A/N - Again, I don't own Raoul or Christine or any of our classic characters. Nicholas and all the rest ARE mine. I know you may be getting antsy, but we will meet our beloved Phantom very soon! Trust me! This will be my last update until at least Thursday, probably Friday. I am going to meet the Phantom himself tomorrow! Wooooooooo! At any rate... P L E A S E review if you have read this.

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Elizabeth stared into the ashen face of her mother. Christine had that familiar and haunted expression, and Elizabeth felt weary of it.

"Really, Mother, what does it matter?" Elizabeth also felt a bit defensive over the young man who had disappeared so quickly. He may have been a bit odd, but he had saved her pride and so much more. He had been nothing but kind, and in truth, he was a fascinating person that was more like herself than anyone Elizabeth had ever met.

Christine moved to the chaise and settled unceremoniously into it. She felt dizzy. "Did he, Elizabeth?"

"Yes, Mother, I believe so. I hardly noticed."

This could not be! You're being foolish, Christine chided herself. Many babies are born with birth defects! Why not another? It was too coincidental it seemed, though. The man had looked young, quite close to the age of her own Beth. The timing would be perfect. She just had to know what lay beneath that mask. Christine attempted to pull her wits about her, brushing an errant lock from her eyes as she sat up more rightly.

"You are to stay away from that young man, Elizabeth. I never want you in his preesnce again."

"But Mother!" Elizabeth protested.

"Enough!" Christine spat, and Elizabeth shrank from the voice. Christine had never used such a tone with her.

"But Mama," Elizabeth repeated, in a much more convincing tone. "You don't even know what he has done for me!"

The cool gaze that Christine leveled upon her said all that Elizabeth needed to hear. Her mother didn't care what Nicholas had done, even that he was the only thing that kept her honor intact. How did her mother know Nicholas, and what could he have done that was so terribly offensive?

Elizabeth realized the futility of the struggle, and glanced toward William. Perhaps it would be best to keep the entire happenings a secret. Christine obviously would not be swayed by the valor of her other companion, and Elizabeth wondered if the further threat to his reputation would help her keep William in queue.

After a moment of tense silence, the unconscious boy began to stir. At precisely the same moment, Raoul entered. He crossed to Christine and placed a kiss on her temple, scarcely noticing her distant expression. He moved then to his lovely daughter, and repeated the gesture - only then noticing William, who by now was nursing his nearly shattered jaw.

"What in the world?" Raouls voice was worried, and William jerked his head up quickly. It seemed that he only now realized where he was. A worried glance was cast toward Elizabeth. What had she told them?

"Are you alright?" Elizabeth spoke toward William, moving to perch herself near him on the ottoman. "Really Father, it was terrible! William and I went for a walk and William was skipping stones along the pond. It was very unfortunate, but a stone accidentally slipped and struck the horse! Such a small thing did not hurt the creature, surely, but it gave it an awful fright. William tried to stop it, but was nearly ran over by the carriage instead. Do you think it's broken?"

Wililam was slack-jawed as he listened to Elizabeth and her fabricated tale. He mistook her coy thoughtfulness for affection however, and smiled at her. With her back to both of her parents, she shot him an icy glare.

"Oh, my! William, please, we will send for the doctor and alert your father immediately. I am sorry such a thing should happen!" Raoul sprang to action, sending servants scurrying to do just as he had promised. Christine did not budge from her seat. The slight tremble in her daughters voice betrayed her, and Christine knew the entire story was a lie as well. She would have to talk to her daughter, alone. There were secrets that even Raoul could not be made aware of.

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"Bloody hell!" It was Thomas, and the last person Nicholas would have desired to see. Nicholas trod slowly with the injured horse and no hansom back toward the stables. "Are you ever gonna get it for this! Where is the cab? And what have you done to the horse?" Nicholas ignored the boy, only a few years his senior, and continued on - leading the horse to her stall. When he realized he was not going to get the reaction he desired from Nicholas, Thomas scurried off to find his father. Nothing gave him more satisfaction than seeing Nicholas beaten. Nicholas gathered the necessary items and knelt to inspect the wound.

It was deep, and not nearly as broad as the blood would have lead you to guess. It was a blunt wound, from the force of the large object - and would leave the flesh surrounding it painfully sore more than anything. The massive creature whinnied in pain as he rinsed the debris from it.

"I am going Thomas, do calm down!" Nicholas heard his master say, as he scuffled with his eldest through the stable. He could hear Thomas' labored and excited breathing.

Jonathon gasped as he rounded the edge of the stall.

"What has happened?" He scowled, stepping back a bit. He did very little, if any, of the actual handling of the horses and the sight of blood made him feel nauseous.

"Your DeGent passenger picked up a young lady. DeChagny. He became inebriated, insisted on a walk, tried to rape her, nearly killed the horse in effort to kill me when I stopped him. I dropped them both off at the DeChagny estate and brought the horse back immediately. The hansom is safely hidden, but I should take a different horse to fetch it as soon as I can."

An entire afternoon of drama was summed up concisely in one short paragraph, and Carwell stared at his servant slack-jawed. What did this mean? Would he now bear the fury of DeGent, or the adoration of DeChagny for the actions of his slave? His temples throbbed. He had to figure this all out. For now, he'd leave the boy before him to deal with the details. He just nodded.

"Very well. See to it."

He turned and began to leave the stables, with his annoyed son following along behind and complaining loudly at the lack of discipline Nicholas had received. Nicholas, however, released a pent up sigh of relief.