Meg finally returned to the surface two days after the masquerade. The first day the whole opera was closed to recover. Now since Coppelia and Cosi Fan Tutte closed just days before the party. New shows would be in rehearsal soon. This morning her mother asked her to lead a class for little dancers, the ones who haven't started dancing on pointe yet, and had very little stage time. The older girls would start class later.
As Meg had the girls move to the barres and had the go one by one in the center and work on turns. Toward the end of the line one of the younger girls grew stuck and would lose her balance every time. Meg stopped the little girl and had her stand on one leg and extend her leg behind her. She held up her hand and told the girl to reach her leg to touch her hand.
As they worked her mother, the man she now knew as Daroga, and the managers came in the door. Just then the girl began to fall. Catching the little girl's chest with one arm and her leg with the other she helped the girl back into position.
"Up straight, Brianne." Meg said softly. She found the problem soon. The group looked at the two without interrupting. Meg patted the girl's torso. "Tighten." She watched in the mirror as Brianne struggled less. "Good." Keeping the girls eye in the mirror she made her stand straight. "Try again, keeping…" Meg patted her own torso. "Here tight." She stepped away and Brianne did it much better than any attempt before. "Good job, dear."
Meg was the milk and honey teacher, the little girls loved her for her soft tone, young wisdom, and beauty. As they grew up they'd look to Madame Giry for strict technique. The Giry's were natural teachers. A few more girls worked on their turns and Meg brought them to the center to finish class.
"You are dismissed, little dancers."
"Thank you, Little Giry." They bowed to her and she smiled warmly at the little girls leaving to dine at the operas hall or leave with a governess if they came from fine homes. The classes for the little ones were much fuller than the elder classes. Before walking out the door the little dancers bowed to Madame Giry. Meg looked to her mother and watched as she walked to her.
"Hello, Maman." Meg kissed her mother's cheek. The Daroga was a little stunned to find that Madame Giry, a confident to Erik, was the mother of his lover. The managers walked him up to the pair and introduced him to their little star.
"La Marguerite!"
"La Prima Belle!" They spoke to her the same as La Carlotta. She had to admit, it was fun. Each kissed one of her hands at the same time, she couldn't help but giggle.
"This is our newest Prima Ballerina and solo singer at the Opera Populaire. Meg Giry, Daughter of our Ballet Mistress Madame Giry-"
"Made so by her own talent of course." Madame Giry cut in.
"Yes. Well. Meg Giry this is Monsieur Daroga. He refuses to go by his name here at the opera. He has come to renew his patronage. We insisted on a tour, to meet our finest."
He kissed the hand Andre held out to him. Older dancers from those just starting on pointe to Megs age filled the room. Madame Giry spoke with the accompanist. The managers fawned over the eldest girls in the room trying to impress them. In their solitude Meg turned from her mother so she wouldn't see and came closer to the Daroga.
"I trust that you have not mentioned my relation to Erik, to my mother." Meg shifted uncomfortably at his knowing smile. "It's not that I don't want her to know." She added quickly. "I just don't know how to tell her, or how she'll react. Now is not the time."
"You have my secrecy." Meg sent that dazzling smile back to him like she did before.
"Thank you."
"Mademoiselle Giry.-"
"Meg! Please." She cut in.
"Meg." He added. "Do you love him?" She saw the look of a worried friend she often wore for Christine. Meg smiled warmly at the thought of him.
"Very much!" She spoke softly and with so much love. "My dear Daroga." She echoed Eriks words from before with a laugh.
"I was afraid he would make you despise me."
"I know nothing about your relationship, but I can tell he's the hostile one." Before he could speak Madame Giry smacked her cane sending Meg into first position on spot. "Excuse me." She flittered to her spot just in front of the piano.
The managers led him to sit behind by the piano. It was not too uncommon for prospective patrons to sit in on rehearsal. Toward the end of class Madame Giry asked Meg to help her with partner work, something La Sorelli used to do. As each girl paired up Meg felt the little twinge of panic she used to feel, the loneliness she felt when Christine left the corps. She was happy she didn't have to actually worry about a partner in front of company.
Meg made her way around the duos as her mother called out what to do. She watched for anything she could fix. Meg did like the new, official prestige she now had. After the pianist finished the first piece he pulled from his repertoire the ballet from Il Muto. She walked by Little Jammes and Brigette were on the end of the middle row just by the piano.
"Where are your trousers, Meg?" Cecile called to Meg just loud enough for her, and incidentally the Daroga, to hear. He watched as Meg whispered something in the girl's ear to make her blush. She laughed at the younger girls shock, while Cecile gasped.
