Disclaimer: Erik and the real town of Manistee are not mine. Only original creations belong to me.
AN: This is it! The elopement plot begins to draw to a close! However, their official getaway is next chapter…thus the ending of this chapter! (Laughs evilly) Enjoy and review!
Chapter 21: Unwanted Hindrance:
When I woke the next morning, I still had no idea how I was going to escape the house unescorted, especially after what had happened with Charles over the past few days. It would not take a genius to see that my aunt and uncle were highly unlikely to let me out of their sight today.
'But I have to meet Erik,' I thought, chewing my bottom lip. 'If I don't, he'll think I've abandoned him! I can't let that happen!'
Perhaps Penny could smuggle me out of the house through the serving entrance? No, that part of the house was always busy, and someone would be bound to see me…it wouldn't work. I could pretend to be ill, but then Penny would be hovering over me the entire day, no matter how many times I dismissed her. There had to be a way to get into town to meet Erik, but I had yet to think of one as I rose from my bed and went to my closet to pick out a dress to wear. From behind me I heard someone in the bathing room, the sound of running water startling me.
"Penny!" I gasped, one of my hands reaching to clutch my chest in surprise.
I suddenly felt foolish as I remembered that my maid and I had spent the night in my room together after my fight with my aunt and uncle. How could I have forgotten that?
"Yes, Miss?" she said, emerging from the other room already fully dressed for her duties. "Did you need something before your bath?"
"No, no, I'm fine," I replied as I took a deep breath to calm myself. "You just startled me, that's all. You can go ahead and finish up getting my bath ready and I'll pick out a dress for today."
"Yes, Miss Clara." Penny gave a quick curtsey before heading back to her chores.
I bit back a groan of annoyance as I turned to pick out an outfit. I wanted something ordinary, something that wouldn't attract attention while Erik and I made our way through town and towards the docks. However, if I wore something too dull, my aunt would be suspicious. After combing through everything, I decided on a sea-green dress that I thought would be appropriate for today. The gown was of light material, with soft silvery lace at the sleeves and neckline which only added a sea-foam effect to the dress. It was quite lovely, and I was unusually excited to wear it.
Penny emerged from the bathroom and took the gown from me, spreading it on top of my bed as I went to bathe. As I splashed around in the warm water and washed my hair, I could hear Penny humming a song as she laid out my petticoats on my bed and my hair accessories on my vanity. Since I wanted to get out of the house as soon as possible, I rushed through my bath and dried quickly, slipping into my gown after Penny dried my hair to style it. After I was dressed, I patiently sat while my hair was arranged into a braid and pulled up into an elegant bun, to which a charming hat was added for when I went outside. When both of us were satisfied with the result, Penny and I braced ourselves for the worst as we went downstairs for breakfast.
Not surprisingly, my aunt and uncle were furious with me for my actions, so I ignored them in favor of the delicious oatmeal put in front of me. As I ate the warm cereal, I could feel the angry glares being directed at me, and was all-too-happy to keep my eyes elsewhere. My fingers managed to not quiver or shake in nervousness as I peeled an orange and a pear to follow the oatmeal, so well was I in control of my emotions. Not once did my aunt or uncle address me for conversation, and I was just getting ready to leave the uncomfortable silence when Aunt Mary broke it.
"Clara, you are expected to go walking through town with Charles Kirkland today," she announced, her voice not allowing for any argument.
"The two of you may expect that all you wish, but I have no intention of going anywhere with Mr. Kirkland," I stated, allowing a cool mask of indifference to settle on my face.
"You have no choice," Uncle Geoff declared, his blue eyes hard as stone as he glared at me from his space at the table. "The entire town knows that he is your fiancé, and that your family approves of the match. You are expected, not only by your aunt and myself, but by the entire of the town as well, to appear out in public together."
"Considering I refuse to marry him, there is no possible way I am going to appear anywhere with Mr. Kirkland."
"Then you will not leave this house unless you do so," snapped my uncle as he gestured for more coffee.
"What?" I cried. "You're going to imprison me here because I won't even consider marrying a man with the look of a pale wet dog?"
"That is enough!" roared Uncle Geoff as he rose from his chair. "You are going on a walk with Charles and that is final!"
I merely sneered at him as I rose as well, though I managed to (barely) keep my temper. "I'll go…but only to get away from controlling monsters such as you!"
With that, I stormed out of the room before another word could be said. If this was the only way for me to meet Erik, then so be it; we would just have to find a way to get rid of Charles before we made our escape.
