Christine remained shut in her room until late afternoon, and when she finally emerged, she looked pale and sullen. Raoul, as always, was at her side instantly. "Christine, my love, you look most unwell. Perhaps I ought not to have left you alone."
Christine drew a steadying breath. "I am well enough, Raoul. It is only that there are a great many matters that still weigh heavily on my mind. Matters you might help me to settle."
Raoul's face brightened considerably and a smile curved his lips. "Of course, Christine. You know I will help you in any way I can. It will do us both well to finally be able to clear this shadow from our lives."
Christine sighed. "I am glad you feel that way, Raoul, because I must ask if I might borrow a carriage."
Now his brows furrowed in confusion. "A…carriage? Whatever for?"
She met his eyes evenly. "I wish to return to Paris."
A cloud of disbelief passed over his handsome features. "Why would you wish such a thing, Christine? There have been nothing but horrors for us there."
Christine frowned. "That is not true, Raoul. There have been many happy times, as well. I need to go back, if only for a short visit. I must see Meg and Madame again. I miss them so."
His eyes cleared a little. "If that is all, we can invite them here. I will send a carriage to them."
"No, Raoul. I cannot hide away forever. I will never be free of the past if I am always running from it. I only wish to return for one day…perhaps two. I know it seems a strange request, but I…I simply must ask that you grant me this."
Raoul sighed, unable to refuse her. "Very well. We shall go together."
Christine smiled sadly, cupping his cheek. "I would prefer to go alone, Raoul."
He shook his head adamantly. "No. It may yet be unsafe."
"Oh, Raoul. I would be no safer here than there if he had truly wished to take me. You have assured me yourself only this morning that our nightmare is over. If that is true, then let me say my goodbyes in my own way. I am certain I will be safe enough with Madame and Meg."
Raoul hissed out a frustrated breath. Had he not promised himself he would give her whatever she desired? Certainly one day could do no harm if she was well chaperoned by the Girys. "When will you leave?"
Her smile was nearly breathtaking to behold after so many weeks of sorrow. "Oh, thank you, Raoul." She wrapped her arms around him happily and kissed his cheek. "I should like to leave tomorrow, if I may."
Raoul smiled down at her wistfully. "I shall have a carriage and driver at your disposal." Cupping her face tenderly, he placed a gentle kiss upon her lips. "I love you, Little Lotte."
Christine closed her eyes briefly, wishing once again that Raoul's kiss would touch her as her angel's kiss had. "I love you, too, Raoul." And though she meant the words, they somehow sounded hollow to her ears.
xXx
Christine arrived on the doorstep of the Marseille Boarding House at ten o'clock the following morning, having been safely deposited by Raoul's coachman. The ride back into the city had been an easy one, only about an hour and a half. She was to stay one night with the Girys before Raoul would collect her the next day. He had claimed business in the city in need of his attention, but had still allowed her this one day on her own.
She quickly secured herself a room for the evening and inquired with Madame Marseille on the current whereabouts of the Girys. Christine was informed that Madame Giry was interviewing at a local theater, but that Mademoiselle Giry had been lazing about in her room all morning. Christine stifled a laugh, knowing that Meg had hardly ever been permitted such things at the Populaire under her mother's strict rehearsal schedule. A dull ache centered again in her chest at the memories.
Thank God Meg and Madame were not injured in the fire.
Raoul had been quick to obtain news on the ladies from Messieurs Andre and Firmin in order to ease Christine's distress, and he had sent word back ensuring their own safety. Now Christine felt suddenly impatient to see Meg again, and she asked Madame Marseille which room belonged to her friend.
The older woman showed Christine upstairs, pointing her to the room she had let for the night, and then to the doors of the Girys' rooms. Christine dropped her bag, and quickly stopped outside Meg's room, hoping that her friend was indeed inside. She knocked once, and for a moment she heard not a peep from within. Then she knocked again, louder, this time hearing movement. The knob turned and the door suddenly swung in as Meg's slightly irritated voice mumbled, "Honestly, Madame…I asked that you not…" The words died off instantly and Meg's blue eyes widened in shock. "Christine! My God, Christine!"
Christine found herself at once engulfed in Meg's ferocious embrace. She hugged her friend back with equal fervor, happily laughing through her tears. "Oh, Meg…I have missed you so."
Meg drew back, her smile radiant. "And I you. I was so worried for you, Christine. Even when Monsieur Firmin gave us word that you and le Vicomte had escaped, I…I wished desperately to see you for myself."
