Christian stood off to the side of the room, politely declining any offers to dance from the ladies... and especially when Jezebelle came into view. He fled whenever he saw her, trying to blend into the crowd of masks and costumes. She was the last person that he wanted to see.
"Thank goodness for this masquerade. Perhaps she won't recognize me." True, perhaps she wouldn't; his mask covered most of his face.
"Christian!" Christian started at his own name, but he recognized the voice. He turned around, relieved to see Meg.
"Meg, it's wonderful to see you!"
"You look lovely in that outfit!" she remarked, eying his costume. He looked as though he'd stepped out of the first act of Lucia Di Lammermoor. The mid-Baroque attire did him well.
"You should try for a role in Lucia, Christian. You'd make a wonderful Edgardo! Or how about in Il Trovatore? You'd do a spectacular job as Manrico!"
Christian nodded gratefully, "You look wonderful yourself in that suit, Meg." Meg was wearing a violet suit and a violet top hat which sported a veil. Her dark mask featured catlike eyes. Meg smiled in appreciation.
"Would you like to dance?" he asked. "Certainly!" accepted Meg. Sweeping onto the dance floor with other couples, they continued chatting.
"Why so withdrawn, Christian? You seem shy tonight."
Christian hesitated. "To be honest, Meg, I've been trying to avoid Mademoiselle De Chagny."
"But why? She seemed eager to see you, from what I've heard..."
Christian hesitated, "It's an awkward situation, Meg- I'm not sure if I can say it?"
"Why? What's the matter?" Meg knew very well now that something was not well. The look in his eyes were enough to confirm that, "What has she done to you?"
"Oh no, not Meg too!" Christian thought, afraid that she, too, would turn on him, "What if she rejects me also?" He wanted to tell her of his love for Erik and of Jezebelle's suspicions about them, but what if Meg turned out to be like Jezebelle. Would he lose another friend and a potential ally?
"Well Meg...," he fumbled desperately for the right way to declare it, "...I'm in love with somebody, very much so-."
"Well congratulations!" Meg perked up, "who's the lucky mademoiselle-?"
"That's just it, Meg, I wish I could say his name, but..." He winced, not knowing how Meg would take it.
"He?" Meg gazed into his eyes, not sure if she'd heard that right.
"Yes," Christian seemed to deflate, "He."
"Well, I hope that you will be happy with this man!"
"Meg? You don't hate me?" incredulous, Christian gaped at his friend.
Meg smiled to reassure him. "Christian, Henri is also like you are and he's lovely. He and Phillipe are in love. Why should I reject a friend if he loves a man?"
Christian felt strengthened. Henri, one of the male dancers, and Phillipe, one of the stagehands, were also of his kind?
"And Vivienne and ChloƩ are carrying out their own little love affair too! Why should I be upset about it? They're happy."
"So Erik and I aren't alone...!" he breathed.
Meg looked puzzled. "Erik? Who-?"
Christian smiled a quasi-smile. "He's the one that you ballet girls are always talking about."
Meg gasped. Looking around, she pulled Christian off the dance floor.
"Christian, you're in love with the Phantom?" she whispered.
Christian was dead serious. Not even a hint of a smile could be seen. His eyes were downcast. "You've only seen that part of him, Meg. Erik is the dearest man I've ever met."
"But-!"
Christian hushed her gently. "Meg, he is deformed like Buquet said... that is why he's been so brutal; he's been tormented all of his life by society for his face. He'd been taken into a circus as a child and presented as a freak to the world, even beaten when he defied his masters. His own mother was afraid of him and often said to him that she wished that he'd died when she gave birth to him."
Meg stood there, listening to what information Christian had received from Erik about his past. She was appalled that somebody would be treated so dreadfully. Suffering and misery were not unknown... but at such an appalling level?
She glanced around... Jezebelle was coming their way. Her hair was swept up and adorned with white lace and pink blossoms, her silk dress decorated in very much the same manner, with a daringly low swoop to the neckline. Her beauty captured many an eye from the men... but Christian thought her repellent. Normally, he would have thought of her as quite lovely, but he saw only the enemy within her.
They moved away, towards Madame Giry, who had seen the whole thing.
Madame Giry's wardrobe had not changed much. She wore a black velvet cape and hood over her black dress. Her braids were loosened from their coils and hung down over her shoulders.
