Author's note: Okay, so I wrote the other three chapters on my laptop at home and burned them onto a CD and took the CD into work so I could upload the new chapters and then when I tried to do so, I couldn't because I had wrote the other chapters in Microsoft Works and I needed to write them in Microsoft Word. So, now that I have Word on my laptop, I think that I should be good for now. In order to compensate for the lateness of my updates, I am writing another chapter. I hope that you enjoy.

Chapter Nine: Raoul's Discovery

Another week had passed by with no sign of Christine. Anne had finally gotten Raoul to eat something and then Elizabeth had gotten him to get a full night's sleep. Feeling refreshed, Raoul had continued the search for his wife.

"Is there anything I can get for you sir?" Anne asked him.

He shook his head. "No. I am going to be doing some research this morning. Do not disturb me unless it's concerning Christine, understand?"

"Yes sir."

Raoul turned and made his way up the stairs. He walked purposefully down the hall and paused at the door to Christine's room. Although they were married, Christine had insisted in having her own room. She had said that it would make her feel more at home. He put his hand on the elaborate handle to the door and paused. "What secrets are you hiding Christine?" he said quietly.

He turned the handle and entered the room, shutting the door behind him. Raoul made his way over to the massive wardrobe and opened the doors. Hundreds of brightly colored gowns were all hung up; shoes were all lined up on the floor. His eyes looked around until finally he spied a blue box on a shelf. Picking it up, he walked over to the desk and took the lid off the box. Inside, he found many mementos from the Opera Populaire. There was a program from Hannibal, a crystal hair pin from her aria, her ballet shoes, many pictures of Christine and Meg, and of Christine and Madame Giry.

As he removed items from the box, he saw that it contained memories that had to go back to the beginning. He found the scarf that he had rescued from the sea when he had first met Christine, pictures of her and her father, a picture of a woman who had to be her mother.

Then, he found many things that made him feel uneasy. Near the bottom of the box, there was a dried rose with a black ribbon tied around the stem. Raoul knew who had given her the rose; she had spoken of him often. There was her script from Don Juan Triumphant, and the rose that she had worn in her hair during the performance. Raoul sighed. He never knew how much Christine had treasured her memories of the opera. Finally, at the bottom of the box, he found a small bundle of letters. He pulled them out of the box and studied them for a couple of minutes. They had been tied together with a red ribbon and they were all addressed to Christine. He untied the ribbon and opened the first letter.

Christine,

I am so happy to hear about your marriage to Raoul. You made a beautiful bride and Raoul was as handsome as ever. I'm sure that you two will be very happy together.

I finally found the perfect house for mother and me to live in. It's near the opera house and just the right size for us. We're going to start moving in here in a week or two.

Unfournately, I must conclude this letter. My work calls and I have many things to do. Please continue to write and let me know how you are doing. I hope to see you again soon.

All my love,

Meg

Raoul smiled at the memory of the blonde haired dancer. She was Christine's best friend and companion. He knew how much she loved the Giry's. Putting the letter aside, he continued to read the letters. Many of them were from Meg, a few were from Madame Giry, and there were a couple from some of Christine's other friends at the opera house. Finally, Raoul reached the bottom of the stack and opened the letter. Unfolding the paper, his eyes scanned the contents of the letter. As he read the letter his eyes widened.

My darling Christine,

It has been too long since I've seen you last. Your beautiful voice is always on my mind, I can't seem to get you out of my head. I hope that you and the Vicomte are happy together. My only concern is your happiness.

Since that night, I have been staying with the Giry's. Recently though, I have moved back into my lair. Everything had remained as it was before. The organ still stands where it had been before; all of my music was still there. It was as if it had been untouched by the mob.

I hope this letter finds you well. I hope that your life is everything that you wanted it to be. Maybe one day you and I will see each other again, but right now I don't think it's a good idea.

Please know that my door is always open to you. If you ever need anything, please don't hesitate to ask.

I must go now. If I hope to catch the post I have to make this letter short. I hope to hear from you soon.

Love Always,

Erik

Raoul slowly folded the letter and put it back into the envelope. He studied the writing on the front of the letter. Christine's name and the address to the estate were written in delicate script on the front of the letter, but there was no return address.

He moved to put the letters back into the box when he discovered a small box at the very bottom of the box, in the corner. Picking it up, he saw that the same delicate script that was on the letter was written on the top of the box. He opened it and saw the rest of the jeweled hair pins from her debut. The earrings that she had worn were wrapped in tissue. A small slip of paper was nestled inside the box. Raoul picked it up, unfolded it and proceeded to read.

Dearest Christine,

I managed to retrieve these items from your dressing room. I thought that you might want them since I knew how much you loved the dress from your aria. All of the dresses that you loved were untouched by the fire. If you want any of them, please let me know and I will send them to you.

Erik

Folding the paper in half, Raoul put it back in the box and walked back over to the wardrobe. Off in one corner, he spied the sparkling skirts of the dress from Hannibal. There was the dress from Don Juan, the dress from the masquerade ball. They were all there.

"Christine hasn't been to the opera house since the night we escaped, where did all these gowns come from? How has she been contacting him?" he wondered aloud.

He put everything back into the blue box and put it back into the wardrobe. Then he made sure that the room was in order and left, shutting the door behind him. Raoul walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. "Elizabeth!"

She walked into the room and greeted the Vicomte. "Is there something you need sir?"

"Prepare my horse; I'm going to pay a visit to the Opera Populaire."

Okay, so there is more to the story the Christine let on...or rather I let on. Just how did Christine get all those gowns from the Opera House? The mystery just continues to unfold!

I hope that this big update made up for not updating for two weeks. I feel really bad for that too. I meant to update last weekend, but when I got to work, I found that the server was down and it ended up being down all day long. I couldn't even get into my e-mail! Then when the server came back up on Tuesday, I couldn't log in because the server was overloaded. After I finally was able to log in, I found out that I had the wrong program! So anyways, I hope that you are enjoying my story so far. I will try and update more often from now on...as long as work and my computer allows it.

Please read and review. I really enjoy getting these reviews. To know that so many people have read my story and enjoy it means a lot to me!

Sarah