Author's Note:
Dear Readers,
I've been reading some other books on here and noticed that many of the authors respond to their reviewers in the next chapter. I may not do it all the time but I would like to try. I really do want to show how much I appreciate all of you!
sarahandmarquis
MortishaAddams: Thank you so much for your kind review! I have actually been worried that it wasn't much like Erik so your comment really encouraged me!
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Chapter 8:
"Well, how do I look?" Candela asked as she turned in a small circle in front of Erik who was seated on the settee in the parlor. "Not too horrible, I hope?" A light smile teased her mouth and he merely responded with a shrug.
"I've seen worse." The irritable Phantom replied, giving her attire no more than a passing glance. For the whole evening, he had been unexplainably bad tempered and Candela attributed it to a waning of his inspiration. As soon as it bottomed out and began to rise again, he would return to his almost genial self again.
"Quite a compliment out of you." She rolled her eyes and breezed out of his presence to find her white gloves and make sure she was completely ready to go out for the evening. As she passed by the mirror in her room, she paused and turned to look at herself, smiling and turning so she might see her whole form.
"Candela, you don't look too bad." She remarked, brushing her fingers over the purple velvet of her skirts before tugging on her gloves and flexing her hands in them. They were, like the entire ensemble, new items for her. Even on her outing as a middle class gentleman's wife, she kept the least amount of underclothing as possible. Yet, to be considered proper enough to attend an Opera, everything was required from the chemise to the garniture (of which the later, she had reduced as much as politely possible).
With a glowing smile, she scooped up her fan and strode from the room, making her back into the parlor and towards the front door. Glancing around, she found herself once again alone as the Phantom seemed to have made his escape into his room.
With a shrug, she gathered her skirts about her and made her way quickly to the surface where she called a cab to take her the last little ways to the steps. One must put on a good show after all.
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As the Marquis's carriage rolled to a halt, his servant appeared beside the door and folded down the steps so he could disembark smoothly. Glancing about, he saw a lovely lady in white and purple standing beside one of the gargoyles.
"Mademoiselle de la Vega." He whispered to himself as he approached the dark haired beauty and addressed her to her face. The girl turned to face him and a smile spread across her face.
"Good evening, Marquis de Bonnaire." She dropped a polite curtsy as he bowed to her and then offered his arm.
"And, the same to you as well. Shall we go in?" Her courteous nod and genteel way of accepting his arm and walking beside him caused him to, for several moments, consider if she was one of the untitled nobles. Ever since the French Revolution, titles had, to some degree, gone by the wayside, families only keeping them for pride's sake.
After presenting their tickets to the doorman, they were, for the most part, unnoticed through the throngs of people chatting in the Grand Foyer. Jules allowed the young lady a moment to admire her surrounding as she seemed quite enamored with the beauty of the place. The Palais Garnier had always been one of the crowning jewels of Paris and it was for a reason.
Despite having lived beneath the mighty building, Candela had never see the place above the surface. The richly pained floors, gold-covered statues, and the intricate walls décor was all pleasantly assaulting to her eyes. Capped with the sweeping staircase leading away from her and the Marquis, it was a sight well worth the seeing.
"It's so beautiful!" She exclaimed, turning to face her escort and smiling widely at him for the first time since their arrival. The Marquis reveled a moment in the light of her smile before guiding her towards the staircase.
"It is. But, wait until you see the Salle. The Grand Escalier and Foyer will seem nothing." Eager to view something that could be more beautiful than that which she had already beheld, Candela happily walked beside him as they ascended the elegant staircase.
Upon arriving at the top, they were escorted by an older woman, matronly and dressed in black, not possessing more than two teeth in her head, to their box. Candela happened to glance upward and saw a gold number five nailed to the door.
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"Did you enjoy yourself?" Jules asked as the curtain closed on the final scene and people began to file out while the pair of them remained seated. Candela responded with a dip of her head before she drained the last drops from her cup of tea.
"Yes, very much." She replied as she rose. "What time is it?" The Marquis removed the gilded pocket watch from his pocket and flicked the cover open.
