Chapter Summary: Annalise, Katherine, a letter sent to a friend, a ruined opera house and the shadows begin to draw close.

CHAPTER NINE

She knew she had promised. She knew she had promised to keep their secret and to let those two weeks of quiet talks by the hidden spring remain their only contact, a bittersweet memory for both. Yet the events of the weeks since she had returned to Paris were confusing, their emotions racing through her veins, occupying her every moment, waking her in the middle of the night. She had spoken to her mother about these new, strange and wondrous feelings but those conversations always ended with her mother looking as if she had seen a ghost. Now her father had moments where he, too, looked haunted, almost as if he wanted to kill someone. She did not understand and it hurt to see her one surety in the world - the happiness of her parents - seeming to come apartwhile thinking she had somehow caused it.

She knew she had promised but he would understand. She knew he would understand.

"Come along, Rachel," Annalise said to her young maid as she looked at the envelope in her hand. She had addressed the letter to Monsieur Pfieffer, the priest in the village where her parents had their country home. Annalise knew she could trust the priest to get the letter enclosed to her friend, Erik. "I need to post this letter before I see Katherine and I do not want to miss the noon coach."

Rachel, a young woman in her mid-twenties, came down the staircase and handed Annalise a green silk purse that matched the light summer dress she was wearing. "Here you go, miss," she said. "The carriage is at the front door."

"Then we ought to be going." Annalise walked to the front door but did not have a chance to turn the knob for it seemingly opened of its own accord, startling both her and her maid. "Oooh!" She jumped; a hand over her heart, the fear dissipating as she looked at her two oldest brothers. Annalise managed a nervous giggle.

"Are we truly that frightening?" Jean-Paul asked.

"I did not know we could still frighten the little princess," Richard added.

Annalise stuck her chin in the air. "You cannot," she told them. "I was not frightened, just startled."

The men exchanged knowing looks.

"I was not frightened and why are you here?" Annalise wanted to know.

"To speak with Father about business issues," Jean-Paul lied. He was the better brother at lying to their sister. "And where do you go this lovely morning?"

Annalise gripped the letter in her hands tightly. "To post a letter to a friend and to visit with Katherine."

Her brothers stepped aside.

"Then let us not keep you," Richard said with a smile. "I hope you have a pleasant day with your friend."

"I shall," Annalise told them confidently. She relented beneath their smiles and reached up to kiss both of them on the cheek before going outside with Rachel, climbing into the open carriage which headed down the drive, heading for Paris.

The carriage driver was an expert and had Annalise at the coach stop well before noon. Annalise had wished upon her letter before handing it over to Rachel to post. She had wished that Erik, her friend, this man who had so loved someone, would be able to help her sort out her thoughts and emotions. Annalise knew he was wise and compassionate and would never refuse her request for help; in spite of the fact that she had promised never to contact him again. So the letter was posted, carrying Annalise's wishes with it, and the carriage driver conveyed his passengers to the American ambassador's residence.

"But I do not know what to do!" Annalise exclaimed to Katherine as the two young women strolled down a crowded Paris street, an embassy employee trailing them at a discreet distance. They had enjoyed a morning of gossip, a light lunch with Katherine's cousin, Abigail, the ambassador's wife and now they had escaped the confines of the indoors to enjoy a warm summer afternoon walk.

"Do you have to do anything?" Katherine wondered.

"You heard Lady Eloise Warwick-Blaisdell at the party last evening." Annalise stuck her nose in the air. "When a young lady comes of the age when she is old enough to draw her hair onto her head and be presented to society than she must be wise enough to know that it is time to put aside childish fantasies and settle down to perpetuate the very fabric of that society!"

The two girls looked at each before bursting into giggles.

"She was a bit full of herself," Katherine finally managed, "for all the fact that she is but a year older than you and is not yet married."

"She is English," Annalise replied. "It is to be expected."

The two girls walked on, arm-in-arm, in silence, stopping to look in the windows of jewelers and milliners. Katherine pointed at a tiny sapphire ring with diamonds on either side in one of the windows.

