Chapter 22: The Second Trial
Two days later, her uncle Max surprised her. He was quite livid about his grandniece. "Don't worry, Caroline," her uncle said, "we will get Estella back for you."
"We?" Caroline asked. Max moved to reveal a young man standing behind him.
"Christophe Lamont, my niece Caroline de Sainte. Caroline, my new associate Christophe," Max introduced the two. Christophe merely bowed his head in acknowledgement. He's shy," Max whispered.
Caroline gave him a look. "Well, thank you," she told the man.
Max and Christophe immediately began working on Caroline's case. They were still working when Carly and Marie-Antoinette entered the lair. "So this is where Guilliame lives?" Marie-Antoinette asked, clutching little ichel's hand.
"Yes," Carly responded. "Caroline, are you coming?" Caroline yelled back an affirmative answer. "Good," Carly continued. "Marie-Antoinette wants to know if someone can watch Michel for her."
Marie-Antoinette added, bashfully, "Please?"
"I can," Guilliame said, taking the little boy's hand. The little boy seemed entranced by the masked man and started babbling.
Carly smiled and walked further into the lair. "Caroline, hurry up! We'll be late!"
"Caramel, patience. I don't see, or hear, Blaise yelling at me," Caroline said, coming out of her room. "Uncle Max, I have to go. If you need anything, Erik and Guilliame will help you. You too, Christophe."
It was then that Carly and Christophe noticed each other. The lawyer was enchanted by Carly's exotic looks, thanks to her Hispanic background. Christophe himself was quite good looking, tall, brunette and lean. At a quick glance, Caroline had almost mistaken this Christophe as the one who used to work at Le Cirque Boheme. All the dancers knew Carly and Christophe used to be a couple. Caroline smiled at the two and passed a knowing look to Marie-Antoinette. "Come on, Caramel. You were the one who didn't want to be late," Caroline said.
"Coming," Carly replied, absentmindedly. She followed her friends out of the lair while Max gave his associate a knowing look.
Max, Christophe, Caroline, Guilliame, Erik, Christine and Carly went down to the courts to win Estella back. Max had earlier prevented the Walshes from leaving the country with the girl, so the three of them were there as well. Estella tried to break free from Mrs. Walsh's grip to escape to Caroline, but the housekeeper kept a good grip on the girl. The three were ushered in.
Max met with the judge presiding over the case. Caroline noted it was the same room that she and Christine had revealed Raoul's treachery all those months ago. 'Feels like another lifetime ago, rather than last August,' she thought, hugging herself.
Guilliame encircled her as if protecting her from whatever pain the court may inflict her with. "Don't worry, Caroline. Your uncle will do his best. Now, let out that breath you're holding." Caroline did as she was instructed while her uncle was talking to Christophe. When their discussion was finished, Christophe approached the small group by the bar.
"Well, it looks like I'm representing you today," he told Caroline, the anxiety seeping in his voice. The others tried to boost his confidence. "I'm fine. Anyway, I need you to answer some questions, Caroline," he said, taking Caroline out of the room. The others watched them leave in complete morbid silence.
"You sound like someone has died," Max said, spooking the group. "Oh, I got to tell Veronique I spooked you all. She said I couldn't spook a fly. Ha!" The others still stared in silence, but this time, it was a shocked silence. They could not believe this man was making jokes at a time like this. "Alright, no response. If you're all concerned about Christophe's competence, I can assure you he is just as good as me," Max told them. They were still not convinced. Max sighed and gave up his attempts to boost his partner's standing in their eyes.
Christophe and Caroline re-entered, a look of determination plastered on his face. The lawyer sat the dancer down next to her fiancé. Christophe gave a nod to Max and it seemed the young man's confidence had been expanded twenty-fold.
Christophe walked up to the judge and began his argument. "Your Honor, we come here because my client, Mademoiselle de Sainte had had her child wrongfully taken away," he stated. "In order to prove this to the court, I call upon Mademoiselle de Sainte herself."
Caroline walked to the stand, as if living in a dream. She sat down in the chair and was no longer in the room, but in August of the previous year. She saw Guilliame, Myrcel, all her dancer friends, Erik and all the other in attendance that day. There sat Raoul smirking at her. Oh, how she would have the last laugh! The judge leaned down and patted her arm, jerking her back to reality.
She was returned to the room, but it wasn't August. It was January; six days into the new year, exactly. The room held very little people now, but most were friendly. Raoul was no longer in the room, but Caroline could still see his smirking face in front of her. Christophe's hand, not the judge's, rested on her arm. "Caroline?" he asked. "Are you well? Can you go through this?" Caroline was finally free of Raoul's smirk and nodded.
The judge listened to Caroline's story before Christophe called up the Walshes. "Yes, Mademoiselle de Sainte—then Mrs. Charity Dean to my wife and I—dud bring young Estella into the house as her personal servant," Mr. Walsh said. Christophe approached and repeated Mr. Walsh's last two words. "Personal servant, yessir," Walsh began to explain. "Estella was to deal with Mrs. Dean's mail directly. The girl was the only one allowed in her private room when she was there."
"Did Mademoiselle de Sainte ever mistreat young Estella?"
"Absolutely not. Then again, Mrs. Dean was kind to all in the house. She was just distant to everyone."
"Everyone? Even Estella?"
"No, not to Estella." Mr. Walsh was starting to get nervous. Christophe called Mrs. Walsh and dismissed her husband. Christophe began to probe the female servant, inquiring into the adoption of Estella.