"So you told Meg about Erik and yourself, Christian?" she asked, her face serious.
Meg looked at her mother. "Maman, you know about this?"
"Yes, I do, darling. I am a confidant to Erik."
"Honestly, why doesn't she understand that you don't want to see her?" Meg whispered, looking at Jezebelle through her mask in disdain.
"I'm afraid that she has discovered them, Meg." Madame Giry said to her daughter, matter-of-fact.
Meg stiffened. "She's blackmailing you, is she?" she looked at Christian, horrified. Christian nodded. "I'm afraid that she might be doing that, Meg. She at least suspects it. That's why I'm avoiding her."
Before he could speak, Jezebelle barged in on them.
"There you are, Christian! I've been looking for you!" her voice was overly sweet.
"Leave me alone, Jezebelle." Christian fought to control his anger. He could see that Jezebelle's cheerfulness was a front.
"Shall we dance, or shall I tell the whole party what I think you're doing?" her eyes flashed like ice through her grin.
Meg was about to kick her, Madame Giry tightened her grip on her staff... but Christian felt that he had no choice. Grimacing, he swept out onto the dance floor with her, looking at her huge smile in disgust...
"Behold the ring on my necklace, Christian. Wouldst thou have me as thy bride?" she looked innocently into his eyes... but the young tenor remained silent, scowling at her.
"You little shrew, how dare you do this to me!" Christian thought in anger, "I love Erik! We have done nothing wrong and if you interfere anymore, I swear that I'll kill you! ...Why me? What have I done to deserve this?" he thought, exasperated. What was he going to do now? Would Jezebelle keep blackmailing him until she got her way?
He shuddered in horror at the thought of life without Erik, living in a lie, and married to a woman that he loathed.
Fortunately for Christian, the dancers stopped their dance as the lights flickered and dimmed. Everybody's eyes looked towards the stairs in fear. He wrenched himself from Jezebelle's hands and looked.
There stood a man clad in a lavish, deep scarlet suit and a dark red cape, his head adorned by a large, floppy red hat which was decorated with white and black plumage. He looked very much like a hero from a romantic novel... however, his face was covered by a forbidding skull mask. He advanced slowly, menacingly to where Andre and Firmin stood on the landing with Piangi and Carlotta.
"Erik...!" Christian recognized him immediately.
"Why so silent, good messieurs?" The mouth of the mask moved as he spoke, sending a chill through the room,
"Did you think that I had left you for good?
Have you missed me, good messieurs?
I have written you an opera! Here I have it- the finished score...
DON JUAN TRIUMPHANT!" he rasped, flinging a heavy book to Andre
"And a few instructions before you begin," he continued, drawing his sword,
"Carlotta must be taught acting, not her normal trick of strutting 'round the stage,"
He taunted an appalled Carlotta, poking the blade into her extravagant feathered hat,
"And Don Juan must lose some weight,"
he poked the blade at an indignant Piangi,
"It's not healthy for a man of Piangi's age...,"
"My fine managers must learn that their talent is in the office,
and not the arts..."
Annoyed but not daring to say anything, Firmin and Andre let him pass...
Erik approached Christian, glaring at Jezebelle through the eyes of his mask, but the hidden anger disappeared as his eyes fell upon Christian.
"And Monsieur Christian Daaƫ... I've had him in mind for one of the leading roles. It is clear to me that his voice is of the highest quality, and there is no doubt that he will do his best... but he must still learn much... he must return to me, his teacher and guardian..."
Christian's eyes Erik's eyes met through their masks. For a moment they exchanged an intimate look that nobody else saw but them... Meg and her mother watched, their eyes fixed on Erik and Christian. They smiled subtly, feeling joy at the sight of the two lovers.
Turning to Jezebelle, Erik saw the ring on her necklace. He heard all that went on in the opera house, and he had certainly heard Jezebelle. He advanced towards her, glared at her menacingly.
"You have no business with him, mademoiselle," Erik addressed her scathingly. "You will leave him!" he ripped the necklace and ring away and spat in her face. She recoiled in shock and disgust, as did a number of others who watched them.
Before anybody could react, Erik vanished in a cloud of flame. Jezebelle stood there, stunned.
She whirled around to find Christian... but he was gone.
