child.

"I can't please them both. No matter what I do, someone loses. It all seems so hopeless."

"I understand things must all look a blur, and everything seems far away, like opera glasses turned the wrong end. Turn them around, Christine. Try turning things around and looking at them a different way. There are two men in your life—both after the same thing. And while you can love both men, you can't be in love with both. It's a very fine line. Yes, someone will lose. You just have to riddle through your feelings, find the courage to decide who."

"Love's breath is stale in my body. I don't know what to feel anymore…I just don't know."

"Love is a fool's game and not always fair. I suppose either we suffer in love or suffer alone."

"Lousy options."

'You can't expect love to always be there in the beginning…' "You must give it time to grow. Otherwise, you end up spending a sorry portion of your life, searching when it was waiting for you all along."

I managed to calm Christine a little before leaving her to digest some food for thought, and sought out Erik. I found him in the library, reading Great Expectations.

"Love her, love her, love her," I sighed, leisurely walking to the bookcase behind him, "If she favors you, love her. If she wounds you, love her. If she tears your heart to pieces—and as it gets older and stronger, it will tear deeper—love her, love her, love her!"

He didn't look up. "I am not amused. Somehow, I never envisioned you as an 'accomplished' individual."

"Just because I'm on the road a lot doesn't mean I don't know how to read."

He gave some sound of acknowledgement before returning to his reading. I browsed the bookshelves, waiting for him to finish. My fingers stopped along the spine of a book I'd not seen in his collection before.

"The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland…you?" I had leafed through the first few chapters while exploring one of the great libraries in England and was astonished that Erik of all people should indulge in the strange nonsensical wit of Lewis Carroll.

"You've read it then?"

"Only the beginning. The book didn't belong to me, but I've been dying to finish it."

"By all means, keep the book. I have no use for it."

I couldn't hide a smile. I had been right in assuming Carroll to be out of Erik's league. "You don't like Mr. Carroll?"

"I find him to be insensible, untalented and all together juvenile."

"That seems to be the popular opinion."

"You think otherwise, I take it?"

"He has a clever way of putting things."

"It's complete nonsense; childish drabble."

"I think he's brilliant in ways people of this society will never comprehend because they choose not to think outside of the box."

"No need to get defensive."

Since Erik was facing the fireplace, away from me, I couldn't read his expression (however well that can be done behind a mask), but I thought his tone sounded rather amused.

"So," his book snapped shut and he stood up, "I suppose you two are already conspiring against me?" I moved aside as he sauntered over to place the novel back on the shelf.

"Really, the very idea…don't you trust me?" I asked playfully.

"About as far as I can throw my organ."

"Ouch, checkmate."

"So, what did you talk about at such length?"

"You mean you didn't eavesdrop on the conversation? How unlike you."

"Trying to quit…filthy habit." His eyes twinkled mischievously.

"What makes you think I'm going to tell you?"

"I thought that was the whole reason you were here—to assist; to fix the flaws in communication and behavior between Christine and myself; to make sure nothing gets lost in translation.

Good point. However, there were some things I didn't feel I ought to share with Erik. A few more fine lines to be drawn.

"Well, I'm sorry," I replied, turning to the door with Lewis Carroll in hand, "but that information is private."

"'The time has come," the walrus said, "to talk of many things.'"

I turned back around, raising one eyebrow. "I thought you didn't read it."

"I never said that. I said I didn't care for it."

"For someone so adverse to it there was obviously something worth remembering."

"You're trying to change the subject."

I sighed irritably, tossing 'Alice' next to a nearby chair before sitting in it. "Alright, suppose I do break the bonds of sisterly confidentiality and tell you all that transpired between us—what do I get?"

He pretended to think it over. "You get to remain under my roof—or I could just throw you out, now." He suggested casually.

I chuckled. "Fair enough."

"If you like, I can make us some tea."

I desperately tried hiding a grin (to no avail), envisioning the great and powerful Phantom standing over a tea kettle and dainty porcelain cups.

"Is there some joke I'm unaware of—something amusing in the prospect of tea?"

"Not at all, tea would be nice." I could tell he didn't want to let it go, and so continued to stare as he retreated to the door, waiting for me to spill the beans. "And when you return, I'll tell you the dark and dirty secrets of a poor girl's tortured heart."

"Treasonably whispered," he replied softly before closing the door after him.

I sagged into the cushion of the oversized chair. Oh, what a predicament. I only hoped Erik wouldn't go and say something stupid over the course of the next few days that would allow Christine to think I tattled on her.