"As my husband said, Mrs. Dean really loved and favored Estella. She was the one who saved her from the streets. And she also knew how much my husband and I wanted a child, but as you can see, we are past age. So Mrs. Dean wanted us to adopt Estella and give her a good home. And then she just takes her away to another country without us knowing," Mrs. Walsh said, trying to sound like the wronged person. Guilliame and Carly were trying to sound like people who weren't about to gag.
"Did Mademoiselle sign any papers saying you were Estella's legal guardian?" Christophe asked, trying to hide the glee in his voice. The Walshes' lawyer cleared his throat. He walked up and handed the judge a piece of paper.
The judge read the paper. "This seems to prove the Walshes' statement," the judge stated. Guilliame balled his hand to a fist while Carly leaned forward to pat a paling Caroline on the shoulder. Even Christophe seemed to be getting nervous. "Except for the fact that it's a forgery." Now it was the other lawyer's turn to grow anxious, gulping audibly. The judge leaned forward. "I know documents from New York and the United States of America," the judge said, tossing the paper towards the lawyer. "The motto of New York isn't Freedom and Truth, it's Excelsior—Ever Upward. So I would start speaking the truth and I would do so now."
The lawyer squirmed as Christophe excused Mrs. Walsh from the stand. He called up the officer who took Estella from Caroline. "Monsieur, I believe it is in your best interest to tell us everything," Christophe advised. The man, now scared, nodded.
"I work the late night shift at the prison where the Vicomte de Chagny is serving time. We began talking about how our loves wronged us. He asked me whether or not I would be interested in helping him get back at his lover. I agreed. He had a list of contacts I should make. His lawyer. A government friend of his. The Walshes, former servants of his. We plotted to pull this off and I thought it was work because Raoul said his plan was foolproof and that Caroline would never fight. How wrong he was."
"Indeed," Christophe said. Within minutes, Caroline and Guilliame left the courtroom, Estella in tow. The little girl was excited to be back with her parents and wouldn't let either of their hands go. Christophe smiled at the sight and turned to Max. "I did it, didn't I?"
"You did good, Christophe," Max replied. "You did real good."
When the small group returned to the Lair, Madame Giry and Meg surprised them with a welcome home party. "You two were very confident," Caroline said as Estella dived for the cake.
Madame Giry shrugged and hugged Caroline. "Mother's intuition," the ballet mistress said. "You knew it, Christine knew and I knew it. Now, let's celebrate the fact that Estella is home."
Later that night, Carly helped Caroline put Estella to bed. Once the little girl drifted off to sleep, Caroline turned on her friend. "So, Christophe is nice," she said, fixing the blankets nonchalantly. Carly shot her friend a look. "What? I was just saying…"
"It wasn't what you were saying, Belle, it was what you were implying."
"Oh, and what was I implying, Caramel?"
"That maybe I should give Christophe a try. Not going to happen," Carly said, enfolding her arms over her chest. "I can't…look at my record. Javier, remember him?"
Caroline hugged the woman. "You escaped. He hasn't found you and he probably doesn't care."
Carly shrugged Caroline off. "And Christophe…he turned out to be in cahoots with a nut job and then was killed."
"Yes, but you two broke off the relationship long before he joined leagues with my evil ex who then killed him."
"But still…"
"Look, I was involved with Robert. And then Raoul—said nut job—and now I'm marrying Guilliame," Caroline said.
"I guess," Carly said to her pseudo-sister, "you're telling me that love comes after a while."
"A Monsieur Right after a series of Monsieur Wrongs," Caroline interjected. "And maybe Christophe is your Monsieur Right. But Caramel dear, you'll never know if you don't give him a chance."
Carly still seemed to have a few doubts. "He is a high class lawyer. I'm a nightclub dancer. Where's the hope?" she asked, leaning back on Caroline's bed after they entered.
Caroline sighed and left the room again. She came back a few minutes later, smiling at Carly. "Never say never. You have a lunch date tomorrow with Christophe."
Carly jumped off the blonde's bed. "How?" she asked. "Is he out there?" Unknowingly, she reached up to try to tame her curly hair.
Caroline smiled at her friend's response. "He just left with my uncle Max after talking with Guilliame and Erik. Now, are you going home or would you rather stay here in the lair?"
"I would take the latter," Erik said, coming out of nowhere. "It is late, almost dawn. I don't mean to sound rude, but Christophe and Max just left and I know you can handle yourself, Carly. But I still worry about the city at night." Carly smiled, hugged Erik and agreed to stay the night.
Guilliame came in just as Carly was agreeing to stay. "Well, now, where to put you? Christine's old room or should we move Estella?" he asked,
"Leave Estella," Carly said. "It's her first night back with her family. Let her stay in her own bed."
Guilliame nodded. "If you say so, but Christine is experiencing morning sickness and the next room…"
"Don't worry about me. I sleep like a log," she assured the man. "Good night." With that, Carly left the room with Erik.
Caroline collapsed on the bed as her fiancé removed his mask. "Estella's back," Caroline repeated over and over again. Guilliame laughed. He laid down next to her and hugged her tightly. "My baby is back," Caroline said, tears running down her cheeks.
"Our baby," Guilliame corrected. Caroline started laughing again, kissing him squarely on the mouth. He broke the kiss long enough to douse the lights and cover the two.
A/N: Wow, doesn't it seem like I've been under a rock lately? Well, as I said in my last chapter, I have a crazy muse who has basically tied me up and demanded I write "Harry Potter." And the fact that yours truly is now a college girl hasn't helped either since this story is on my high school laptop and I forgot to transfer it over to my college laptop. Plus the added fact the notebook this is taking shape in is also at home usually. Anyway, thanks to my reviewers and you might start to see some of the chapters being adjusted since I'm revising. Mac