Once again, I am sorry for the delay. This chapter was incredibly difficult for me to write, and I also had to figure out what would happen in what order, but there it is, the long-anticipated catastrophe.

Before you all kill me for this chapter, let me tell you once again how much I appreciate your support, your reading of my stories, your putting them on alert, adding them to favorites, and, most of all, for leaving me a review, to let me know what you liked or did not like. I do not think I could do it without you all!

Oh, and the aria I mention is called "Deh, vieni, non tardar" (Come, do not delay).

Now on to the tragedy, and keep in mind that I do not own these characters...

Chapter 16 – Then My World Was Shattered

A few more weeks passed without any letters from Erik. Both, Christine and Mme. Giry, were feeling really nervous by now, and both wished they could somehow go to London and check on him. This was of course entirely impossible, since the Opéra Populaire was approaching opening night of "Le Nozze di Figaro", and rehearsals were in full swing, which meant that both ladies were extremely busy.

Mme. Giry was clinging to the theory that Erik must be even busier than them, since he, too, was preparing for a big opening night, and his responsibilities far exceeded those of either herself or Christine.

"Erik may not realize exactly how long it is we have not heard from him," she kept telling Christine. "You know how he can lose track of time when he is concentrating on his work, especially now, that so much is depending on his success. And there is always the chance that one of his letters got lost. Things like that do happen. I am sure Erik will write long letters to both of us once opening night is over. And if not, well, maybe by then we can take a few days off and visit him, just to make sure he is all right."

Christine nodded and tried to be brave, but she could not help being worried. She had a feeling as if some dark storm-clouds were forming right above her head, about to release a thunderstorm that could crush her. Her cheeks lost their rosy complexion and dark rings formed around her eyes, the signs of sleepless nights spent worrying about her love and their future.

In order to keep her mind off this nagging problem, Christine concentrated hard on preparing for her role as Susanna. By working on the beautiful music, she felt somewhat close to Erik, remembering all their voice lessons. She also wanted to do her absolute best, so that Erik could be proud of her. By focusing on her work, she could also almost forget the problem of Erik's silence, at least during day-time. But when she was lying in her bed at night, her fears became overwhelming and she usually only fell asleep in the wee hours of the morning.

Xxxx

About a week before the opening night of "Le Nozze di Figaro" Raoul left Paris for a few days. He did not say where he was going – not that either Christine or Mme. Giry cared about his itinerary – but promised he would be back for the opening night of "Le Nozze di Figaro".

He was a bit disappointed. Weeks had passed since Christine had received a letter from the freak, and even though he had done his best to undermine her trust in that thing by telling her about her teacher's supposed involvement with his employer's daughter, Christine still seemed to pine for that monster and to be utterly immune to his own advances.

Raoul bit his lip. He had already overheard Mme. Giry asking Firmin and André for a few days off after opening night "for private reasons" and he had a feeling that the ballet mistress was planning to go to London and personally check on the fiend. He could not wait that long. If he did not want to lose Christine to this so-called Opera Ghost, drastic means were needed. And he had to act fast. The fact that Mr. Stanton's theater would have its grand opening only days before "Le Nozze di Figaro" would premiere in Paris, as he had learned from his detective in London, would work to his advantage.

Raoul was traveling to England. He was not going to London, though. He could not risk being seen by this thing right now, or the latter might guess that he, Raoul, had something to do with the lack of letters from the ladies. No, London was off limits for the time being. That could wait. His first priority was Christine and how he could force her to accept his proposal.

Raoul therefore went to a small town in middle England, where he approached a small print shop. He had 500 pieces of a flashy flier printed. Of course he needed only one, and it needed to have been printed in England, but ordering only one would have caused suspicion, and getting Christine in his bed was well worth the price of all 500 of those colorful announcements. At first he thought about getting rid at once of the 499 exemplars that he did not need, but then he figured it might be best to wait till he was back in Paris before dumping them. One could never be too careful!

Xxxx

When Raoul returned to Paris the day before opening night of "Le Nozze di Figaro", he found the Opéra Populaire in an uproar. It seemed that during rehearsals of the dance that would take place in the background of the final scene to symbolize the happy ending of the play, one of the young male dancers had stumbled while lifting up Meg Giry. As a consequence, he had dropped Meg and the latter had broken her left ankle.

Firmin and André were nervous wrecks, when they told Raoul about the accident. They had serious doubts the opening night could go ahead as planned, for Mme. Giry was torn between caring for her daughter and changing the choreography of the dance to make it work without Meg, Meg was furious that she could not be part of the production, Christine was worried sick about her friend and close to falling apart, and most performers were convinced that the accident was a bad omen of sorts.

Raoul told them not to worry. He smiled inwardly. This unexpected turn of events would work in his favor. If the pretty flier in his pocket would not yield the desired effect, then he would use Meg's accident to win Christine's hand. In a few weeks' time the young diva would be his.