"Little Meg!" She kept laughing until Jammes swatted her bum over her skirts. The managers laughed at the little display of good fun.
Meg walked away smiling. Soon after they moved the barres from the middle of the room to the walls. To work on keeping in time each set of partners had to do sets of turns and moves. Madame Giry set on keeping Meg at the top of the class, after each set had gone she decided to show Meg off a bit and gave her much harder moves to do on her own.
Meg twirled around the room and leapt many times. When Meg came to center Madame Giry called for her to settle into a deep bow like a swan. She hadn't had time to wonder why her mother made her do all that. Meg concealed her heavy breathing as much as possible. Ballet was the art of making difficult things seem easy.
Standing up to her full height, her mother made to finish class. The girls came to stand around her, Jammes and Brigette clasped her shoulders to tell her how well she did. Meg felt odd breathing so hard with her rested classmates around her, but she was Prima, this was a part of her status, hard work.
"I have some slightly sad news for you." She kept her girls hanging. "The fall season ballet is to be cancelled." Jammes tugged on Meg to ask her about it, she turned her head to her friend with a look to kill. Her debut was pushed back, and the ballet corps was yet again swept under the rug for an opera. Mouthing 'I don't know.' to Jammes she looked back at her mother. "You are dismissed."
"Thank you, Madame Giry." They all bowed and dispersed to change their shoes and take their bags.
Madame Giry told Meg they must talk with the managers. As the managers spoke with the Daroga and some dancer jovially, Cecile came with her bad attitude to Meg.
"They cut it for the Phantoms opera." This made Meg stop in her tracks and the Darogas ears perk up. Meg hadn't even thought of his opera. The opera would be in full swing to please the figment who caused so much terror. "What did he call it?"
"Don Juan Triumphant!" Brigette piped up.
"What do you think it's like?" Meg asked genuinely curious, she hadn't heard anything from it officially. If she did, she didn't know it.
"Haunting. Like him." Brigette said again. She loved to talk about the opera ghost.
"Archaic from lack of humanity." Jammes said with passion and anger at a ballet being cut. "What do you think, Meg."
"I have no idea." She looked as frightened as she sounded. The hair on her neck stood on end. Her tone was odd to the Daroga who pretend to listen to the conversation in front of him. He couldn't see her face but she really seemed to be clueless. He expected her to know everything.
"Lunch?" Jammes asked.
"No I must stay with Mother."
"Goodbye, Meg." They both said as the hugged her. Meg walked to the little group as the rest of the dancers left.
"La Marguerite!" Andre ushered her to it in one of the chairs they just occupied. "We must call upon your singing now." She raised an eyebrow, Meg had the face that when she did that, she seemed like a southern belle who could make any man her beau. She had the face that at times could make any man tell what they are hiding.
"My singing?"
"Yes! You proved yourself as Serafimo."
"Stephano." Firmin cut in.
"Dora-Bella!" Andre added with great emotion. "Here." They handed her the cast list from the original score. She found her name third on the list.
"DON JUAN- Ubaldo Piangi
AMINTA- Christine Daae (Non-negotiable)
LUCÍA- La Marguerite (Non-negotiable)." Meg had no problems with a singing role, she thought they knew that. The managers looked nervous.
"That's fine." She tried to hand the score back, but Andre stopped her.
"Good Mademoiselle, we have to call upon your professionalism and ask you to understudy Aminta." Meg looked again to reassure her mind, she saw it was Christine's role.
"Alright, I don't suspect I'll be needed though." Meg said with ease.
"Were afraid you might be." Firmin added with great annoyance. This scared Meg, what did he mean by that.
"Of-f course she will. Don't be silly, she is very good at her job and is always here." Meg seemed even more uneasy than the rest of them. Why wouldn't Christine do it?
"Things change. Under such a crushing, and delicate, situation I'm afraid even the most reliable of people crack under pressure." Andre tried to soften the blow like they would with Carlotta. Meg grew defensive for her sister, and stood quickly as if she would storm out.
"Christine will do it. Don't worry, please. Your speculations will cause trouble with the composer, and we know his temper all too well." Meg paused and scanned the eyes of her mother and the Daroga. "I will learn Aminta, for you. Have faith in Christine, please. She will need it."
"Brava Belle! You are right. Thank you Mademoiselle. Now, we must continue the tour, join us?" Andre and Firmin were exaggerated as always as they led The Daroga out to show another section of the opera.