One of the things Meg liked about St. James's Park was the swans. Until moving to London she had only seen the birds sparingly, but now she was almost guaranteed to see them when she ventured into London's iconic parks.

Swans were often seen as graceful with the striking white feathers, large wingspan and long curved necks. As she watched one bob beneath the water searching for fish, surrounded by its grey cygnets, her mind drifted back to the ballet. Swans were iconic within the ballet community, with ballet dancers often attempting to.recrwte the birds smooth lines and graceful movements. Having watched them a while Meg was unsure why this was the case; yes, they were more essentially pleasing than the Mallards who.dominated the London ponds, or the pigeons who occupied most paved open spaces, but they weren't outstandingly graceful.

The primary cause of her visit to the park had been to give her some time away from her mother, Nadir, and Erik to think.

There were many things about London she disliked, but equally as many things she loved and was enjoying the independence the city had given her. She knew she was lucky; she had enough wealth to be considered middle-class and actresses and dancers in London's theatres were treated with more respect than they were in France. Since being in London she had never been mistaken for a women of 'loose-morals' or 'questionable virtue' by anyone other than Erik, and even then she wasn't entirely certain he believed some of the things he said. Like most things with the man, he used sexuality and propriety as a means of control and manipulation, and even though she believed he was a better man than he once was, she was certain Christine's presence and letters had reignited some of his more questionable attitrubutes.

Erik was a continuing conundrum. He had told her he cared for her on more than one occasion, and the previous night they had walked hand-in-hand, yet she knew he held an intense passion for Christine that she would never understand. As she watched the cob and pen care for their offspring she came to the conclusion that Erik's passion for her friend was entwinned with his music - he didn't believe one could truly exist without the other. Dance, on the otherhand, is an interpretation of music and can exist as long as any form of music does, and Erik didn't need dance to interpret his work. In Erik's mind Christine and music had become one and the same.

Meg knew that Erik's rekindled Christine obsession would end badly. More than one person's heart was going to be broken, and one of them was likely hers. Regardless of the imoending outcome.of current events Meg decided it was in her best interest to accept the offer Nadir had outlined to her, and once Erik's production closed she would move on and draw another line under a part of her life.

--xxx--

On days without rehersals the theatre took on an eerie feel, and although Gilles doubted the Opera Ghost would decend from the rafters in a cape billowing plunge, he was still nervous when he traversed the halls.

It was customery for him to drop into the theatre on non-practice days to complete paperwork or survey the building renovations, but mow those were complete the lebgth of his stay would be vastly reduced. Quite often he would find Richard sitting at his desk doing goodness-knows-what, leaving him to wonder if the man had any existence outside of his buisness dealings, but today his compatriot's chair was empty.

Gilles lit the lamp on his desk and opened the folio to look at the accounts; if the production didn't open on time then they would be ruined, and he knew he would struggle to pay his various bills and could possibly end-up debters goal. He fully appreciated Richard's rationale behind working with the Opera Ghost, but it was certainly causing him more headaches than a normal production would.

One of the things he hated about his shared office was the lack of natural light. Without Richard's presence he had used one of the spare chairs to prop open the door to help some light from the corridor to enter the room. He hated relying on artifical lighting to do his work, finding it much more of a strain on his eyes than when sunlight was abundant.

Taking a break from his calculations to rub his eyes Gilles noticed Richard's ink pot on the floor, with ink having seeped into the rug. It was unlike his buisness partner to be so laissez-faire with furnishings and expensive commodities such as ink. Annoyed that the maid had either failed to clean the room this morning, or that Richard had knocked it on his departure and not seen fit to clear it up, he took his hankerchief from his pocket and went to dab the ink - but it was dry. Even more annoyed he left to fetch some water from the large jug on the hallway table - the one that was kept to refresh the cast and crew, hoping the useless maid hadn't emptied it.

Relieved to find it almost full he decided to bring the entire jug to the office.

Upon his return he noticed a a cream envelope sitting on his desk. After pouring some water onto the ink to allow it to soak he opened the letter with confused anticipation.

Erik Destler was requesting his presence at the theatre at 10pm.

--xxx--

Gilles, anxious about why Destler would want an clandestine meeting with him decided that he would ask Meg if she had any idea about what the man would want.

It was a bright day and he ws relieved to have left the dark corridors of the theatre for the bright and surprisingly airy streets of London. The good weather made the walk to Meg's flat quite pleasurable, allowing him time to reflect upon the note and how he would approach the issue with Meg. She had been abundantly clear that she wasn't willing to discuss Destler with him, and although he suspected she knew more about his behaviour than she let on, she had claimed ignorance.

Meg's flat was located in a large building that contained several accommodations of a simular nature. He had visited her several times but had previously only been invited in under the cloak of darkness. Of.ciurse he understood her reluctance to have a man in her home, as an unmarried young woman entertaining a gentleman in broad daylight unchaperoned would ruin her reputation.

He waited for several minutes, almost resigning himself to wandering the streets and returning later, so he was relueved when she opened the large door.

"Gilles!", she spoke with slight surprise in her voice, reflective of her unexpected guest's appearence, what a pleasure to see you. Let me fetch my hat and we can go for a walk. I have something I need to tell you".

Upon her return Meg had secured a green satin hat to match her skirt and took André's elbow to start their walk. Like most of their strolls they ended-upat a park and found a bench set along the hedgerows rather than near the pond.

"I recieved a note from Erik Destler this morning", Gilles informed her, watching her facial expression closely, searching for any sign of familiarity, "in quite unusal curcumstances"

"Erik is an unusal person", her voice void of its normal familiarity. It annoyed her that André was bringing-up Erik when she had been clear she knows nothing of his endeavours or enterprises. She had asked him to try and discuss the composer with her, but he was ignoring her request.

"More than unusal", he said seemingly unaware of his companion's changed mood, before explaining what had happened earlier that morning.

Meg listened to her friend recount how he came into procession of Erik's note as a sinking feeling filled her stomach. She didn't know what Erik wanted, but she knew that a secret meeting after dark was not a way Erik would currently conduct buisness. He was considered a respectful gentleman and renowed composerer, so clandestine meetings certainly pointed to something more unsavory.

"I don't know what Erik is planning, but I think you should speak to the Vicomte. I suspect this is all to do with Christine"

Gilles nodded in acknowledgement, "then I shall go now", he said with a bow, "thank you dearest Meg". Then he hurried off in the direction of the de Chagny household to catch a cab.

Anyone who passed by would've noticed Meg's crestfallen expression, even though it was lost on her friend: not once had he enquired after her news.

--xxx--

Christine had been surprised when the butler announced Monsieur Gilles André, and perturbed when her husband nstructed he be shown to the study rather than drawing room. She had protested, claiming it would be nice to become reacquainted with the Frenchman, but Raoul declined and dissapeared.

She thanked God for the small mercy that Phillippe was visiting London and had taken his mother out for the day to soften the blow that she qould be returning to France, and that her youngest son would - for the time being at least - remain married to an actress.

Christine didn't find out the purpose of Gilles André's visit untill later that evening when Meg Giry and the Persian knocked at her door.