Xxxx

At first, Meg had been livid at her dance partner for having dropped her and caused her accident, but when she noticed how utterly shocked he was, not to mention the fact that he had to bow out of the production as well since he now was without a partner, she calmed down. Her ankle had been set by a doctor and put into a plaster, she was not in pain any more, and she would not have to work for weeks. As much as she loved to dance, a few weeks of rest did not sound too bad, especially since the doctor had assured her that her ankle would heal completely and she would be able to dance again.

Therefore, Meg's sunny character soon resurfaced, and she managed to calm down her mother and Christine as well. She told both of them not to worry about her and to concentrate on the opening night. She reminded Christine what a great chance to shine this would be for her and how important this performance might be for her future career. After Meg had reassured both, her mother and her best friend, that she would be fine, Christine and Antoinette could finally concentrate on the upcoming performance.

Xxxx

Once the curtain rose and "Le Nozze di Figaro" began, Christine forgot all her current problems, Meg's accident and Erik's silence. For the duration of the play she became Susanna. The audience was already charmed by her performance before the interval, but when she finally sang her big aria in the fourth act, she got standing ovations. Christine smiled a melancholic smile. She knew why it had been so easy for her to convey Susanna's longing, her desire to be finally united with Figaro. That particular song reminded her so much of her own current situation.

Once the play was over, Christine had to attend the after-show party. Mme. Giry went with her, but after she had made sure Firmin and André had seen her, she slipped away to see how Meg was doing. She had hesitated for a second or two to leave Christine alone at the celebration, since she had spotted Raoul among the guests, but had decided that the young soprano would be save in such a huge crowd.

Raoul patiently waited until everybody else had congratulated Christine on her success before finally approaching her. This was his big moment now, the one he had waited for for so long. She could not escape him anymore. Tomorrow he would publish the banns, and in maybe three weeks she would finally be his.

"Oh Christine," Raoul said in a syrupy voice, "you have been beyond amazing! You have exceeded my wildest expectations!" He grabbed her hand and raised it to his lips. "Allow me to express my sincere adoration of your art!"

Christine nodded nervously. Only now did she realize that Mme. Giry was nowhere to be seen. "Thank you Raoul," she whispered. "It is kind of you to say so."

"I knew it," Raoul continued, beaming at her. "I knew you could do it even without your teacher. Didn't I tell you, it was time to cut your strings, to stand on your own feet?"

"Ah... yes, I guess you did," Christine stammered, uncomfortable with the way the conversation was going.

"And a good thing, too, you do not need him anymore," Raoul retorted, "since I doubt he will be coming back to Paris anytime soon, if ever."

Christine's eyes widened in shock. Did Raoul know something about Erik? If so, it could only mean trouble. Maybe Erik had been arrested in London for the alleged murder of Buquet and that was why he had not written in such a long time. She needed to know more.

As much as Christine hated discussing Erik with Raoul, she therefore looked at Raoul, her face as white as the wall behind her. "What do you mean?" she asked nervously.

Raoul pulled some folded piece of paper out of his pocket. "At first I was not sure, where I had heard the name of Erik Givenould before," he said innocently, "then I remembered you had said that was your teacher's name." He unfolded the colorful flier and showed it to Christine.

Christine stared at the announcement, unable to grasp the meaning of the words in front of her. "This cannot be," she finally whispered, as the dancing letters began to make sense to her.

It simply could not be. She must have misunderstood something. This pretty little flier in Raoul's hand could not announce a gala concert at "The Music House" in London "to celebrate the engagement of my daughter Amanda-Ann to Mr. Erik Givenould". Erik would never betray her like that. True, he had not written in a long time, but there must be another explanation for his silence. Not this. Not him engaged to marry another woman.

"I take it, this development surprises you?" Raoul's question interrupted Christine's thoughts.

"I... this... there must be a mistake...," Christine was trembling, trying hard not to scream, not to draw attention to herself.

"I am afraid, I don't think so," Raoul said, his voice oozing compassion. "I feared this would hit you hard, which is why I did not tell you before the performance..."

"It cannot be," Christine repeated once again. It could not be. She must be dreaming. Apparently she had somehow fallen asleep. The exhaustion of the past few days must have caught up with her. A nightmare, that's what that was. Soon she would wake up and this would be over.

"It must be true," she heard Raoul's voice through the fog of her despair. "These announcements were distributed at the great reopening of The Music House last week. You know that I have been looking into starting a collaboration with one or several British theaters and therefore have been collecting information on likely candidates."

Christine stared at him as if he were a ghost, then looked back at the flier. "In two days," she whispered, only now seeing the date of the supposed gala concert.

"And it is publicly advertised," Raoul added. "Thus, even if there were a mistake, they cannot go back now, they have to go through with the wedding."

Christine closed her eyes. Her heart hurt so much, she thought she would die. She still could not believe it, not even with the printed proof in front of her eyes. But could there be any doubts? It would explain why Erik's letters had stopped.

