Author's notes: I know this took me a while to post, and it isn't very long. Ok, maybe it is, but it's not very fun, just a lot of in-between-stuff. But it's necessary for the story, the way I want it to be.

And I'm very disappointed about the reviews. Just one on the previous chapter, which I myself thought was really nice. Well, you have the chance to make that up to me now lol

And a big thank you and lots ofbig hugs to Eruliss, who wrote that one review. Keep them coming, honey, they make my day lol

Enjoy!

Part VI

At five o'clock on Friday afternoon, Raoul was standing in the foyer of the Opera Populaire, more nervous than he'd ever been before. When he'd entered his carriage almost an hour before, his doubts about this evening had returned again, with full strength. He'd gotten so nervous he'd almoststepped out of the carriage and sent it empty to Paris, with a note to Meg with some prosaic excuse. But he hadn't. He'd been brought up to act like a gentleman, and to go back on his word would struggle against everything he'd ever learned

He looked at his pocketwatch for maybe the fourth time in five minutes. Where was she? He hadn't gotten any message from her saying she wouldn't join him, or that she'd be late, so she should be here by now. But where the devil was she then?

He suddenly heared the unmistakable sound of heels against marble, and looked at the top of the stairs. Meg was standing there, looking like an angle from a dream, stealing Raoul's breath away. She was wearing a dress in some sparkling, red material with a black cloak over and her hair was unbound. Raoul realized he liked it better that way.

Meg walked slowly down the stairs, and Raoul quickly composed himself. He hurried over to the foot of the stairs to meet her when she came down.

She stopped on the last step. When he was this close to her, and their eyes were at level, Raoul could see that she was a nervous about this as him, maybe more. This gave him comfort, and courage, enough to smile at her.

She smiled back, hesitantly, and Raoul said: "There is no need to be nervous, Meg, this is going to go great." He took the bag she was holding in one hand and offered his arm to her. "Ready?"

She nodded and took his arm, and they walked out the large front doors. Raoul's carriage rolled up, and he opened the door for her. Meg entered, and Raoul followed, and they sat down on opposite sides of the carriage. Meg was looking at her hands in her knee.

"What is expected of me tonight, Monsieur?" she asked, her voice betraying the nervousness she was trying to hide.

Raoul noticed that she once again was back to calling him "Monsieur". He sighed inwardly and moved over to sit next to her and took her hands.

"Meg, nothing is expected of you tonight, except that you stop calling me 'Monsieur' when it is just the two of us," he said and looked into her eyes.

"Allright, I will not call you 'Monsieur', if you stop lying to me. I think that a lot is expected of me tonight, and I do not want to embarrass you, so please tell me what I should do to avoid it."

Raoul almost burst out laughing at her bluntness, but he realized that she was right. A whole lot was expected of her, maybe not from him, but from everybody else. She was there because he had asked her too, she was there with him.

"Yes, you are right, everyone is expecting very much from you, but the only advice I can give you, Meg, is to be yourself. These people will judge you the moment they see you, and in most cases you will have a very hard time to change the impression they got later on. So just be yourself, stay at my arm all night and answer every question you get politly, and they will love you, I promise."

Meg smiled thinly, and Raoul reached out and stroked her cheek.

"If it makes you feel any better, I am as nervous as you are," he confessed. She raised an eyebrow. "Everytime I have been at one of these parties, people have wondered why I have been alone. The have not said anything, but I have seen in their faces what they have been thinking."

He could feel Meg still holding his hands and looking at him, even though he was not looking at her.

"But surely you most have many female friends, please do not get this the wrong way," Meg said. "Could you not just have brought along one of them?"

Raoul sighed and looked at her again. "It is not that simple, Meg. Among the people I associate with, it is not as easy as to just bring along a new girl, and every question is erased. They have an unwritten ruel. They have to approve of the poor girl, and if they don't, they will stop aprove of me too." Then he realized whar he'd just said. "I am sorry, Meg, I did not mean..."

"No, it is allright, I understand." She smiled at him. "I will try not to disappoint you, but I cannot promise anything."

He smiled back at her. Perhaps this evening won't be all that bad, he thought.

After some time, the carriage finally came to a halt in front of Raoul's parent's home. The driver opened the door for Raoul, and he helped Meg out.

"Wow!" she said when she saw the house.

Raoul, who had lived there all his life, couldn't really see the impressing bit about it, but to someone who'd lived her whole life in an opera, this house was a castle.

"It looks like a house from a plantation in America," she said breathlessly.

Raoul laughed. "Have you been to one of those?"

"No, I have just seen them on pictures in books." Meg wasn't looking at him. She was staring at the house, head bent back to take in all of it at the same time. "Oh, look, you can see the stars out here," she breathed. "In Paris it is too light for that."

Raoul laughed again, and took her arm. "Come on now, starshine, people are waiting."

Meg immediately came down to Earth, looking nervous again. She took a deep breath and a firm grip around Raoul's arm. Then she nodded.

"Let the show begin."

They entered the house, and a maid immediately hurried over to take there coats. Raoul slipped Meg's off her shoulders, and then he took her hand.

"There is no turning back now," he mumured lightly, making her laugh. He placed her hand under his arm, and they proceeded into the drawing room. Raoul eyed the crowd to find his parents. They were stadning by the windows, talking to a man Raoul recognized as the mayor of Paris, Monsieur Legrand, and his wife.

His mother caught his eye, and he motioned to her to come over to them. He saw her whisper something to her husband, and they excused themselfs to the maire. When they reached Raoul and Meg, Raoul bent forward and kissed his mother's cheek.

"You look wonderful, Mother," he said, and then he turned to Meg. "Mother and Father, this is Meg Giry, a very dear friend of mine. Meg, this is my parents."

"It is an honour, Monsieur," Meg said and courtsied to the Vicomte.

He took her hand. "We are very happy to have such a lovely lady at our table today, Mademoiselle," he said and kissed her hand.

Meg laughed. "You flatter me, Monsiuer." She then turned to the Vicomtesse. "Madame," she said and began to courtsie, but was stopped by a light hand on her arm.

"Come now, Mademoiselle, we have met before, there is no need for such politeness." She bent forward and kissed Meg's cheeks. "It is very nice to see you again, dear."

Meg was stunned at first, but she quickly recovered and smiled at the Vicomtesse. "Thank you so much, Madame."

The Vicomtesse turned to Raoul. "Do you mind if I borrow her for a moment, Raoul, dear? I would like to introduce her to some of our guests."

Raoul looked at Meg. "If it is allright with Meg, I do not see why not."

Meg smiled at him, and then she was pulled away by the Vicomtesse.

Author's notes: REVIEW! Please...