Chapter 15: Trials And Tribulations
Hope woke as the sun shone through her window and she smiled softly, raising from her bed and got ready before noticing a long stemmed pink rose with a note,
"Sorry for my forwardness but will you marry me? Signed Erik" Hope read before giggling with a roll of her eyes as she noticed the diamond ring that sat upon the rose's stem and she removed it carefully and slid it onto her finger with a smile,
"Do you like it?" Erik asked making her turn with a fright but she smiled brightly,
"It's beautiful. Thank you" she said gently,
"I was kidding you know? You didn't have to go out and buy me a ring" she told him gently and Erik chuckled,
"Don't worry, I didn't buy it. I made it by carving the diamond from a cutting from the Persian diamond and the band was formed from a cog from one of my old music boxes" he explained causing Hope to smile softly,
"Then I love it all the more. I can't believe you took a cutting from the Persian diamond. You only ever take cuttings from it in emergencies" she reminded him and Erik hugged her,
"It is from our first adventure together my dear friend. It is only fitting that it sitting upon the ring of 'my wife'" he teased causing Hope to giggle as she hugged him back,
"Do you really think we can fool them into believing I'm your wife for 7 weeks?" she asked slightly concerned but Erik smiled reassuringly,
"Don't worry. It will be fine" he told her but they were both unaware that Vicomte had been listening outside the door.
Raoul smiled as Christine sat at the piano,
"You were right, Christine. It is that girl, Hope from the opera house" he announced,
"How do you know?" she asked,
"She mentioned the diamond we failed to retrieve the last time we met her... The question is: Where is the phantom?" he asked,
"Perhaps Mister Y is the phantom. At the docks, Hope did call him Erik" Christine pointed out and Raoul rolled his eyes,
"Do not be foolish, Christine. Did you see a disfigurement upon Mister Y's face? No you foolish woman! Therefore it cannot be him" he scolded,
"But Mister Y is obviously a friend of the Phantom otherwise our employer would not have possession of the diamond but it is not matter for if the phantom is hiding here then he will not be able to resist staying away from you my darling wife" he reminded her causing Christine to smile,
"You forget my dear husband. I am of no use to the phantom since my singing voice vanished" she reminded him but Raoul gave a cunning smirk,
"You told me that your singing voice was fine before that servant girl gave you that calming herbal draft. If you can befriend her and convince her to return your voice somehow... Then the phantom will surely be unable to resist coming to see you" he told her but Christine frowned,
"She may have been a servant girl but she is not foolish. She would never fall for it" she told him and Raoul smirked,
"Then perhaps it is not you whom needs to convince her" he said smugly.
Can Raoul and Christine manipulate Hope into returning Christine's voice so that they can find the Persian Diamond's hiding place?
We'll find out in the next chapter!
Kind Regards,
TheAuthor1996