Disclaimer: Erik is still not mine, much to my dismay. Only original creations belong to me.

AN: I thought that I'd mention that I'm going on vacation soon, so I won't be able to update for at least a couple weeks. I promise to post a new chapter as soon as I get back…or, at least, try to. Until then, please don't hate me, and enjoy this chapter until I return. Thanks, and review!

Chapter 15: Success and Failures:

Once again, I was nervously pacing the length of my room, trying to think out what Haleigh had come up with concerning the elopement plot. It had all seemed so simple…all I needed to do was sit down at dinner and propose that Mama and Papa allow me to visit my Aunt Mary in the North without either one of them or Philip accompanying me. They would approve, and I would be allowed to go. Then Erik would follow me there (secretly, of course) and then we would run away

'But what if Papa says no?' I thought to myself as I set myself down before my vanity mirror. 'If he's never really liked the idea of me traveling alone in town, he'll never allow me to travel to visit my aunt by train without some sort of escort!'

That was my greatest fear: that Papa would force me to drag a dozen servants with me just so I was 'looked after,' like a proper, unmarried young lady should be. I have to admit that there were always men traveling on the train, and that one might try something inappropriate with me if it were discovered that I was traveling alone.

'If both Mama and Papa raise a fuss, I can always barter them down to my taking one servant,' I thought as I bit my lip. 'Even one female servant would do, so long as I wasn't traveling alone.' I sighed as I heard the bell ring for dinner. 'Well, let's hope that this works as well as Haleigh says it will.'

Smoothing down the front of my gown, I stood up and headed for the doorway to go down to dinner.

Much to Richard Savoy's joy, dinner had been a wondrous affair that night. The beef he had ordered from town had not only been tender, but perfectly juicy as well, and there was nothing he liked more than a good cut of beef with the right kind of wine. Camilla had also been pleased, as it had been her idea to order the food in the first place. This particular dinner was due to a friend of his wife's, namely that of a lady from out West; she had sent a bottle of red wine for Camilla to enjoy, and Camilla, in turn, had wanted a large slab of beef to go with the expensive port.

Sighing, Richard leaned back in his chair at the table and took another drink of wine. 'Nothing better than a fine wine to go with a fine supper,' he thought, gazing about at his family as he waited for dessert to be served. 'A perfect evening, indeed.'

I could tell that Mama and Papa were both in a fine mood this evening. Father was on his fourth glass of the wine that Mama's friend from California had sent, and Mama had been particularly deep in her cup as well. Hopefully they were tipsy enough to approve of my request, but sober enough to remember this conversation in the morning! Philip might try and put up a fight, if only to try and play the 'protective younger brother' concerning my traveling on the train. However, if I played my cards right, I would get exactly what I wanted. So, taking my chances, I cleared my throat to attract their attention.

Papa tore his eyes away from his glass, which he put down (a bit unsteadily) on the table. Mama looked a bit startled, but then, she really hadn't been paying much attention to anything except her wineglass and her food during the entire meal.

"Yes, sweetie, what is it?" Papa asked, smiling broadly at me.

Oh, this was a good sign. If he was this happy, he was sure to agree with me on anything I asked for! Trying not to look outwardly pleased, I took a deep breath and fluttered my eyelashes at my father.

"Papa, do you remember how, a few months ago, I said that Aunt Mary's been asking me to come and visit her and her little girls up North?" I asked, trying to sound innocent in my intentions. Papa nodded, but said nothing, so I pressed onwards. "Well, I was hoping that I could do just that: go up North on the train to go and see Aunt Mary and her pretty little blonde darlings."

I truly did love the little girls, Kari and Andrea, but had had the ill luck of having seen them only a few times. First, it had been just after they were born, and then for a handful of visits afterwards. However, I remembered that they took after their handsome, blonde father, since Aunt Mary sported curly, light brown hair; they also had gorgeous blue-gray eyes from their mother's side, and their mother's love of musical instruments. They were very bright, and even though this plot was to run away with Erik, I really did have every intention of seeing the girls before I ran away.

