The diamonds spun about the stage in a parade of dolls. There were baby dolls, rag dolls, and the enchanting Calliope, as Harold had come to refer to her, as the delicate China doll. She was dressed in a beutiful, glimmering, silk kimono. Her hair was pulled tightly onto her head by two diamond-encrusted hairpicks on loan from Satine. And her face was painted with white make-up, rosy cheeks, and bright red lipstick to outline a small mouth, but she could never hope to outshine the sparkling diamond herself.
Satine radiated on stage in a shimmering lavender gown as she sung a song about becoming a woman and still being a child at heart. Satine had bragged about how Calliope had developed her womanly skills at entrancing the men. Calliope had a new confidence in herself that she had never had before. She believed that she could have anything she wanted from these men. Satine raved about her performances, but the first night that they performed the dollhouse routine, something terrible happened.
Calliope was on stage performing with the other girls singing and dancing when a man entered the Moulin Rouge. She was dumbfounded. She stopped suddenly as the others continued on around her. Satine was off-stage. She called out to Calliope in a low whisper.
"Calliope... Calliope!!!"
She looked in Satine's direction. "Keep going," she said as she waved to her. However, Calliope's feet were glued to the floor. The routine finished and she ran off the stage.
"What is wrong, little one?" Satine asked with a concerned tone. "Why are you suddenly getting stage fright?"
"S-s-someone is here," Calliope answered nervously.
"Who, mon cher?" Satine looked at her puzzled.
Calliope could hardly speak. She took a deep breath and looked at Satine sadly. "It is Edgar," she replied, "the man that I am arranged to wed."
Satine herself was a little shocked. "Did he see you," she asked impatiently.
"I don't believe so," she answered looking around on the floor as if she had lost something. "He came in and went straight to the bar."
At that moment, they were both approached by Christian with a concerned look on his face.
"What is it," he asked as he tried to catch his breath. "What is wrong?"
Satine looked up and searched the room. Her eyes fell upon Harold. He glanced back at her with a look that was a cross between concern and disapproval. She continued her glance around the room. She saw at the bar three men. One was much too old to be Edgar. Calliope had said that they grew up together. Her eyes stopped with another. He was young, but she knew him to be a regular patron. The third was fair-haired and fair-skinned. He wore a white tuxedo which was different for men of that time period. He also carried a fowl smirk which sent a twinge up Satine's spine.
"Is he the one in the white tuxedo," Satine questioned.
"Yes," Calliope answered timidly.
Satine turned to look at Christian. "Darling," she began, "the horrible man which Calliope was to wed is here. We must not let him see her. He would surely try to take her back with him."
Christian nodded. He understood exactly what Satine wanted him to do. He turned and walked over to the Duke's table. Calliope could not hear the exchange between Christian and the Duke, but suddenly the Duke looked at Satine and frowned. Satine looked away as if she were ashamed. In the next moment, the Duke gave his hinchman an order. The large muscular man stood up and marched over to Edgar, and grabbed him by the shoulder. Calliope was confused.
"What did Christian say to him," she asked inquisitively.
Satine smiled deviously. "Christian told the Duke that your fiance' proposed to me."
Calliope was speechless. She watched as Edgar was forceably dragged outside. When, he was gone, she couldn't help but let out a giggle. For a moment, she was ashamed of herself, but when Satine joined her, all of her dissappointment in herself faded away.