A/N: Dearest Readers,

We promise that the action will be starting soon. The introduction of Nicholas and Elizabeth was crucial. We hope that you enjoy their company as much as you do ours. Once again, read and review. If there are any questions, do not hesitate to ask.

With much love,

Angelina

Chapter 4 – A Well Kept Secret

Elizabeth's shoes clicked on the wooden floor of the stage. The lights were blinding but she didn't mind it. Her eyes had become well-adjusted to the way it reflected off of the glossy wood over the many times she had been in the ornate building. The drawn red velvet curtains were always tied back by golden rope with large tassels. She admired the craftsmanship of the opera house. Elizabeth knew her father would adore it.

"You are quite early, Miss Elizabeth," said a voice behind her.

She smiled as she turned around to see an older man standing there in a gray wool jacket. He was a few inches shorter than her but he carried himself as if he was taller than the world.

"Mr. Barrett, I was not expecting to see you."

Harold Barrett smiled at Elizabeth as he stepped toward her. "I was preparing my orchestra to begin rehearsal when I saw you step onto the stage."

"I did not mean to interrupt…"

"Nonsense! You would never interrupt me, Miss Elizabeth. The time you spend with me and my orchestra is time well spent." He extended an arm and she took it quite readily. "We enjoy your company."

"I enjoy yours as well." She walked down the stage stairs and looked at the orchestra preparing in the pit. "What are you playing today?"

"Bizet's Carmen, Miss Elizabeth. One of your favorites, I believe."

Elizabeth nodded. "It is. I did not think the Met would be playing it this season."

"The owners have decided to with much resilience. They have received several letters from a man who wishes to see it performed. Auditions have already been posted for the lead female role." He smiled at her. "You should try out for it."

"No! I could never…" Elizabeth knew she could never sing in Carmen. Her mother had performed once – in Paris. Her mother, of course, had been a success. She knew that she could never have the caliber voice that her mother had. It would be mediocre at best.

"Then play in my orchestra – any instrument, Miss Elizabeth. I would love for you to be a part of it."

Her jaw dropped as the players looked toward her. They all smiled warmly at her as she smiled back. The stairs were narrow but Elizabeth took them slowly one-by-one. Each member greeted her on her way through. She stopped in front of the conductor stand and looked at the sheet music to Carmen. Her fingers grazed over the parchment.

"What is it, Miss Elizabeth?" Barrett asked.

"Have you ever wondered why the path you have taken in life leads you to where you are?"

"I wonder that every day. I wonder why my children are lawyers and bankers and I am only a conductor."

Elizabeth looked at him in shock. "You are not happy with being a conductor!"

"Forgive me, Miss Elizabeth, I did not mean for it to sound that way." He stepped closer to her as she continued to look at the music. "Music has been a part of my life since I was a little boy. My two sons have gone to the university – one now a banker and one now a lawyer. They are intelligent young men who have chosen their own path."

"And you, Mr. Barrett? Did you choose your own path?"

"Sometimes one is not allowed until it is too late."

Elizabeth merely nodded as her hands fell to her sides. "I know the feeling."

The rafters creaked as he walked across the narrow decks. He swatted ropes out of his way as he heard the orchestra beginning to tune their instruments. The sounds echoed throughout the opera house – giving him a sense of being at home.

Nicholas leaned on the rail in front of him and watched as Harold Barrett gave sheet music and instructions to his orchestra. He had listened to the orchestra play time and time again. Ever since he was a little boy, he would sneak into the opera house to hear each instrument play their own melody. The notes seemed to be carried to him on the whisper of the wind.

"Conduct them, Miss Elizabeth. I promise you that they will not bite," Mr. Barrett said.

He glanced down to see Elizabeth shaking her head. She stood in front of Barrett in a deep burgundy gown. Her golden tresses pinned up into a neat bun. Her sapphire eyes glistened from the spotlights higher above him even from where he stood.

"You would allow me to conduct them, Mr. Barrett?"

"Of course! The gentlemen would love to have you. Would you not?"

A resounding agreement came from the men. Nicholas smiled as Barrett handed her the conductor's wand. He watched as she stepped onto the platform and stood poised and ready to conduct.

"Gentlemen…"

Each of the men, sat ready to play their instruments. A beautiful sound resonated throughout the house as Elizabeth began to conduct. The wand was waved gracefully through the air.

Her pale skin seemed to glow as her eyes closed. Nicholas missed seeing the blue in her eyes. They enchanted him every time she was around.

She is the devil. Only the devil would give me these thoughts.

The music called to him – as it did every second of every day. It consumed him like nothing else ever had before. The piece they played from Carmen was a favorite of his. He had climbed into the rafters of Carnegie Hall to hear it played when he was twelve. Now it was to be played in his favorite theater – the Metropolitan Opera House.