Papa's face turned serious, though I could tell he was still slightly drunk. "Is that wise, sweetheart?" he asked, tilting his head to the side. "I mean, a lovely young lady like yourself taking the train all that way, alone…it's not a good idea…" He held up his hand. "I'll think about it, how's that? Give me a little while, and I'll consider it."

It was the best I could hope for. "Yes, Papa," I said, looking down at my plate in disappointment.

It might not have been a 'no,' but it hadn't been a 'yes,' either. I would have to bide my time and give my father another, much gentler prod with the idea tomorrow night at dinner, which made me quite nervous. The situation had become much more delicate, and I knew that if I did not handle it correctly, Haleigh's plan would crumble to dust right before my eyes. Everything depended on me doing the right thing at the right time, and I wasn't sure that I would be able to do it. Still, for Erik's sake, as well as my own, I would have to do my best.

I gave my father a smile as I took up my wine glass and took a sip.

Erik bit back a curse as he read the note in his hand, crumbling it up and throwing it across the room in a fit of anger. A note had arrived just that morning from the Winters' residence, telling him that the proposal of Clara going to visit her aunt hadn't immediately been granted, much to the disappointment of all those involved in the elopement plot. However, Erik was not surprised, though the hope he had previously held in the plan was quickly fading.

'If Monsieur Savoy had been drunker, it would have worked,' he thought, going to sit down in a chair before his fireplace. 'Then the plan would be falling into place.'

Still, he had to have faith in Clara's ability to handle her parents, as well as her skill in twisting them into getting what she wanted and when she wanted it. In a letter previous to this one, Haleigh had explained that most girls could get anything they wanted from their fathers; it was only their mothers they had to work on, and if they knew how to ask right, a girl could get exactly what she wanted.

'Or so we hope,' Erik thought to himself. 'Everything depends on Clara getting on a train and leaving town, with me following a week or so later.'

But what if it the plan didn't succeed? What if Clara's family forbid her traveling to her aunt's and forced her to stay here, in Rockford, until her father found another suitor for her to marry? There was no possible way that Erik could bear the thought of that happening; he had to do something.

'All this started because of her parents' disapproval of me,' Erik thought, an idea slowly coming to him. 'What if I could get them to approve of me before Haleigh's plan is too underway?'

Nodding to himself, he stood up and rang for his butler.

"Mr. Rousseau to see you, Mr. Savoy," declared a voice from the doorway of the study.

Surprised, Richard looked up from the documents in front of him, directing his attention at Jacob. There stood his butler, a confused look on his dark face as he waited for his master's orders. The problem was that his master was too surprised to say anything.

"Shall I show him in, sir?" Jacob asked hesitantly.

"Oh! Yes, Jacob, show him in." He didn't know why he said it, but there it was. Quickly tucking his documents away, Mr. Savoy stood up from his chair to 'greet his guest.'

The moment the Frenchman came in, Mr. Savoy felt immediate disapproval of the man. The European composer was dressed in was could only be described as his best suit of clothes. The ensemble of a black coat, black cravat, and gold vest embroidered with black designs was elegant, and of good taste. It also had to be expensive, as Richard knew it would be.

'The man spends his money as though he had enough to spare!' he thought, taking in the gold chain hanging from Mr. Rousseau's pocket, as well as the gold cufflinks and ivory-topped ebony walking stick. Out loud, he said, "What can I do for you, Mr. Rousseau?"

"Monsieur Savoy, I was hoping that I could speak to you on the matter of my feelings for you daughter," was the smooth reply.

'I knew it,' the older man fumed as he watched the other man stand before his desk. 'He's come to try and talk me into letting him marry my little Clara!'

"I know that we have our disagreements on the future I could provide for her," Mr. Rousseau began. "But if I were to announce the amount of money I have stored away, would it ease your thoughts on the matter of marriage?"

Richard bit back a grunt of disbelief. There was no possible way he would let his daughter marry the man standing before him. Clara deserved a true Southern gentleman, someone who was handsome, charming, and who was familiar with the Southern ways of life. He had to admit that, although Erik Rousseau was quite charming (in a foreign sort of way), the Frenchman knew nothing of what was required of a man of the upper class that Clara had grown up with.