"How pretty!" she exclaimed looking at Annalise. "It is the same color as your eyes."

"It is very pretty," Annalise agreed. "It almost looks like a betrothal ring." She sighed. "And that puts me right back to where I was in the first place. I still do not know what to do."

"And I still do not know what you need to do about what."

"About finding someone to fall in love with, marry and raise a family."

Thunder boomed overhead, the heat and humidity of a summer afternoon becoming too much for the air to contain.

"It is going to rain!" Katherine said. "And we have no umbrellas!"

"I know the perfect place to shelter," Annalise told her. "Quickly!"

Katherine allowed herself to be led by her friend, quickening her steps to keep up with the fast pace that Annalise set. The embassy employee following them shook his head and picked up his pace as well. Katherine found herself running down the street and around the corner and up onto the covered porch of the ruined opera house just as the skies opened, the rain coming down hard and fast.

"That was a lucky chance," Annalise said as she cast a wary eye at the sky. "I think we may have to wait here for awhile."

Katherine looked around her at the other people who had gathered under the sheltering roof. "We do not seem to be the only ones."

"I know a place we can go for privacy." Annalise tugged on Katherine's hand and led her through the growing crowd, disappearing from the sight of the man who had been assigned to chaperone them. She led Katherine around the side of the building, moving towards the back, stopping in front of a boarded up door. Annalise winked at Katherine, reached for one of the boards and moved it aside. She let go of Katherine's hand and walked through the door she had opened. "Come," she told Katherine, "it will be just for a few minutes and we can come right back."

"How did you know about that?" Katherine whispered in the huge silence of the deserted, ruined opera house.

"I have brothers. Brothers are boys who go to school with other boys and boys always seem to know the secret places. And brothers are very good at telling secrets when you tickle them."

Annalise walked down the dusty hallway, Katherine following closely. They emerged onto a stage, a huge chandelier lying half on the stage, half in the orchestra pit, its crystals long broken and lost, their tiny remaining shards like drops of tears scattered across the floorboards. Broken, charred chairs littered the main floor, pieces of ceiling and plaster dust burying their remains. The girls looked up to see a straight line ripped open from one side of the ceiling to the other.

Annalise pointed to her left at a second story box. "That was where my father would sit when he was patron of this place." She turned to look at Katherine. "And this is where my mother would sing. She was studying to be a dancer when she became a singer. I do not know the whole story for my parents will not tell and neither will anyone else but I do know that this is where they fell in love. And then there was a great fire and people died and they closed this opera house, vowing never to rebuild."

"You said it was haunted!" Katherine breathed.

"My brothers have told me that there was supposed to be an opera ghost who would write music and sing in the shadows and kill anyone who did not do as he wished." Annalise rolled her eyes. "I think they just made that up to scare me for tickling them."

Katherine looked around her. "It is very sad, I think. I remember passing this place that first afternoon when we came to visit your family. I thought it was old and sad at that time. Now that I know people actually died here my heart feels like it might break." She turned to look at Annalise. "Why did you bring me in here?"

"I guess ... I suppose ...," Annalise sniffled. "I wanted to see if there was something here that would help me understand why my parents fell in love. I want so hard to know what it is that lets you know you love another person that way. The way that lets you know this is the person you want to marry."

"Is there someone you love?" Katherine asked softly.

Annalise was studying her toes. "I don't know. I have had so manyyoung men be so nice to me but," her voice caught in her throat, "your brother and Michaud Deschene have been especially nice and I am very fond of them both. I just do not know if what I feel for either of them is love. And it is all so very confusing!" Annalise stamped her foot. "And where does it say that I have to marry the very minute Society considers me an adult? I want more than to just be a way for some young man to become wealthy the minute we exchange vows!"

"My brother would never … he would not … He is not like that!" Katherine exclaimed. "It is not nice of you to say so!"

"No, it is not," Annalise conceded. "Sometimes I am not a very nice person, I fear." She walked over to Katherine, laying her hand on the other girl's arm. "I am sorry, forgive me."

