Chapter 14: Doubts and reassurances
A few weeks later, Arthur and Marie Claire were preparing to go to the opera house to check on the almost complete renovations to the stage and theater. But as Marie pulled her sky blue cape out of the downstairs coat closet, her normal sunny smile and chatter were missing. Arthur, who was sitting on the navy blue leather couch, noticed this, and he looked up from the book that he was reading and turned to his beloved wife.
"Marie, my darling, is something wrong?" he asked, concerned.
She turned around as she tied the the top of her cloak and it fell prettily on her shoulders. She gave a small smile, but it did not reach her eyes as it did when she really smiled. "I'm fine Arthur, why?" she asked, trying to feign ignorance.
Arthur slid his glasses down his nose and his brown eyes looked with serious concern and disbelief upon Marie Claire's face. "Marie, you know you don't have to pretend with me. What is it?"
Marie sighed and walked toward the couch and sat down next to Arthur. She should have known that she could hide nothing from him. "Well," she said slowly as though hating to admit it, "I'm rather afraid to begin performing again. I swore I'd never let Erik's actions affect my singing, but there's one thing that's more important, and that is you and my family. I am so afraid to lose any of you." her voice shook, as though she were afraid to show her feelings.
Arthur, who wasn't terribly surprised by this reaction, took Marie Claire's chin in his hands and looked deep into her sky blue eyes. "Marie I know that losing someone that you love is your worst fear, it is mine as well. But to give up your singing? It would break your heart, and I couldn't bear to see you that way." he said with feeling, tears appearing in his eyes.
She moved closer to him, and leaned her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on her thick curls. "I just came so close to losing everything that I held dear two years ago Arthur." she said, still trying to fight back her oncoming tears.
"Sweetie, even if you stopped performing at the opera, it does not mean that Erik would cease to haunt us. But I can see why you would be hesitant to begin performing again, I can't say that I haven't had the same worries. But just promise me that you will think seriously about this before you decide, alright?" he asked hopefully.
A small, but still very real smile appeared on her face. " I will, I can promise you that." she said sincerely. "Well, we had better go, they are probably waiting on us." she said as she kissed him sweetly on the forehead.
They stood up and Arthur put on his hunter green pea coat and the two went outside into the nippy September air. As they walked to the carriage, Arthur took his wife's hand in his, as a thought occured to him. "Marie, don't ever be ashamed of crying, its only human after all. You're so strong, and its okay to have fears, and everyone has to cry sometimes." he said, squeeezing her hand.
She smiled at him, knowing that his words were true.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A few minutes later the carriage pulled up in the front of the opera house and Marie and Arthur climbed out, hand in hand. They walked through the beautiful entrance hall, and up the marble stairs, finally reaching the theater. As they walked, Marie couldn't help but smile at the most familiar surroundings. She had grown up in this opera house, watching her mother perform, and had now become one if its most accomplished singers. She squeezed Arthur's hand fondly as the memories of thier first meeting flooded her mind. She felt her spirit soar at the memories of of beautiful music flooding these halls. But she also felt her heart tear in two at the memories of Erik. How astounding his music was, how genius. But she felt cold and goosbumps rose on her skin as thoughts of the tradgedies that had occured at his hand; the fiery stage, the cold, dank lair, the ropes around her papa's and Arthur's necks, the desperation in his eyes. But before she could ponder her thoughts and memories any longer, the voices of Andre and Firmin reached she and Arthur's ears.
"Ah, this looks just splendid, just marvelous." said Andre, clasping his hands together excitedly.
"Yes," said Firmin, smiling broadly and with satisfaction. "I daresay that it will hold up better than the previous stage did. We cannot thank you enough Vicomte. This would have taken much longer if we did not have the financial assistance of yourself and young Arthur."
Marie Claire then heard the deep, kind, voice of her father responding. "It wasn't a problem monsieurs. My family loves this opera house so much, that I simply wanted to fix it as quickly as possible, seeing as my children practically grew up in here." he smiled, then, at hearing the approaching footsteps of Marie and Arthur, her turned. "Well, hello there you two." he said, moving over to hug them. "What do you think?"
