46) ...what they can´t explain
Coming back wasn´t as difficult as Meg had anticipated. Instead of receiving sideway glances she was greeted cheerfully. "It´s good to see you again." "You already look much better." "The rehearsal was very hard without you standing in front of us. We had to know all the steps ourselves." Listening to the usual chatting, trying to reply as well as she could, she felt as if she had been gone for months, not just a few hours.
They were all standing around her in the corridor leading to the dressing rooms, exchanging the latest gossip. Of course the Opera Ghost was the most important topic. Before Meg´s arrival the girls had been convinced that he had abducted or even killed Mme.Giry. Yet since the ballet teacher had been seen alive and well together with her daughter merely minutes ago, this idea had been dismissed. Mme.Giry had told them that she had only discussed a few things concerning his opera with the Ghost. She had even explained the blood in Box Five with a harmless nosebleed. Then she had excused herself for a quarter of an hour. She had a meeting with the managers.
As the mystery of the ballet teacher´s vanishing was solved the girls needed a new subject to keep them occupied till the start of the rehearsal. Ariane, who had jealously watched Meg and wanted to be in the centre of attention again, seized the chance to spread a fresh rumour. "Well, some of you may already know that Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny invited me to the theatre yesterday.", she began, noticing in delight that the girls moved to stand around her instead of Meg, who kept in the background. They all nodded eagerly; only a few of them rolled their eyes. Ariane had mentioned this fact at least a dozen times before, during and after the rehearsal. Yet all in all this story promised to be more interesting than talking about the Opera Ghost.
"The play was terrible.", she went on. "I´ve never seen such nonsense. But then, the best things didn´t happen on stage that evening…" She let her voice trail off delicately, wanting the others to urge her on. She didn´t have to wait long. "What did the two of you do?" "Did he kiss you?" "Did he take you to his home?" Judging by the girls´ sparkling eyes they thought this the most exciting aspect. They had heard fantastic stories about the size and splendour of the de Chagny estate.
Ariane smiled about their curiosity. "Of course we kissed.", she told them. "How could he have resisted this?" She gestured at her body, seeing with some satisfaction that a few girls gave her jealous glances. As nice as it was to have friends among them it couldn´t hurt to remind them every now and then that she was something special. In Marseille she had always gained respect like that.
"Oh, come on! Don´t stop after every other sentence! We want to have the entire story.", Marie demanded impatiently. Several people nodded approvingly. Afraid of losing her audience Ariane quickly thought about how to go on. Yet before she could open her mouth Jacqueline asked: "You certainly didn´t do… it, did you?". Despite some shocked glances it was clear that this was the question they all were eager to have answered. One of the older girls was even thoughtful enough to give the little Janelle a soft nudge in the back and send her away, just in case her presence would keep Ariane from telling them all the details.
The girl in the middle of the crowd hesitated for another second to heighten the tension. "No, we didn´t do it.", she finally admitted frankly. She had long ago decided to be honest about it. What if the others had asked for more details? Then they´d easily found out it wasn´t the truth. Besides, her tale was even more interesting in this version. "We were kissing, and it was really great. But when I tried to go a little further… nothing happened."
"What do you mean? Did he tell you to stop?", Jacqueline wanted to know with barely hidden glee. In her opinion the new member of the chorus was having far too much attention and needed to get off her high horse. But Ariane shook her head. "I mean what I´ve said: Nothing happened… down there." Now the topic became too much, even for her; she blushed furiously. However, this didn´t keep her from whispering: "The poor man! Such difficulties at such an early age!".
The other girls´ reactions were quite different from each other. Some gasped and clapped their hands over their mouths, shocked about her honesty, some blushed as well, and some began to giggle hysterically. Yet no matter what they did, it was the sign of one and the same emotion: astonishment. Who would have thought that a young and handsome man like the Vicomte de Chagny, whom they had often admired from the distance, could have such a problem? It was exactly this material the prefect gossip was made of.
When Mme.Giry came back from the managers´ office a few minutes later she could hardly believe her eyes: Instead of more than a dozen girls there was just a single one on stage, doing her warm up all alone. "Janelle!", she called. "Where are the others?" The girl made a vague gesture in the direction of the dressing rooms. "Ariane is telling them some stupid story about her evening with the Vicomte.", she replied sullenly.
Drawing nearer Mme.Giry saw the telltale traces of tears on her face. So the next sentence didn´t come as a surprise. "They sent me away. As if I was interested in it! The whole story is nothing but lies, I bet." "I´m sure it is, my dear.", the woman muttered absent-mindedly, patting the girl´s shoulder in a rare display of affection. "Why don´t you continue and I look what the others are doing? I´ll tell them what I thing of leaving you alone." Janelle nodded, smiling. Apparently the ballet teacher´s comforting had been successful.
It wasn´t difficult to find them. Mme.Giry only had to follow the giggling. "Once I went to dinner with a comte who had similar problems.", Marie was just saying. When she saw her mother Meg informed her about the story in a whisper. The ballet teacher cleared her throat. All girls looked at her at once. "I think we have heard enough nonsense for today.", she told them strictly. "Besides, everyone knows that your comte, Marie, was truly just the stable boy of a comte." The girl gazed at the floor and grinned sheepishly.
"Maybe things are different in Marseille, but here in Paris such dangerous rumours can ruin a chorus girl´s reputation. If you keep spreading this gossip, you´ll be dancing in the street, begging passers-by for coins, in a week´s time. Do you understand?" She threw stern glances at all girls present, and even Meg, who hadn´t believed in Ariane´s story for a second, nodded hastily. "Can we start the rehearsal then? You can take a leaf out of little Janelle´s book. She´s the only one who had enough discipline to begin on her own." Having made this clear Mme.Giry led her chorus to the stage. The girls followed her without a word of protest.