Chapter Twenty-Seven: Betrayal
Raoul was growing restless.
He had spent the last two weeks doing what he normally did - charming the village girls.
But he couldn't stop wondering when Christine would finally return.
Gustave was no doubt long gone.
He wasn't going to return to bother Raoul, and when Christine came back from wherever it was she'd run off to, the path to their marriage would be clear.
'Yes, everything is all working out perfectly,' Raoul thought to himself as he made his way toward the tavern for his evening dose of adoration and grog.
However when he swung open the tavern doors, he was met with quite the unexpected sight.
Gustave Daaé was surrounded by the usual tavern-goers, including Armand the cobbler and Father Mansart.
Other than a red nose, he seemed no worse for the wear, and it was clear from the daggers that the villagers were shooting at Raoul that he had felt well enough after his ordeal to tell them all about what had happened.
"Vicomte," Armand said, his voice serious.
"Did you try to kill Gustave?"
Taking a quick glance around the room, Raoul knew he had very few options.
He could admit to it, but he'd really rather not.
Or he could go with his usual answer - deny, deny, deny.
Plastering a warm smile on his face, he walked quickly to Gustave, who had his arms crossed.
"Oh, Monsieur Daaé," he began.
"Thank heavens! I've spent the past two weeks trying to find you! What were you thinking, running off into the forest in your condition?"
As his words bounced around the room, the villagers who had gathered shuffled, unsure of who to believe.
"What?" Gustave sputtered, shaking his head in disbelief.
"No, you tried to kill me! You left me for the wolves!"
Raoul put a hand to his chest, as though Gustave's words had physically hurt him.
"Wolves? What are you talking about?" he asked.
He looked at the villagers and rolled his eyes, as if to say, "Are we really going back down this road again? Are you really going to believe him over me?"
He tried not to smile smugly when the majority of them returned his eye roll.
"The wolves near the monster's castle!" Gustave answered, his voice rising and adding to his manic appearance.
"That's right," Raoul said condescendingly.
"There's a monster with a castle full of talking objects that somehow none of us have ever seen?"
Gustave hesitated.
Looking around the room, he saw that everyone was waiting for his answer.
"Well...yes," he finally said.
Raoul now had Gustave and everyone else right where he wanted them.
Slowly, he shook his head.
"It's one thing to rave about your delusions, my friend," he chided.
"It's another to accuse me, a nobleman, of attempted murder."
To his surprise, it was Father Mansart, not Gustave, who spoke up.
The priest stepped in front of Gustave defensively.
Then he looked at the gathered crowd.
"Listen to me, all of you!" he pleaded.
"This is Gustave, our neighbor. Our friend. He is a good man."
Raoul tried not to smile.
He could not have set the situation up for the final blow better if he had tried.
"Are you suggesting that I am not?" he asked, sounding offended.
Who is it that makes sure you and your families don't starve to death during the winter months?"
His words, like an arrow shot from a hunter's bow, struck home.
The villagers murmured to each other, their growing doubt in Gustave clear.
"Gustave," Armand the cobbler said, turning to look at the old man.
"Do you have any proof of what you're saying?"
"Ask Vivienne!" he replied, desperately trying to keep the room with him.
"She rescued me!"
Turning, he pointed to the far corner of the tavern where the old beggar woman had been watching everything silently.
Feeling everyone's eyes on her, Vivienne cowered and pulled her tattered hood tighter around her face.
Raoul raised an eyebrow.
"You'd hang your accusations on the testimony of a filthy beggar woman?" he laughed in derision.
Realizing that that might not have been the best of moves, Gustave's face fell and a smirk tugged at the corners of Raoul's mouth.
He had won.
"Monsieur Daaé, it pains me to say this," he said smoothly, "but you've become a danger to yourself and to others. You need help, my friend. A place to heal your troubled mind..."
He walked over and placed one hand on Gustave's shoulder, squeezing hard.
"Everything's going to be fine."
But while his words were nice, his tone was as cold as ice.
Gustave gulped.
He knew, without a doubt, that nothing was going to be fine.
Nothing at all.
A/N: Please review to unlock Chapter Twenty-Eight...