'And that face…'

Even though the left side was good-looking enough to leave half the young girls in town swaying, Richard truly did not want such a man in the family. Imagine the two of them standing at a party, dear, lovely Clara on one side and this disfigured man standing on the other! It would be an awkward sight at best, and mortifying at the worst, should someone actually find the sight amusing and begin spreading some sort of joke or gossip about them. If there was one thing that could tear a family apart, it was the publicly spread jokes and rumors about one particular member.

'I will not see my family disgraced in such a way,' Richard thought. 'It's not just about the money…it's about pride…good old Southern pride in one's family and friends, and a disfigured son-in-law will not do; not for me, and not for my daughter.'

He held up a hand to silence anything Mr. Rousseau could say next.

Erik silently fumed in the back of his carriage as Marcus drove him home. He had come to the Savoy home, willing to compromise for Clara's sake, only to be insulted and verbally thrown out. Not only that, but he had practically been ordered to not return on the punishment of arrest for trespassing!

'Pride,' he thought, a slight growl escaping the back of his throat. 'He said it was pride and honor, and that it would all be destroyed if I married his daughter, but I know it's all because of my face.'

His damned face…no one could see past it, no one except for the woman he loved. Clara loved him enough to run away with him, leaving everyone and everything she ever knew to be his wife. It was for her that Erik had tried to make peace between him and her family, and now that he had been rejected by the head of her household once more, there was only one thing left for them to do.

Sighing heavily, Erik turned his attention towards the window and the scenery he passed. 'It is the only way. Oh, Clara, if only I could spare you from the pain that leaving your family will give you!' He barely restrained himself from punching a hole in the door of the carriage. 'But I did try my best to appeal to your father, and was refused once more. I'm sorry, my love.'

Sighing, he realized that he needed to send an immediate message to Mrs. Haleigh Winters.

Haleigh bit back a sigh as she read the note in her hand, her eyes going to meet her husband's. "Well, I suppose that this was all for the best," she remarked, folding the note and handing it to Jerry.

He quickly read it and let a groan escape his lips. "Erik, you fool!" Jerry folded the paper back up and handed it to his wife. "How can this possibly help us?"

His wife gave him a comforting and humored smile. "Let me explain," she said, reaching out and pouring some scotch for him from the silver tray at her elbow. "With Erik appearing to do the noble thing in attempting to win over the Savoy's, they're sure to try and send her away to her aunt, if only to keep her away from Erik. Then, when the plan is carried out, the Savoy's won't believe that Clara has run off with him when she actually does so. They will simply think that she's gone off to in a fit of rebellion, finally acting out on the hurt and sadness that she's felt about her forbidden relationship with Erik." She handed the drink to him with a broad grin on her face

"And since Erik will allegedly be going off in a completely different direction, 'honorably' trying to leave Clara to lead the life her parents wish her to, they will not suspect him!" Jerry said, grinning as he took a sip of his drink. "Well done, darling."

"Well, thank you!" she said, looking smug. "You'd better go and tell Erik that he's unknowingly acted quite appropriately in this matter."

Her husband jerked slightly in his seat. "Why can't you just send a note?" he asked, obviously too comfortable in his chair to want to leave the house.

"Because it will look better if you go over there and maintain the illusion that you're still trying to 'make friends' with Mr. Rousseau," Haleigh stated with a roll of her eyes, as though it should have been obvious.

Jerry merely sighed.

Dinner at our home was unusually quiet as we ate our meal. Papa hadn't said a word, and from the look on his face, if anyone attempted to engage him in conversation, all that we would get would be a line of profanity or a dark glare. Mama looked unhappy as well, though not as much as Papa, but she kept her silence. Philip and I trade looks over the table, communicating with one another through smiles, pointed glances at people or things around the room, or a few silent taps with our fingers on the tablecloth.

'Thank goodness we came up with "The Code,"' I thought to myself as Philip sent a direct look towards one of the windows, subtly asking how my day had gone.