The music abruptly ended. Nicholas watched Elizabeth's petite hand give back the baton. Barrett helped her ascend the staircase and stand upon the stage once again. The burgundy dress swayed around her as she paced back and forth.

"Why is it that you never tell your father that you are here, Miss Elizabeth?"

"If he was to find out that I am doing something other than playing a piano, Mr. Barrett, you would no longer see me."

Barrett simply nodded and turned away from her. "You are one of the nicest young women I have ever met, Miss Elizabeth. The people who have been with the Met for years keep saying they would love to hear you perform. I have heard you – only once."

"It was a moment of weakness. The organ beneath the stage seemed to call to me."

"As most of our instruments do," said the violinist.

"The music calls to you, Miss Elizabeth," chimed in the pianist. "Your talent should not be contained in the confines of your home. You are an amazing musician."

The entire orchestra agreed. Nicholas continued to watch curiously as Elizabeth just looked at Barrett.

"That is just it, Mr. Barrett. I do not wish to play."

They all looked at her confused. Barrett stepped forward and laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. "My dear, what do you wish to do?"

She smiled. "I wish to write, Mr. Barrett. I want to write a great opera – the greatest opera of the century."

Nicholas tried to contain his laughter but could not. It echoed through the rafters and the opera house. He watched as both Barrett and Elizabeth looked high above to see what all of the commotion was about. Nicholas quickly silenced himself.

"That is a very bold goal," Barrett said turning back to Elizabeth. "I am sure your father would be very proud to hear you say that."

"You do not know my father."

Nicholas knew what Elizabeth was speaking of. Erik had a high hopes for her. Soon, Erik would be sending Elizabeth to a school in San Francisco where she could study dance and music. Nicholas knew in time that Erik would want Elizabeth to be a singer much like her mother was. It had broken his heart to hear that she would be sent away. He knew it broke Elizabeth's heart to know her father had already set her future in stone.

"Miss Elizabeth," Barrett took her hand and held it tight. "You are allowed to come here whenever you wish. We are inviting you to join us for the opening night of Carmen. If you do not wish to play that is your choice, but I wish for you to be with us."

Her eyes sparkled like lights on a Christmas tree. Nicholas watched her embrace Barrett almost to the point where the old man could not breathe.

"There is something else, Miss Elizabeth…"

Both Nicholas and Elizabeth looked at Barrett in wonder. Barrett gently laid the baton in Elizabeth's hand and she clenched her fingers around it.

"This orchestra will always be yours. One day I foresee you standing where I do and conducting your own orchestra with a fierce determination. And the opera you will be conducting will be your own. It will be something that comes from your heart."

Barrett left Elizabeth standing on the stage – holding the baton in her hand. Tears rained down her cheeks as she listened to the orchestra begin another piece from Carmen.

Nicholas stood high above and watched Elizabeth solemnly walk off of the stage. He knew what it was like to have high expectations from a parent and not want to uphold them. His parents wanted him to become a lawyer or an accountant. In his heart, he knew what he had wanted – music.

Music had been the thing that his soul craved day after day. It was the one thing that gave him peace. His parents could not understand why music consumed him as it did. Ever since Erik had told him what had set his soul free, Nicholas had sought it out for his own relief. The solitude he lived in was not somewhere he wanted to remain for his entire life. He wanted a family and children. He wanted someone to love him for whom and what he was.

Giving him what Nicholas wanted, his parents allowed him to sing in the children's choir at Mass on Sundays. It fulfilled his need until he became older and understood that there was more to music than just singing in a choir. The first trip to an opera at Carnegie Hall was what opened his eyes to the world around him.

Nicholas then made it his life mission to find the man that had given him the insight into music. It had been a little over two years since Erik had become a large part of his life once again. He had left his parents wealth and luxury and went to a lonely little apartment to start his lifelong dream. Music would consume his life and his quest for love would be pushed aside until it came to him.

Perhaps it did and you are just ignoring it.

As he slowly descended from the rafters, his thoughts turned back to Elizabeth. She had caught his eye more than once in the past two days. It was as if she was a ray of sunshine that had entered through a window. Elizabeth had brightened his days since the first time he laid his eyes on her. As annoying as she was, Nicholas enjoyed seeing her while he received lessons from Erik. She was a breath of fresh air.

Nicholas snuck through the passageways to the light from the back stage door. He paused, looking at the opulence of the opera house. There was a vow, long ago, that he made to himself…

I will sing in the Metropolitan Opera House. I will make my parents proud. I will make Erik and Angelina proud. The woman that I love will finally see me for me – as a man.