Christine closed her eyes. "I wished to see you too, Meg. I do not know what I would have done had you and Madame not made it out of the Opera House that night."
Meg colored slightly, recalling how close she had come to just such a fate. "Come in here, Christine. Tell me everything."
Christine allowed herself to be dragged inside the room and settled into a chair. Drawing a deep breath, she told Meg everything, well, nearly everything, about that fateful night and the flight from Paris. Christine had only left out the details of her own lingering feelings for the phantom.
But Meg, never one to still her curiosity, had asked the inevitable question. "Christine…that performance…was it…all just an act? You seemed so…"
Christine looked away in shame. "I fear his affect on me was all too real."
Meg nodded slowly, sensing this subject was a painful one. "But he is gone now Christine, and you are engaged to le Vicomte."
Christine smiled a little. "Yes, dear Raoul." Then a strange desperation reflected in her dark eyes. "Meg…is he really gone, do you think? Raoul has told me as much, but…they have not found him."
Meg clasped Christine's hand, wishing to offer some reassurance, but truly unable to do so. She herself believed the Phantom to still be very much alive beneath the Opera House. Instead of false comfort, Meg merely recounted the facts. "There has been no trace of him, Christine. The mob destroyed all that was under the Opera…what wasn't stolen that is. They burned out some of the tunnels, and the police searched every inch that remained. I'm afraid there were some…unfortunate accidents down there amidst the horrible booby traps the Phantom had set."
Christine gasped. "Oh, no, Meg!"
"I am certain le Vicomte must have told you…there has been some speculation that the phantom might have been injured and fallen into the canal that runs into the river. No one can be certain, of course. All of Paris is still looking in shadows for him, but the search of the catacombs has been called off."
Christine nodded slowly, and asked again with more force. "Meg…do you think he is gone?"
Meg glanced away, sighing heavily. "I…do not know, Christine. It seems so, but I…I thought I saw a shadow that night…a ghost, and truly, had it not been for that vision, I might still be beneath the Opera myself."
Again Christine gasped in shock. "You? Meg, you did not go down there?"
Meg met her eyes evenly. "I could not bear to leave you there. Maman bid me not to go, but the mob was forming and I knew they would never navigate the tunnels successfully. I had at least some knowledge of them, and I'd wanted to find you, and Maman. I'd run a bit ahead to reach the Phantom's lair before they did, in case…" She broke off shaking her head, her eyes moist with unshed tears. "But I found no one there. When the mob came, it was horrible. They were out for blood, and it seemed that anyone's blood would do. I…ran back the way I had come, but I must have gotten turned around somehow."
"God, Meg…you could have been killed!"
Meg swiped at her tears and laughed a little. "You know me, Christine…far too bold and full of curiosity to keep myself from mischief." Another ironic laugh escaped her. "It is a wonder I never managed to stumble across the Phantom long before that night."
At this, Christine grew tense. "The shadow you saw…it was him?"
"I…cannot be certain. I thought I heard a whisper…a sad, haunting voice calling to me. Little Giry, it seemed to say, and then a twinkle of light in the tunnel. I ran towards it and soon found myself stumbling out into an opening by the river. But I never actually saw anyone there."
Christine closed her eyes, a strange hope taking flight within her.
It was him, it had to be. And he led Meg to safety. A demon would not do such a thing…only an angel.
Unconsciously, she whispered, "He lives, then."
Thinking her friend might still be concerned for her own safety, Meg sought again to ease her distress. "Perhaps it was only a ghost, Christine. I saw no solid form that night, only…"
Meg paused, considering the wisdom of revealing to Christine what she had discovered. Sighing, she stood and moved to her dresser, opening a drawer and reaching beneath the linens within to retrieve a small bundle wrapped in cloth. She sat back down across form Christine and began to unwrap the material as she spoke again. "Only this."
Christine's haunted eyes filled with tears, and she reached one trembling hand towards the object in Meg's hands, tracing her fingers over the cool porcelain. His mask! She picked it up carefully, cradling it as if it were a precious treasure. "Oh, Meg…may I…may I keep this?"
Meg looked at Christine oddly, wondering why she would want such a reminder, but then her eyes softened in understanding as she remembered that the Phantom had also been her friend's once beloved Angel of Music. "Of course you may, Christine."
Still looking lovingly at the mask, Christine whispered, "Thank you."
She refused to think what it must mean that her angel had left his mask behind.
A/N: Thanks for the reviews.