A/N- This isn't my best chapter under any circumstances, and it may well be rewritten…but only time will tell that!

Chapter Seven – Masks Undone

Paris 1874

Erik

I cannot believe I am going through with this. After all of this time hoping that Christine would come back to me she is again being pulled away, out of my reach. Luckily, my little excursion to the van Ellsworth Mansion proves to my advantage; I no longer must hide. I can merely be a close friend of Antoinette van Ellsworth, the close friend of the bride.

I dress in accordance with the fashion of the day and cloak myself in many layers to protect against the cold. My outfit set, I walk down one of the passageways and out into the Paris winter. The air is bitter cold and it bites at the left side of my face, the only part of me that is uncovered. Through the fierce wind, my fedora is blown off and I run to grab it off of the snow before anybody sees me. I am lucky, utterly lucky.

There is quite a bit of traffic on the lane leading up to the chapel in which Christine will become the Marchioness of Luxembourg. I wind my way among many an antsy horse, large carriages, and pedestrians such as myself, all fighting to reach their destination and be out of the cold. My way of being expeditious is very useful, and I am soon in the grand foyer of the chapel.

"Good morning, Monsieur," says one of the attendants in the hall. "May I take your coat and hat?" I hand the lad my cape and gloves, along with a few francs. He looks utterly confused, but does his job anyway. I glance around, both hoping to see a familiar face and hoping not to.

At the entry to the actual chapel stands Antoinette's husband, Gaston van Ellsworth. She is very lucky I approved of the man, or his head would be in a noose many times over; I'm very particular about the safety of my few companions, though I could not protect them now with my Punjab lasso in Antoinette's possession.

Gaston is currently greeting the couple and child I saw with Christine at the funeral of le Vicomte. The girl seems very impatient to her parents' conversation with van Ellsworth and I chuckle; she reminds me of Christine as a child. The girl would come crying to me after having to sit through another boring rehearsal of Carlotta screaming at the others in the company, and all the while having to be still and silent. She'd cry over being reprimanded by Antoinette if she did budge at all during one of the temperamental diva's complaint sessions. The poor girl would cry to me, her Angel of Music, over just about anything.

The couple and their daughter move on through the doors and I hurry up to Gaston. "Greetings, Monsieur!" he says, bowing to me.

"You are Lord van Ellsworth, are you not?" Gaston nods. "I am looking for your wife, Lady van Ellsworth. Have you seen her?"

"I'm sorry, Monsieur, but she is with the bridal party. I'll be leaving to join her soon enough, and if you give me your name…"

"Thank you, Lord van Ellsworth, but that will not be necessary." I move to walk into the chapel when Gaston puts out an arm to stop me.

"Have you an invitation?" Damn.

"Your wife invited me…" I start but I am interrupted.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I cannot take your word for it. The Dowager Marchioness is very careful about who she allows into her events. You may stay out in the foyer. Again, I apologize." Gaston nods to me, and I can tell he is being honest.

"Thank you, Lord van Ellsworth." I retreat to a bench in the foyer and sit down, watching as many other high-class guests arrive. Many a child stops and points at me, the odd man with the hat over his face, before their parents shoo them away into the chapel. Seconds pass, then minutes, and eventually Gaston leaves the doorway to be with the bridal party, with my Christine.

Christine

I stand behind Meg at the end of the bridal party in a long riding cape and many layers of clothing to protect me from the cold. Meg looks resplendent in my wedding gown, the layers of satin and lace flattering her dancer's frame. Her hair is piled atop her head and hidden by a hat and veil. "Christine, don't do this! You can't leave, not now!" she whimpers.

"I have to, Meg. I do," I whisper in response, hugging her tightly but not tight enough to muss her dress…my dress. I turn to Antoinette. "Please, Antoinette, don't say anything of my flight. Let them assume I left in the night sometime." I embrace her too and feel tears on my cheek.

"My darling Christine, I wish you only the best," Antoinette responds, though it is clear that it is with difficulty.

Just then, Gaston arrives from greeting guests in the foyer. He turns to talk with one of the attendants standing at the door, giving me time to hide away. One of Meg's cousins, Cecilia, is standing in for her as the Maid of Honor and I thank God for their similar looks. Antoinette glances back at me as Gaston takes his place on Meg's other side, not knowing that it isn't me as we are the same height.

The music starts, and the bridal party begins its long journey down the aisle to the altar. After the van Ellsworth's and Meg disappear from the back room, I leave my hiding spot and watch from the doorway. Meg looks absolutely radiant walking down the aisle, and I would not be able to tell that she is not me if I did not know. I touch the pin in my hair, the star hairpin Gaston and Antoinette gave me, and I shudder out of the purest guilt yet again.

Everything seems to be going wonderfully as Antoinette, Gaston, and Meg come ever closer to the altar. To my horror, however, Antoinette halts, terror in her eyes. As she acknowledges her daughter, she shouts, "It is not Christine!"

Erik

The bridal party looks beautiful, but there is something not right, even from my poor vantage point in the foyer. Antoinette does not look happy escorting Christine down the aisle and Gaston seems to be the only joyous one of the three. My beautiful Christine being forced to marry this man she thinks a pig.

I am utterly surprised when Antoinette stops in the middle of the aisle and yells, pointing at Christine, "It is not Christine!"

Confusion and chaos follows and another woman, the Baroness von Oldenburg, shouts, "It is the Giry girl!" The bride removes her headpiece and blonde locks flow freely, proving the suspicions true. There is much more shouting as the doors to the antechamber in which the bridal party had been bursts open. I turn to see a whirl of heavy fabric and unruly hair fly by me; Christine.

"Christine!" Antoinette bangs open the doors from the chapel and runs towards Christine, who has escaped out the door and into the Paris winter. I catch Antoinette in my arms and hold her.

"Stop, Antoinette! Let her go." My hat has been thrown to the ground, but it is irrelevant. "Let her go." Gaston appears beside his wife and I give her up into his embrace, turning to look out into the chill city beyond the doors. Growing ever smaller is Christine, my Christine. God be with her.