Chapter Twenty:  I Know Your Story

The morning dawned bright and cold, and it took a moment for Christine to remember where she was, before she smiled.  Rouen.  Then she thought that in four days, she would waken to prepare for her wedding.

She rose slowly from the bed and went once more to the window.  Several moments passed in silence as she stared out into the winter wonderland of Rouen.  She had stared out this window the night before, until Erik had come to the room and found her there.  Even though she had confided her fears, he did not assuage them as she had hoped he might.  She had no doubt he understood what she meant.  Could it be the thought bothered him as well?

He'd stayed with her until she fell asleep, of that she was certain.  Even over his recent protestations about propriety, he couldn't deny her his presence last night.  A small smile formed over her face at that thought.  But if reassuring her by his presence was so important, why could he not reassure the fear she'd held with his words?

She shook the thought from her head and turned from the beautiful landscape that was set out before her, and set about getting ready for the day.

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A day filled with camaraderie as the six occupants of Degardeau cottage spent time just getting to know one another better.  Anyone who cared to glance in on the tableau could tell that Marie and Gerard were very much enjoying their guests.  And that evening, with first Christine's insistence then Gerard's joining in, Erik sang for them.

"I have not sung in front of an audience in years,"  Erik protested.

"I sing in front of an audience many nights, Erik, and yet your voice still far surpasses mine,"  Christine declared.

"Besides, Marie has told me that she heard you sing when you were a child,"  Gerard interrupted,  "and that you had the most beautiful voice she has ever heard.  We have a piano in the drawing room, and sheet music if you need it."

Christine could see Erik reddening under the mask, and also noted the movement of his hands.  It had been a few days since they left Paris, and she knew he had to be itching to play.  "If you like,"  she whispered,  "I'll sing with you."

Erik's eyebrow cocked unseen behind the mask, though Christine could see the movement she recognized as such. 

"Please?"  she continued.  "You want to play, and to sing, and it would mean so much to us, to me."

At that, Erik acquiesced,  "Yes.  But only if you join me, mon amour."

Christine nodded her agreement, and the six of them made their way to the drawing room.  Erik guided Christine over to the piano, and Gerard showed them the box containing the scores.  The couple then sorted through them, looking for the right piece, and finally, agreed upon the love duet from Faust.

Erik sat down at the piano with a flourish, and Christine took her place standing beside it, at an angle where she could see him.  They looked at each other briefly, and when both nodded, Erik began playing the introduction.

The scene began with Christine's recitative of Marguerite.  "Il se fait tard, adieu!"

"Quoi! je t'implore en vain!  Attends!  Laisse ta main s'oublier dans la mienne, laisse-moi, contempler ton visage.  Sous la pâle clarté.  Dont l'astre de la nuit, comme dans un nuage, Caresse, ta beauté."

"O silence ô bonheur!  Ineffable mystère!  Enivrante langueur!  J'écoute et je comprends cette voix solitaire  Qui chante, dans mon coeur!  Laissez un peu, de grâce."

"Qu'est-ce donc?"

"Un simple jeu!  Laissez, laissez un peu!"

"Que dit ta bouche à voix basse?"

"Il m'aime... il ne m'aime pas, Il m'aime... pas...  il ne m'aime pas, Il m'aime!"

"Oui, crois en cette fleur éclose sous tes pas. Qu'elle soit pour ton coeur.  L'oracle du ciel même!  Il t'aime!  comprends-tu ce mot sublime et doux?  Aimer!  Porter en nous une ardeur toujours nouvelle!  Nous enivrer sans fin d'une joie éternelle!"

And then their voices blended into one, and lingered there for an interminable moment,  "Eternelle!"

A short silence before Erik picked up with his line,  "O nuit d'amour! ciel radieux!  O douces flammes!  Le bonheur silencieux.  Verse les cieux, les cieux  Dans nos deux âmes!"

"Je veux t'aimer et te chérir!  Parle encore! Je t'appartiens! Je t'adore!  Pour toi je veux mourir!  Parle, parle encore!  Ah ! je t'adore!  Pour toi je veux mourir."

"Marguerite."

"Ah partez!"

"Marguerite! Cruelle."

"Ah partez! Je chancelle!"

"Me séparer de toi! Cruelle!"

"Laissez-moi!  Ah! partez, partez, oui partez vite.  Partez, je tremble, hélas! j'ai peur!  Ne brisez pas le coeur de Marguerite!"

"Tu veux, tu veux que je te quitte!  Vois ma douleur, hélas! vois ma douleur!  Marguerite! tu me brises le coeur!  Par pitié!"

"Si je vous suis chère . . ."  if I am dear to you . . .

"Marguerite!"

"Par votre amour, par ces aveux  Que je devais taire,  Cédez à ma prière, cédez à mes voeux!  Partez, partez, oui, partez vite!  Partez, je tremble hélas! j'ai peur!  Ne brisez pas le coeur de Marguerite!"

"Divine pureté!  Chaste innocence,  Dont la puissance  Triomphe de ma volonté!  J'obéis! mais demain."

"Oui, demain, dès l'aurore, demain, toujours!"

"Un mot encore!  Répète-moi ce doux aveu!  Tu m'aimes?"

"Adieu!"

"Félicité du ciel!  Ah ! fuyons!"

Erik's final note died away, and the silence descended upon the room for a moment, before the other occupants broke out in applause at the beautiful show of vocal talent they had just seen.

Erik rose from the bench of the piano, and took Christine's hand in his own.  A fiery glance between them, and they turned to face their small audience, ever the performers, they made a bow and curtsey respectively.

As Christine glanced at the faces in the room, she could not help but notice there was not a dry eye amongst them.  Gerard was the first to rise, and he clasped his nephew on the shoulder.