I replied with silently drumming four gloved fingertips on the table, saying that I had gone out riding. A flick of my pinky finger towards the windows said that I had been out all day, and a tiny twitch on the left side of my lips said that I'd had a wonderful time. I then asked him the same question about his day, to which he replied with a nonchalant look at his water glass. Apparently his day had been uneventful, and from the look he was giving me, it shouldn't have been. However, Philip didn't look grumpy, so it must have been a typical day for him.

Suddenly, Papa cleared his throat. "Clara, sweetheart?" he said, catching my attention.

Startled, I looked at him. "Yes, Papa?" was my confused reply.

"Clara, I've been thinking about that idea of yours to visit your aunt," he said, staring into his wine glass, which was the third one so far that evening. "I've decided that it might be a good idea to send you up there for a few months, until the beginning of winter. How does that sound?"

I was speechless. 'This is it!' exclaimed a part of my mind. 'He's giving you what you want! Take it, take it, take it, you idiot!'

With a mental jolt, I was returned to the present. "Oh, thank you, Papa!" I squealed, smiling broadly. "I can hardly wait!"

"Wonderful!" my father said, looking happy for the first time that night. "Will you be able to pack everything you need and be ready in a few days' time?"

Biting my lip in thought, I tried to reason if that would be enough time for me to warn Haleigh and have Erik plan his departure as well. Nodding for all to see, I turned my gaze to my father.

"I think that will be just fine," I said, smiling.

The next morning, Haleigh's squeal of joy must have been heard in town; it was that loud. "They're actually letting you go?" she asked, an excited look in her green eyes.

"Under the condition that I take Penny along with me as an escort," I said. "I'm to stay there until just before winter starts, since northern winters are very harsh."

"Oh, that doesn't matter in the slightest," Haleigh said, pacing the room. I could tell that the wheels inside her head were turning as she the plot forward moved. "I know you might hate me for this, Clara, but it would probably be best for Erik to leave at least two or three weeks after you do."

"Two or three weeks?" I gasped from where I sat on her couch. "Why?"

"If he leaves too soon, it'll look strange, as though he were going to meet you there," she reasoned, green eyes meeting my brown ones. "If your parents suspect anything, they might just race up to meet you and bring you back home, and then where will you be?"

I sighed. "You're right," I said, looking down at my lap. "It's just…"

"You don't like being separated from him for so long," Haleigh replied, her voice soft as she took a seat beside me on the couch. "I know I felt the same way when Jerry and I were courting. Remember how he'd always have to leave on business for his family, and how miserable I was during the weeks and months he was gone?"

I couldn't hold back my laughter. "You would always be in a daze," I said, grinning. "I thought that you'd gotten into your father's tobacco bag again!"

She blushed, laughing along with me. "Well, I was in love," she said, gazing fondly at the two baby cribs in the far corners of the room. "And look where I am now."

My gaze followed hers. "Perhaps, someday, Erik and I will have children of our own." I knew that my voice had turned soft and wistful as I imagined how my future could be.

At that moment, Jerry came into the room, little Lena bouncing happily on his hip. "Good morning, ladies!" he said, handing his daughter off to her mother, who accepted her with a smile. "What have you two been talking about so early in the day?"

"Clara's parents have allowed her to go visit her aunt in the North!" Haleigh said, smiling as tickled the baby in her lap. Lena squealed in reply before going off into baby-babble.

"That's wonderful!" Jerry said, a grin on his face. "I'll head off to tell Erik about it right now. I can only imagine what his face will be like when I tell him! I need to head into town, anyway." He gave me a soft smile. "If there's a reply to that message, I'll bring it directly back."

Erik bit back a sigh as he looked out his window into the night. Earlier that day, Jerry had brought his message and left with a folded letter in his pocket, ready for Clara to read. It was all a matter of time now before the entire thing was to be acted on, and he was looking forward to it. If there was one thing the former Phantom of the Opera loved, it was a secret plot to get what he wanted. Although he didn't want anyone to be hurt this time, it was inevitable; for Clara to be happy and live the life she longed for, her family would have to pay the price for their hard-headedness. For too long had he waited to be loved, and now that it was within his grasp, he would not give it up…not without a fight.
AN: Well, there you go. Please read and review; I'd love to know what people think of this whole thing! Thanks!