Chapt 3
Raoul's face reflected emotions of surprise, fear and finally resolution. He peered into the distance as Erik wavered on whether to step forward and be seen or remain secure in his hiding place. Remembering that to hide was in the past, Erik took one step away from his hiding place and another step forward.
Raoul watched Erik's slow progression towards him while thinking, "Erik looks well for being years older, just as Mme Giry did at the auction." Soul searching over recent months had made Raoul realize he'd made himself crippled physically because he'd been crippled emotionally all these wasted years. He'd never wanted to receive Christine's two sons and daughter when they would come to visit his parents in later years, because they were Erik's and not his. Bitterness tinged his heart and mind and now he was a poor specimen of a Vicomte. Raoul was ashamed of what he'd become, and hadn't even shown himself in public in later years after his parents were gone. "I should have been on that ship with them, but I was so afraid to leave while Christine was still alive".
Now Erik had extended a symbol of atonement for the both of them in that ring. Would he still be man enough to take it?