Chapter Twelve: Disgraced, Rejected, Publically Humiliated...
Raoul still couldn't believe it.
He had been rejected.
Coldly, flatly, completely rejected.
He was a Vicomte, a proud member of la noblesse!
All he had to do was wave a hundred or so francs or tell someone his name and he would have anything he desired.
And now this commoner, this peasant girl, this nobody, for all intents and purposes, had denied him?
Who did she think she was?
Nobody said no to the Vicomte de Chagny!
And to think he had even been willing to give his name to the little upstart.
Maybe he'd make her his whore instead.
Yes, that would teach the bitch her place...
Just then, the door to the tavern flew open.
Gustave stood in the doorway.
His eyes were wild and his clothing was torn.
He grabbed onto the doorjamb as a cough wracked his body.
"Help!" he gasped out frantically when the coughing had subsided.
"Somebody help me! We have to go...not a minute to lose..."
As he spoke, Gustave moved further into the tavern, seeking out the warmth of the blazing fire that roared in the hearth.
Seeing how disheveled the man was, the innkeeper tried to calm him.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa..." he said. "Slow down, there, Gustave..."
But Gustave shook his head frantically.
"He's got Christine, he's got Christine locked up in a dungeon!"
Raoul sat up straighter, his interest piqued.
"Who's got her?" the innkeeper urged.
"A demon!" Gustave rasped. "A hideous, corpselike demon!"
Shocked by the man's words, the whole tavern went silent...for a moment.
And then Armand the cobbler held up his mug and smiled.
"What are you putting in this stuff?" he asked, breaking the silence.
The innkeeper shook his head.
"Don't look at me!" he retorted. "He just got here!"
Down at the other end of the counter, a vagrant who hadn't just gotten there looked up.
The man was even more disheveled than Gustave and his eyes were cloudy, his cheeks weathered.
He glanced at Gustave and nodded, as though he and Gustave were in on it together.
"What they don't tell you is that there used to be a castle, and we don't remember any of it!" he chortled.
Instantly, the tavern filled with laughter.
"No, no, no!" Gustave protested.
"He could be right! My daughter's life is in danger, why are you laughing?
For God's sake, men, this is no joke!
His castle is hidden deep in the woods! It's already winter there!"
"Winter? In the middle of June?" Beatrice, the innkeeper's wife scoffed. "Surely you jest!"
"But it's true!" Gustave insisted, looking around at the many disbelieving faces.
"The monster is real! I have seen him with my own eyes! My daughter is his prisoner at this very moment! Will no one help me?"
Sitting in his chair, Raoul stayed silent.
Christine's father was an odd man.
He always had been, from what he'd heard from the local grapevine.
But as the man continued to beg, an idea began to form in the back of Raoul's mind, an idea that might just get him exactly what he wanted.
Quickly, he got to his feet.
"I'll help you, Monsieur Daaé!"
Gustave rushed over and fell to his knees.
"Oh, thank you, Vicomte!" he choked out gratefully. "Thank you!"
"Don't thank me, Monsieur," Raoul replied shortly, pulling the old man to his feet.
"Just lead me to the castle!"
Still mumbling his thanks, Gustave headed out of the tavern, Raoul fighting to hide a satisfied smirk as he followed close behind.
If he was right, which he usually was, he had just found a way to make Christine marry him after all...
A/N: Please review to unlock Chapter Thirteen...