Blaire entered the dining room first, and immediately let out a yell. "Mommy, help! There are strange people eating in the dining room!
"Now, Blaire don't be silly! There are no strangeÉ" Molly's sentence trailed off as she and her husband joined their daughter in the dining room. "Christian, do you know these people?
Christian got up and walked over to them. "Yes, I know them. Molly, Kyle, Blaire, these are some of the people I met in Paris. This is Harold, Marie, and this is
Before Christian could introduce Toulouse, he had already begun the job. "I am Henri Marie Raymond Toulouse-Lautrec Monfa." Toulouse said offering his hand to Molly. "You must be Christian's sister. Please, come and join us. We were just having lunch.
Christian and Satine both were very nervous during the meal. They hadn't exactly told Christian's family about Satine's past, and they were dreading the moment when Harold would bring up the Moulin Rouge. But by some small stroke of luck, that moment didn't happen and Christian's family seemed to be getting along well with the visitors.
After lunch, Satine stood up and said "Well, I'm going to go take my medicine now. I'll see everyone tomorrow." As she started up the stairs, Toulouse looked at Christian and asked, "It takes her all afternoon and night to take medicine?
Christian laughed and replied "No. The medicine makes her very drowsy, so she sleeps until about 7 or 8. Then she's up all night.
"Well, I'm not surprised by that. One gets very used to being nocturnal when in Satine's line of work." Harold said very frankly. This was it, the moment Christian had been dreading. He knew he had no choice but to explain exactly what Satine's "line of work" was. He couldn't lie, because his guests would call his bluff. The thing he was really dreading about this was that he couldn't say that Satine "was" a courtesan. According to Harold, she still was. After all, the show was not cancelled, only on hiatus. As Molly and Kyle looked at him for an explanation of Harold's last statement, Christian desperately tried to think of a way he could get himself out of this hole.
"Well, back in Paris, you see, Satine was a performer at the Moulin Rouge. That's how she got her head injury. We were rehearsing and she fell off of some stairs.
Surprisingly, his sorry attempt worked. As the group turned the conversation to different topics, it occurred to Christian that Molly, having being brought up by their conservative father, most likely was not aware of what the "performers" at the Moulin Rouge actually did. In fact, the only time the Moulin Rouge was mentioned in their house was the day Christian decided to leave. Kyle, from what he remembered, also had been raised in a very sheltered family and probably didn't know any more about the Moulin Rouge than Molly. "And that's the way it's going to stay" Christian thought to himself.
After about a half an hour, Harold, Marie and Toulouse went to get settled in at their hotel. Christian went upstairs, exhausted from having to entertain after being up all night. He found Satine already asleep. He was careful not to wake her as he got into bed. Before he turned off the lamp beside him, he kissed Satine gently on her forehead. "Sweet dreams" he whispered as he began to fall asleep.
Unfortunately, the dreams Satine was having were anything but sweet. She kept seeing this horrible man, claiming she was his. He kept trying to pull her away from Christian, and no matter how hard she resisted he wouldn't let go. She also kept hearing strange voices telling her that she needed to go with the horrible man, and that everyone was depending on her. She saw flashes of bright lights, and lots of people waving money in her face. She wasn't sure why, but she felt very venerable. It felt like all of the people wanted her, like they wanted to hurt her. The horrible man came again, and grabbed her
Satine awoke to the sensation of Christian shaking her arm. She looked around a few times, and smiled at him. "You were tossing around a lot. Are you alright?" Christian asked.
Satine sat up and nodded. "I had the strangest dream, though. This terrible man kept trying to take me from you. And these voices, they kept telling me to go with him and that everyone needed me to go with him. Then I saw all these lights and people, and they were shoving money in my face. Even though they were giving me money, it felt like they wanted to hurt me. I just don't understand it.
Of course, Christian understood the dream perfectly. The terrible man was the Duke. The lights and people with money were from all of her nights performing at the Moulin Rouge. Still, she would have remembered that part, wouldn't she? "Satine, the lights and people were from when you were performing at the Moulin Rouge" he said, hoping she would remember.
Instead, Satine turned to him and asked "Performing? But why would people be shoving money in my face if I was onstage in a play?
"Great." Christian thought to himself. "She doesn't remember being a courtesan. She thinks she was always a lead actress. With Harold here, this could be very, very awkward." Now he was faced with a new dilemma. Should he tell Satine about her past, or allow her to continue thinking she was always the lead actress?
Satine sensed that something was wrong. "I'm remembering something incorrectly again, aren't I?
Christian nodded. "See, the man in your dream was the Duke. Remember I told you about how he wanted you to be in love with him? Well, you were kind of supposed to sleep with the Duke.
"But why? I know no one knew about us, but why would they expect me to do that with someone I barely knew?
As much as it hurt him to tell her, Christian took a deep breath and replied "Angel, before the Moulin Rouge started putting on plays, you had a different job. You were a courtesan.
Satine looked at Christian with tears in her eyes. Christian slowly embraced her. As he held her, he thought "What else can go wrong?
Little did Christian know that the answer to his question was not far away. In a mansion in the hills, the Duke sat impatiently waiting for word from Paris. Warner came in and informed him that Harold had left for London, along with Satine and the writer. The Duke stood up and announced "We're going to London.
As Warner left to prepare the trip, the Duke said to himself "She will be mine