The smile on Erik's face explained all of the feelings he has for Veronique. He offered her his elegantly gloved hand and helped her to stand from the bench. He reached into the breast pocket of his suit and pulled out a long black ribbon. Reaching for her, he tied the ribbon in a bow around her eyes, and he lead her to the gondola. She followed reluctantly, though she couldn't help but wonder where they were going.
He gave her very minimal instructions. "Just follow me," he explained in his deepest, sexiest voice. As he took hold of the pole to steer the gondola, he hummed the song she had written. Her words had put him in a spell, just as the song says. Somehow I've fallen under your spell, and somehow I'm feeling it's up that I fell. He couldn't get the haunting words out of his mind, and she began to sing along with him.
Veronique knew her song would affect Erik, but she had never hoped for him to love the song itself. She only wrote the song to explain her feelings for him, but she had succeeded in many ways this night. She felt a slight bump, and Erik brushed her cheek while taking her hand. He led her through a twisting maze of corridors, and he carried her up stairs that seemed to go on forever. But she knew he would not deceive her.
Erik suddenly came to a stop. The wind rushed around them as he took off the blindfold. Regaining her sight, she could see all of Paris like she was flying. She slowly came to realize that she was on the roof of the Opera Populaire's remains. Glancing over at Erik, she saw the grin on his face. But the smile slowly faded.
"The view is breathtaking, isn't it?" he asked her. But the view he had was different. He was looking at the most beautiful object in all of Paris with such awe and amazement.
Veronique could hardly catch her breath, but she managed to say, "It's so beautiful. Do you come here often?"
Erik's face fell suddenly. "I try not to come here alone," he said tearfully. But his face lit up at the thought of what he was about to do. He absent-mindedly let his hand drift to the pocket that contained the real surprise. Feeling the small box, he drove his hand into his pocket and pulled it out.
He slowly dropped to one knee and opened the little blue velvet box. The brilliant diamond sparkled in the Parisian night sky; the diamond that he had proposed to Christine with; the diamond that she had given back to him. But he was not with Christine any more.
He took a deep breath and began to speak from the depths of his heart; the depths that had been kept under lock and key for the longest time. "My darling, this past month has been amazing. I've come to realize that you are the right woman for me. Veronique de Launce, will you help me make the music of the night and do all that I ask of you?" With the last words, he began to sing to her a song of love and devotion.
"Say you'll share with me
One love, one lifetime
Lead me, save me
From my solitude
Say you need me with you
Here, beside you
Anywhere you go
Let me go too
Veronique
That's all I ask of you!"