Christine felt dizzy. It was as if a cold hand grabbed her heart. What if it was true? She could see it for herself, black on white, that Mr. Stanton was organizing a gala to celebrate the engagement of Erik and Amanda-Ann. Would Mr. Stanton organize such an event without Erik knowing, in order to trap him, to make him marry his daughter?

No. Christine shook her head. She could not really believe that any father would do such a thing. Maybe if the potential son-in-law was rich and handsome, but Erik was anything but. It must be true then. Or could it? She remembered that Erik had told her that Amanda-Ann was the true owner of the theater, not her father. Had Erik sold himself for a theater? Had the chance of becoming manager of his very own theater been too great a temptation? Or... had he fallen in love with Amanda-Ann? He had mentioned the young heiress' ethereal beauty, and Erik loved everything beautiful.

The longer she thought about it, the more Christine realized that this engagement was maybe not quite as impossible as she had at first thought. But how could Erik have done that to her? How could he have abandoned her like that? Why had he not at least had the decency to tell her he had found somebody else? How long had this been going on? How long had he already been dating the heiress while she had still sent him letters full of love?

"Christine, I realize he meant more to you than just a teacher," Raoul cooed to her, reaching for her hand and holding it, as if he were trying to comfort her. "But apparently he does not feel the same way..."

"I need to be alone," Christine whispered. "Please, Raoul, leave me. I need to think..."

"There is a way how you can show him that you do not care about his marriage plans," Raoul continued, putting an arm around Christine. "You know how I feel about you, Little Lotte. I know that right now you do not love me, that this wound that he has caused you is still too fresh, but you would make me incredibly happy if you accepted my proposal of marriage."

"Raoul, that is nonsense," Christine blurted out. How could he even think she would marry him now? Or anybody for that matter. She wanted Erik and nobody else. If she could not have him, then she would not marry. Ever.

"Would it?" Raoul asked. "If we married, this would be the solution to more than one problem, I think. First, it would be a way to show Monsieur Givenould that his choice of a bride does not hurt you in the least. He would not have the satisfaction of having broken your heart. And second, it would also solve Meg's problem..."

"Meg?" Christine looked up at Raoul. "What about her? What are you talking about?"

Raoul sighed, as if reluctant to continue. "I talked to Firmin and André earlier today," he finally mumbled. "And they said, that because Meg cannot work for weeks on end, and once the plaster has come off, she will have to get back in shape, since she will be out of practice, and who knows if she will ever be as good again as she used to be..."

"Don't torture me like that," Christine almost screamed. "What are you trying to tell me?"

"The plan is to … well... you know, she is not doing anything, but she costs money, therefore... " Raoul stopped again for effect.

"You do not mean they want to.. they are planning to... fire.. her?" Christine asked. She heavily leaned back against the wall. She felt like she would collapse any moment. How much more could she endure? Was there no end to her suffering? First Erik's betrayal, now that?

"Yes," Raoul admitted, sounding sorry. "But of course, if you and I were about to get married, considering that you and Meg are almost like sisters, and I am the patron... they would not dare fire her. They would continue to pay her salary for the duration of her recovery."

Christine closed her eyes. This was too much. How could she marry Raoul? She did not care for him in the least and the thought of having to kiss him and allow him more intimate liberties repulsed her. But there was Meg to consider as well. The Girys needed Meg's salary. They were as poor as she was herself. If Meg was fired, she would not be able to live in the dormitories any longer, she would need an apartment of her own, but without her salary, she would not be able to afford one.

Mme. Giry and Meg had always been kind to her and had done so much for her. Could she really turn her back on them now that they needed her help? And Erik... She felt almost physical pain at the thought of him marrying another. He must not have loved her at all if he was capable of doing that. And she had shown him her devotion so openly, had even told him over and over again in her letters how much she loved and missed him. If she continued to pine for him now, it would be beyond embarrassing. Was it not better to show him that she had not been all that invested in their short-lived engagement either? Raoul was offering her a way of taking her revenge on Erik. Could she really refuse him?

"If you agree, I could arrange for everything very quickly," Raoul whispered in her ear. "We could get secretly married in about three weeks. You only have to tell Mme. Giry after the wedding," he added. "If she learns about Meg's problem before we are married, she might think that our wedding has something to do with that, and she might prevent you from becoming my wife, not wanting you to sacrifice yourself for her daughter's sake. But in that case I could not do anything for Meg..."

Christine sighed. "Three weeks?" she repeated. "So soon?"

Raoul nodded. "For Meg's sake," he explained. "And also to show your teacher that you do not mind. That way we will probably be married before him."

Christine looked to the floor. What did it matter when this farce of a wedding would take place? For Meg's sake she had to go through with it anyway. The sooner it was over and done with, the better.

She nodded. "Yes, Raoul," she whispered. "In three weeks. I will marry you. For Meg's sake and..."

She could not finish. It hurt too much to think about Erik and his betrayal.

"I am the happiest man in the world!" Raoul announced. "I'll go and tell André and Firmin that you are about to become my wife. That way, Meg will be safe!"