Claire jumped to her feet, the washcloth held tightly in her hands.

"You seem rather spooked today," Rachel said, closing the library door softly behind her.

Claire gave her a nervous smiled before continuing to scrub the floor. She had been very jumpy since Erik's outburst the previous night.

"What happened?" Rachel walked over and put a hand gently on Claire's shoulder.

"Nothing, nothing happened."

"Claire," Rachel said in a stern, motherly voice. "What did you do to make him so mad?"

Claire stopped scrubbing and sat back on her heels.

"I looked at him."

Rachel's eyes widened in a look of fear and wonder.

"Beneath the mask?" she whispered breathlessly.

"No," Claire snapped. "Of course not. I just looked at him the wrong way and he got angry."

Rachel gave her a puzzled look.

"Never mind," Claire sighed, shoving the washcloth back into the bucket.

Frankly, Claire found herself becoming rather exasperated with Erik's behaviour. He was cold one moment, seductive the next, and at anytime he could erupt into a dangerous rage. Claire had had enough fear in her life and she decided that she did not have the energy to be afraid of him or deal with his emotions. She would simply do her job as a servant and avoid him as much as possible—no more readings, debates or piano lessons. Claire would look for true friendship elsewhere.

"So."

"So?" Claire replied, glancing up at Paul with a blank look on her face.

That night, the servants sat in the kitchen enjoying their free time. Claire, Liz and Rachel were working on their embroidery while Paul and Jean played cards.

"So, what happened last night?" Paul finally ventured to ask.

"Yeah, the Master's got you pretty spooked," Jean added.

"Nothing happened," Claire replied casually, not even looking up.

Claire knew that the servants had been whispering about Erik's outburst all day, but she had done her best to avoid them and their questions. However, now she seemed trapped and it was too late.

"Did he try to take advantage of you?" Liz asked wide eyed.

"NO!"

"Did he attack you?" Jean asked.

"NO!"

"Did he hurt you in any way, my dear?" Rachel asked.

"NO!"

"Did you take off his mask?" Liz sat on the edge of her seat, her knuckles grasping the edge of the chair.

"No," Claire replied, quietly this time.

As Claire looked around the room at all of their nervous, eager faces, she understood. They had asked those questions because that was the type of man they thought he was. Just because he wore a mask, they assumed that he was some sort of murder, rapist and that the only reason she spent time with him is because he hurt and threatened her. It did not matter that he was a gentleman or that he was wealthy, all that mattered was that he wore a mask, that he was not normal. In any other household, the servants would not dare to ask such questions or even make such assumptions. They feared him, but they did not respect him. He had hated her pity because to him it had meant that she too saw only the mask and not a man. That she shared the assumptions and beliefs of the other servants, of the world.

Suddenly Claude stormed through the door a look of tense excitement on his old face.

"Something's going on up there," he said slowly, savouring this juice bit of information. "I think he's lost it."

Claire could see the delight in his eyes as he watched the faces of his friends change from curiosity to excitement.

"Really?" Jean asked.

"He's screaming and banging and breaking things."

Rachel sighed. "Shouldn't someone go check on him? He's a little unstable, and he may hurt himself."

"Are you crazy?" Liz asked.

"Well, if he kills himself, there's no more food on the table for us," she snapped back.

A nervous silence fell over the group.

"I'll go," Claire said at last. "But not because I'm worried about the money."

Everyone else muttered an encouragement.

With a determined look on her face, Claire opened the kitchen door and set off down the hall.

A/N: Sorry guys, I know…no Erik in this chapter…but don't worry…there will be plenty of him in the next one! Thanks to everyone for all their reviews!