"Be careful with those!" Erik snapped as he watched the hotel staff take his trunks down to the lobby.
"Sorry, sir!" cried a young boy who looked barely old enough to work at the hotel.
"Just don't drop them," Erik replied as he turned to check and see if he'd forgotten anything.
The day had dawned bright and clear, giving the former Phantom hope for the day to come. He had readied everything the night previous, packing up his clothes and stacking Clara's suitcase along with his own. He had risen early that morning, pacing around the room and thinking of things to say to his beloved Clara when he met her later on in the day. True, the boat would not be leaving until late afternoon, but he was eager to see Clara at the bookshop, which was why Erik had tried to do everything to make time pass quicker; he had even taken a longer time choosing the ideal outfit, one consisting of a black top hat and boots, black pants, a gray coat with black lapels, and gray shirt and vest. Erik liked it, as it seemed to allude to the mystery of their secret elopement plot.
When it came time for him to check out of the hotel, Erik had summoned a dozen bellboys to help tow his belongings downstairs, from where they would be delivered to the Sea Princess, which was the vessel carrying him and Clara over the Lake to Canada. A quick touch to his pocket showed that the tickets were where they should be, and another touch to a different pocket proved that his special gift to Clara rested securely there for him to give her later.
'Everything is as it should be,' Erik thought to himself as he followed the last servant to the lobby.
He only hoped that nothing went wrong before the afternoon came.
I swear I was going to scream if I had to listen to Charles talk about his family's business for another minute. Thus far, the day had been dragging by, and it was all because I had to spend it with the man currently sitting across the table from me!
'I should have stayed holed up in my room until it was safe to sneak out,' I thought as I closed out Charles' ramblings about wheat and how it had made his family rich.
Things had gone terribly wrong for me and my sanity ever since we left the house. After I had stalked out of the dining room, a servant had immediately led me towards the front door where Charles was (of course) waiting for me. I believe he thought my coming with him signified the wearing down of my resolve not to marry him, and he looked unusually smug as he escorted me out the door and into the bright summer sunshine.
From there, he led me to various nearby parks and had us walk the most secluded pathways. Charles thought that our walks through the parks were very romantic, and they would have been, if I'd had Erik by my side instead of Charles. Erik would have whispered sweet, romantic things to me in English and in French, holding my hand oh-so-gently in the crook of his arm as we slowly made our way along the flowered walkways. Charles, on the other hand, clutched my hand with his thin fingers and chattered loudly about how wonderful our marriage would be with our two families joining, one of the North and one of the South. For some reason, Charles was fascinated by women of the South, and if I hadn't come to Manistee to visit my aunt, he probably would have found a way to go to the southern states to find a wife. As it was, I was the unlucky chosen bride.
Eventually, we managed to find a charming café near the center of town and on the river in which to have lunch and lemonade. Charles still chattered on and on as we waited for our food, and when it finally arrived, I was finally allowed peace and quiet as Charles managed to eat his meal without saying anything. Inwardly, I was extremely thankful that manners would not allow him to talk with his mouth full, and since we were both rather hungry, there was little pausing between swallowing one mouthful of food and putting the next one in our mouths.
Eventually, the meal ended and Charles began chatting once again as we left. I was beginning to feel the pressures of a headache coming on when I heard the bells of a nearby church toll the hour: it was just after two o'clock in the afternoon! I had to meet Erik at the bookshop, and soon!
'But how am I going to get rid of Charles?' I thought to myself as I managed to subtly steer us towards the street that held the store I was looking for. Well, I suppose that I would have to let Erik handle it; he was quite clever, and since Charles wouldn't know him or recognize Erik as the man I loved without his mask, it should be alright.
So, taking a deep breath, I headed to find my fiancé.
Erik had been in the shop for over an hour, and presently, he was trying not to loose his mind. He had come here at one o'clock, hoping to catch a glimpse of Clara before she entered the shop. Even though he had told her to meet him at no specific time in the afternoon, Erik had hoped to take her to a light afternoon meal and a pleasant walk before going to the ship. As he rapidly flipped through another Dickens novel, trying to look interested in it, Erik felt ready to hurt something.
'If she doesn't arrive here soon…'
He refused to finish that thought. The waiting game was not something he was good at this close to the end of the event, and he desperately wanted to see his beloved. It felt as though it had been an eternity since he had truly held her in his arms, and he needed that now more than ever.
'Especially with that weak-looking fop trying to take her from me,' Erik thought, trying not to strangle the new, leather-bound book currently in his hands.