"That was the finest rendition of Faust I have ever heard, my boy.  The two of you should be very proud of yourselves."

Now, both Erik and Christine blushed, and both smiled.

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As everyone else headed up to bed, Christine and Erik lingered a moment in the drawing room, the first chance they'd had to be alone since the night before.  The tension between them had been obvious throughout the day, but neither wanted to bring up the subject at hand with an audience present.

They watched each other from across the room at first, neither knowing quite where to begin, and the silence spanned out for nearly two minutes before Erik finally walked over to where Christine was standing near the piano with her fingers lightly trailing along the keys.

"You've been wanting to say something all day, mon ange, I could see it in your eyes,"  he whispered.

"Yes,"  she replied simply as she stared at the keys.  "Erik, have you ever wanted to say something, and not know the words to phrase it?"

"At times,"  he answered.  His hand moved slowly up under her chin, and drew her eyes to meet his.  "I know what it is you were not able to say last night, Christine, and yes, it is a thought which has worried me from time to time as well.  I am by no means a young man any more, but I'd like to think I'm still somewhere in my prime.  That I still have a few good years left yet.  If that is not enough for you, I do understand."

"Oh Erik,"  she sighed.  "You must realize I wouldn't trade any moment we have together away, it's just . . . I'm so afraid, I just found you not that long ago, and to lose you . . ."

"I'm not going anywhere, not yet,"  he assured her as he led her into his embrace.  They clung to each other like two scared swimmers about to take an unthinkable plunge, until a cough sounded in the vicinity of the doorway.

They parted, and two sets of eyes followed to the source of the sound, to find Meg standing in the doorway.

"Marie is asking for you, Christine,"  Meg said simply after a moment in which the three of them stared amongst themselves.

"Could you tell her I'll be up in a moment, Meg?"  Christine asked.

"Certainly,"  Meg answered, and then disappeared as quickly as she had come.

Christine turned back to Erik, and he reached out and brushed a tendril of long curly hair out of her face.  "Ma petit Christine."

She smiled at the phrase, and once more they found themselves wrapped in each other's arms, and his lips descended upon hers, and for a moment, all thoughts and fears were gone from their minds.

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Author's Notes:  I'm celebrating!  Review number 100, gosh, I'm so proud of my little baby, anyways, thank you to snapdragon who made number 100 . . . honorable mentions go to eclectic_blue for number 101, Chicketieboo numbers 102 AND 103 (Wow, I feel loved, twice in a row!  And I'll be sending you an e-mail about hosting the story on the other site) Elenmir for number 104, Angelofnight for number 105, Deidre for number 106 (and that voice of reason again!  She really needs her own screen name, doesn't she?) and Yami No Eyes for number 107!  Phew, think I got them all!

Okay, now . . . no, Erik is NOT dying anytime quite soon, I just wanted to give them a little drama, besides, it's only a few days until the wedding, I can't kill him off now, it would just be a crime!

Yami:  Thank you for pointing out those little inaccuracies of mine . . . I'm hoping that the fact they got the dress made so quickly can be overlooked just this once because they did NOT want to wait a year to marry, though I know that people back then married that quickly on occasion, so they had to SOMEHOW get the dresses made . . . hmmm, perhaps if we say that they paid extra to have it made quickly, do you think that's a possibility?  Let me know, please.  Oh, and I didn't take offence, everyone has their own preferred genre, I just happen to be a sucker for romance.  Although every now and then I feel the need to cross to other genres . . . keeps me on my toes!  As for Erik seeing a doctor . . . this is a bit more than a cold, I fear, if Kay is to believed in what she wrote, Erik's illness was a bit more serious, though she does not give us specifics, so, for the time, it is merely coming up in discussions.  I suspect, though, that he may have had a heart attack in the novel, or something similar, I can not verify that.  Also, it is just a few days before Christmas, they are planning on holding the wedding on Christmas Day.  I did some research on the Muslim calendar, and there would be no corresponding holiday for Nadir at this time (the Muslim calendar is lunar based, as opposed to the solar based calendar the Catholics and the Jews use . . . a lunar calendar is about 11 days shorter than a solar, therefore, a holy day does not necessarily fall on the same day as explained by our solar calendar.)  I found a site which explains it, and if anyone else wants it for future research purposes, here's the link:    

http://www2.cs.pitt.edu/~tawfig/convert/convert.cgi             The introduction link on this page was most helpful in explaining the differences to me.

Angelofnight:  Supercalafragalisticexpialidocious indeed!  Who cares if that word goes to the wrong story, I like your use of it!


Deirdre:  Can't wait to see if your VOR has anything to say about this one!

George Esmerelda:  Some of my favorite reviews are the long ones . . . I get a better sense of my readers that way.  As to Erik's morphine addiction . . .  it's not coming up in this story, no.  I'm working on what I am sure is the next to last chapter, and since it hasn't been, it's not going to be.  The heart attack . . . well, it's played all the part it's going to in this story . . . if there is a sequel, I may touch on them again, but I don't know yet that there is.  My muse is a very fickle creature, I've been known to write a story and then say "This is it, no sequels!" up and down till I'm blue in the face, then my muse throws out a question . . . "You left this, this, this, and this unanswered.  Get to writing." And that's it, instant sequel.  We shall see indeed.

And Snapdragon:  The wedding is coming . . .very soon, I assure you.  I'm almost to the point I was when I lost those pages, and have added more in on the way since my memory was not QUITE that good to write everything complete, but still . . . I think this is a bit better than what I originally had, so everything has it's silver lining.

Au Revior, until next update, mon amies!

@}-----,----- Stemwinder -----'-----{@