"I do forgive you but I guess I just do not understand why this is so important. You are barely older than I!"

"It is important. It is important to me. My parents did not have an easy time when they first married because my mother was an opera singer and not what society thought a proper wife for my father. But they made it, Katherine! They got through all the hard times and they are happy." Annalise paused for a moment, thinking over her next words carefully, knowing that she could trust Katherine. "And I met someone whilst I was in the country that lost his love. I wish you could have seen his eyes when he spoke of her! I want someone to look like that when they talk of me. I want to be loved and cherished. I want to have a marriage like that of my parents." She smiled. "I like your brother very much and I also like Michaud but I have no way of knowing what it is I am feeling for them much less what it is they are feeling for me!"

"Oh …" Katherine replied softly. "I have even less experience than you. I do not know what to say to you. My parents are very American, I think, and would never discuss these things with me." She thought for a moment. "I think if it was me I would not rush into anything. This is the rest of your life so make sure you know what it is you desire and do not settle for anything less."

Annalise hugged her friend. "I think you are older than I in some ways."

Katherine laughed. "No, I am just a very good listener."

"We ought to go," Annalise told her, looking around at the ruins of the once glorious opera house. "I think my mother was right and the past ought to be left in the past." She sighed. "I think I shall listen to my own mind and my own heart from this point forward and not bow to what society thinks is expected of me."

Katherine nodded, taking her friend's arm and they walked out of the darkened shadows of the opera house, into the rain-washed air of a Paris afternoon.

Their frantic embassy chaperone saw them coming around the corner of the building and marched over to the two girls. "Where have you been?" he demanded in a tone of voice that startled both girls. "I asked you a question!" He was nearly shouting.

Katherine looked stunned. Annalise was stunned at first but quickly recovered, she was not used to being addressed in such a manner. "We were around the corner where we could have privacy to talk."

"You could have talked quietly here where I could watch you!" Their chaperone growled at them. "Do you have any idea what could have happened to you? Do you know the kind of people that hang around ruined places? Do you know what they can do to young, unprotected girls?" He glared at them. "Do you want me to draw you a picture?"

"N ... n ... no," Katherine stammered.

Their chaperone did not hear them through his anger and fright. "They could have taken you, spirited you away and we would have no idea where to look! Once you were in their power they ..." He stopped as some of the fright and anger drained away at the sight of the two girls in front of him, their eyes downcast, cheeks pale, hands clasped tightly. "Ladies," he breathed deeply, steadying his nerves, "forgive me. You frightened me and I reacted badly."

Katherine felt Annalise's hand squeeze hers, an almost imperceptible smile coming to her face. She squeezed back. Katherine raised her eyes. "We are sorry, too. We really did not mean to frighten you."

Annalise also raised her eyes. "You are not going to tell, are you?"

What chance did he have against those two pairs of eyes, brown and blue, huge and beseeching; he sighed. "I shan't tell but you must promise me to never do anything so foolish again." He gave them a weak grin. "And you must promise me that you will not tell on me."

The girls each took one of his arms. "We promise," they chorused.

"I think chocolate is called for," Annalise said. "And I know the perfect little patisserie. It is just around the corner. It shall be my treat."

"Our treat," Katherine said as she looked at their chaperone. "Our apology."

Their chaperone laughed. "Apology accepted," he told them, guiding them into the sunshine and away from the opera house.

They did not notice the man who stood in the dispersing crowd that had gathered round the opera house during the downpour. He had been watching the girls all day as they had moved about the city, always hiding in the shadows, always just out of their sight. He knew the stories of the opera house - the ghost, the murders, the fire. He had seen the girls go around the corner and disappear into the opera house, following them, listening to their words from the shadows. He remembered hearing the rest of the stories about the opera house - about the chorus girl, the ghost and the wealthy young man, the stories that were only whispered about behind closed doors - and his eyebrow raised, a smirk growing on his face. He had heard their chaperone as he yelled at them for who could not have heard that? And he had stared after Annalise and Katherine as they walked away, suddenly knowing just how he needed to proceed.