The bell over the doorway chimed to signal another customer entering the shop, and Erik fought against looking towards it; already he had looked over a dozen times, and if he kept it up, it would look suspiciously like he were here to meet someone instead of innocently looking for a book. Keeping hold of his temper, Erik took a deep breath.
"Clara, why are we here?" asked a male voice.
Erik's head whipped around before he could stop it. Clara was here? He risked a glance towards the door and saw that his angel was accompanied by the man who was trying to take her from him. Why were they here together? Had she, Heaven forbid, changed her mind about the other man? Had she come here to end their engagement and stop the elopement? Before Erik could fully panic, he saw the look of frustration that Clara had on her lovely face.
'If anything, she's here with Charles Kirkland against her will.' Erik couldn't help but grin at the thought. 'I suppose that I will have to save her, then.'
Inwardly, Erik couldn't help but be happy that the store was empty, save for a young clerk in the storage room behind the counter; it would make it much easier without causing a scene.
We had only been in the bookshop a few moments and already Charles was whining about how boring it was. It was very clear that he was not a man who appreciated a good book or tale, and it was clear that, if we were wed, I would have to be the clever one in the relationship. Apparently Charles couldn't tolerate books, unless they were business related, and so had really nothing wise or profound to say about anything except the wheat industry. It was all very dull, and I secretly longed for Erik to come and save me from quite possibly the dullest existence known to the world.
I ignored Charles and decided to focus on the wall of books before me. Most were from the English novelists Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, both of which were highly recommended, according to the little notes attached to the wood, so I carefully skimmed the titles for something that sounded interesting (unlike the obnoxious Charles standing beside me).
"Pardon me," said a familiar deep voice to my right.
"Oh!" I gasped and turned around, coming nose-to-chest with a tall male figure. I quickly looked up into familiar green eyes in a flawless face I had previously seen only half of. 'Goodness, this is familiar.'
"I beg your pardon, mademoiselle, but you will have to forgive me if I say that you are as enchanting as an angel from Heaven." Erik's marvelous voice surrounded me, effectively putting me into a trance so that I could not move even if I wanted to.
'Which I don't,' I thought as I stared up at the man I loved. Out loud, I said, "You are quite kind and flattering, sir."
"Ah, but I can assure you that I only speak the truth," Erik declared, smiling at me as he took my right hand in both of his own. "Especially to one so lovely as you."
I felt myself blush as he kissed my fingers. "I thank you, then," I replied in a soft voice.
Suddenly, another pair of hands reached out and snatched my hand away from Erik's. "What do you think you're doing?" demanded a voice behind me. It was Charles, and he did not sound very happy.
"I am merely trying to get to know the lovely lady before me," Erik replied, acting as though he had just met me, almost as though we were thrown back in time to Rockford to when we had first met.
"That 'lovely lady,' as you call her, is my fiancée!" Charles declared, his cheeks turning red.
I almost laughed because Erik was at least four inches taller than Charles was, and was much broader of physique than the pale man standing next to me. However, I wisely kept my mouth shut and watched the scene play out; I want to see how Erik managed to handle this.
"Your fiancée, is she?" Erik asked, reaching for my left hand. As he took my hand in his own, he examined it with a fierce gaze. "She appears to lack a ring, and therefore seemed unattached to you and any other man."
"I have not yet had the chance to grace her fingers with a ring," Charles said, gritting his teeth together, his face turning redder by the moment.
"Then you must not truly care for her, if you have not yet made her yours by having her wear your ring," Erik smugly declared as he held my hand in his. "And if she is not yours, you would not mind my taking her for a walk along the river." He then held his arm out to me. "Shall we, Angel?"
That was all the excuse I needed to get out of here. "We shall," I replied, smiling up into his eyes as I slid my hand into the crook of his elbow.
"Clara!" Charles cried as he reached out and grabbed me, preventing me from leaving. "You cannot go with him! You're my future wife, and I demand that you not go!"
Angry, I pulled my arm free of him. "I have tried to be kind, and I have tried to be blunt," I said, glaring at him. "When will you realize that I don't love you and would rather be an old maid than marry a horrible fop such as yourself?"
Not letting him answer, I allowed Erik to escort me from the shop and into the light outside.
Charles felt his blood boil as he watched Clara leave with the Frenchman. She would not get away with this; he would not allow it! Huffing, he ran out the door to catch them.
AN: Officially, I think an elopement happens when they're safely gone, don't you? Review!