Arthur and Marie Claire stared in awe at the newly finished construction. All of the front row chairs had been replaced, as they had been damaged in the fire. The stage was larger, and catered more to the actor's needs. It was made of the finest wood in France, and was quite an amazing addition. But the most astonishing new addition were the curtains. The old ones obviously, had been completely ruined, but the new ones were most lovely. They were made of silver velvet, with intricate golden designs in the shapes of cherubim and seraphim angels.
"It's astonishing," said Arthur, gazing around. "It is quite possibly more grand than the old stage."
"I agree," said Marie, eyes sparkling at the gorgeous new theater. Could she really give up this place? This place that made her feel complete?
"Well," said Andre, "We have some business to attend to, but you are welcome to linger and explore a bit if you like. We shall see you all later."
As the comical duo walked off, Raoul turned toward his daughter and son in law, a twinkle in his blue eyes. " It is really amazing isn't it?"
Arthur and Marie nodded, but Raoul could tell from the look on his daughter's face and from the tight grip that she had on Arthur's hand, that something was bothering his girl.
"But I can tell that something is bothering you both. What is it?" he asked, his voice worried.
Marie and Arthur looked at each other, knowing that they could tell Raoul. "Well," began Marie quietly, "I'm just not so sure that it's safe to sing in this opera house anymore. I am so afraid to lose any one of you." she said, distress in her voice.
Raoul looked at the pair with a quizzical expression on his caring features, but he still had a slight smile on his face. He had a plan. "I was afraid that," he said, a worried frown coming onto his lips. "But we have a bit of a surprise for you two that may help your decision. Trust me though, Christine and I have also had the same doubts about this. Come Christine and Felix are waiting backstage for us."
Raoul led them through the long, winding corridors to the backstage area, where they found Christine and Felix with identical smiles in their chocolate brown eyes. They all walked onto the stage where there was a large grand piano set up.
"What's all of this?" asked Arthur, a grin spreading onto his face despite his troubled heart.
"Well," said Christine, laughing slightly at the looks on their faces, "I know that we all have had the same unspoken fears about singing in this opera house again," she said, her voice sad. At hearing her sad voice, Raoul came over and put a warm and comforting arm around her waist. This seemed to give the brave woman the determination to continue. "So we decided to put on a small performance, with just us."
Marie Claire gave a small smile, insecurity still in her eyes. She didn't want to give into her fears, but if she had too, she thought, that this at least would help a bit. Felix sat behind the piano, his long fingers resting on the keys. Raoul stood behind, the violin that Gustav Daae had taught him to play all those years ago in hand. Christine led Arthur and Marie Claire towards center stage. She gave a Raoul and Felix their cue and they began to play a familiar song. At Christine's bidding, Arthur and Marie joined her in singing. The beautiful, angelic, melodious voices soared through the air, making the theater ring. After a few minutes, Meg and Lizzie moved onto the stage, their graceful bodies moving perfectly with the music. As this 'performance' continued, Raoul and Christine smiled hopefully over at each other, hoping that this would convince them all, especially Marie, to continue performing. Marie Claire, who caught a glimpse of this, felt that this little incident had helped her decision a good deal, and she was going to thank her parents profusely for it. But doubt still lingered in her mind and heart. Should she stop singing? And if she decided to, could she? But she forgot her worries for a moment, and allowed the music to overcome her, loving the sound of it. Only time would tell.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A/N: Hey everybody! I'm so sorry that this update was slower than the others, I was out of town and at the beach for the week. So rest assured that the next chapters will be up as fast as possible. Anyway, I hope that you like this, please read and review! And thankyou to I am the Angel of Music and Samantha for their continued support. And to Samantha- Yes I love the RC and Marie/Arthur romance, I am always glad to write it! Madame Giry is most helpful though.