Chapter Twenty-three
Christine fled back across the square to the hotel, hearing only the soft echo of her own footsteps. She reached the door and looked back only once, hoping Erik had come after her.
She knew, however, that he would not. He was the one who had sent her away. The one who had wanted her to believe him dead in Paris.
Is it only because of the mask and what in hides? Or is there some other reason that he shuns me now?
She did not return to the room. If Raoul was still awake, how could she explained her agitated state to him? She went instead to the little courtyard and sat down beneath the palms.
And what of the passion and tenderness during those few short months in Paris? Were they as false as his death...meant only to trick an innocent girl?
She refused to believe that. He could have seduced her so easily...there were so many times when he had the chance. She would not have refused him and he knew it.
And, on that last bitter day in Paris, he spoke of marriage.
The pain of seeing him again...of knowing he was alive and rejecting her...hurt more than the news of his death.
She stared up at the slim curve of the moon visible above the roofs of Casablanca. And at the small, shining rooms of the hotel.
If only it were Erik...not Raoul...who waited for me in that room.
Poor Raoul...he had been so kind to her. So patient and gentle though he knew her heart was forever shattered by Erik's death.
He accepted the fact that she could never love him...that her soul was lost for good. But he had married her despite that.
Raoul had been there for her...even as Erik had deceived her into a terrible, drowing grief.
Wearily, she rose and went inside. She did not see the German officer who watched her from the darkened doorway.
She slipped into the room and saw that Raoul had fallen asleep. She did not want to disturb his rest, knowing the risks he faced in meeting with this Philippe. So she undressed in the dark, drawing on a peach silk nightgown and sinking slowly onto the bed beside him.
If I told him the truth...and if Erik had not rejected me...would he let me go?
She laid her hand on her right cheek and shivered.
What did they do to him...what did those beasts do to him? Had they truly killed the beautiful, charismatic man to whom she given her heart and soul?
Raoul did not awaken, but he must have felt the tiny tremors that shook her body. He turned and put his arm around her.