Chapt 5
As Mme Giry and Vicomte Erik sat waiting, headlamps came into view. Erik thought aloud, "I believe it's time to return to pick up father, since this has to be the last vehicle visiting the cemetery on this dreary eve." Then the vehicle slowed down until it was beside theirs. Mme Giry turned her head then recognized the nurse and driver in the front seat from the auction earlier in the day. Putting her hand to her heart she exclaimed, "Erik and Raoul are sitting side by side in the back. Oh my, what must have happened?" Erik nodded to Raoul, then opened the door, stepped out of the car and returned to his own. Erik instructed his son through the window he'd rolled down, "Please follow behind Raoul's car and I will explain everything on the way."
As Erik seated himself beside Mme Giry, he leaned his head back on the seat, closed his eyes, let out a big sigh, and began to explain what had transpired at the cemetery. "Ah, what a nervous wreck I was, but only for Christine would I go through this". Telling the tale up to the part where Raoul accepted the rose from Erik, Mme Giry sat calmly absorbing the fluctuating emotions emitted in her friend's voice. She recognized the old fear of exposure, but it subtly changed to one of wonder at Raoul's move to receive the gift of reconciliation from Erik. "I could barely stand on my feet when Raoul actually reached out to accept the rose from me. Oh, sweet Christine, he actually looked me in the eye at that moment. He didn't even flinch or look away at any point during the encounter. The rest was a blur until I climbed out of his car; my emotions had blinded me to the transition from standing to sitting beside my cousin. Seems strange to say that word and consider Raoul such. And, now we have been invited to his home. He said there are some things we may be interested in seeing there."
"Father, isn't this a bit soon for a family visit? What with the emotional shock you and Raoul have been through, shouldn't this wait for another day? Perhaps tomorrow . . . " But before Erik could answer his son, Mme Giry touched the younger Erik on the shoulder from behind and said, "we must stay the course as it's been laid out for us." She wanted to be sure that Erik finished what he'd begun.