"Eleven o'clock. I was hoping, since it is still rather early, if you might accompany me to a nearby restaurant for a late supper?" He rose and gave her a winning smile in hopes she might agree to the outing.
Candela hesitated for a moment, wondering if such an action was wise considering their station difference and relationship but, even after such thoughts, she could find no reason to say no. The Phantom hadn't given her a particular time to return and it wasn't so late.
"That sounds very nice." She said as he gently took her arm and the pair left the Opera House towards the end of the migration of the Parisian nobility from the grand structure. As it turned out, he was correct ad the restaurant was quite close and quite quaint in its manners.
Once they were seated and had ordered their meal, the Marquis folded his hands in front of him and admired the lovely woman before him. The white and purple of her elegant gown hardly suited her brown features yet, she was one of the loveliest sights he had seen all evening. Her dark eyes were smiling, holding secrets he found himself wishing to know.
"Tell me about yourself," he blurted out, moments afterward, reprimanding himself for his boldness. He, as a middle-aged gentleman should have long ago learned proper manners and courtesy around a lady but, around this woman, he felt like a boy again, young and impetuous. As soon as the words registered with her, he saw the surprise in her eyes.
"There's very little to know, Señor. My life has been a rather uneventful one." She replied, a small smile tugging at the edges of her mouth.
"I know you have an uncle and you are from Spain but you haven't told me anything else. Tell me about your parents? Or your education?" He asked, anxious to learn more about this woman who captivated his mind so much.
"Ah!" Candela replied as she fought to think of responses that would mostly mildly twist the truth of her own tale. "I was born in Spain, eighteen years ago to a woman of modest means. I never met my father; mother said he died before I was born in an accident, leaving her with a comfortable income that would take care of her for the rest of her life and mine. She died of consumption when I was thirteen and I went to live with my uncle here in Paris." Her eyes damped at the memory of her mother, a woman who spent many years trying to be everything for her daughter while keeping food on the table and a roof over her head.
Oh! There were times she hated her father for leaving her mother with a child! But, it had happened and she had been born. If she were to ever find the man who impregnated her mother, she wouldn't know whether to hate him or love him.
"My learning was mostly at home, my mother taught me watch she could and hired a tutor for the rest." She didn't bother to include that she had taught herself since her mother's passing. Anything she wanted to know, she had acquired from books.
"Was it quite thorough?" Jules asked as their meals arrived, steaming hot and smelling wonderful. While obviously part of the middle-class and therefore granted little chance at the education of the nobility, the Spanish maiden appeared to a woman well versed in many subjects.
"Quite. My mother was a good teacher and I love to read." Candela shuddered a moment, recalling the other things she had learned from her mother. Before her escape to France, it had been expected that she would follow in the footsteps of her mother and work in the cantina, so part of the education had be devoted to the tasks involving a barmaid's life. Those were lessons she was slowly purging from her mind.
The Marquis watched Candela's face shift for a moment before returning back to her cheery smile as they began to eat. Deciding to change the subject from herself, Candela finished her bite and said to the Marquis,
"Tell me about you."
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"Erik, relax. It's not so late. She'll be home soon." Nadir said as he flipped through the previous week's newspaper while his friend paced back and forth in front of the fire. Erik's distain and distrust of nobility were well-known and they were currently clouding his judgement in regards to where his maid was.
"I don't like it! The opera should have ended at eleven. It's twelve and she's not home yet."
"No doubt he took her out for dinner. I know of the Marquis de Bonnaire and he is a gentleman. Despite having been friends with Phillippe de Chagny, he remained polite and respectful." The tales of the former Comte's love escapades were all over the Opera House though, towards the end of his life, he had remained faithful, for the most part, to La Sorelli.
"Erik still doesn't like it."
"Of course you don't. You are a very possessive character. She's young and has a life to live. Including being escorted to operas by fine gentleman. Your maid is a very sensible lady and will return home soon intact." Erik's only reply was a grunt.
The maid had become, over the past few months, the best thing to ever enter his life and while he assured himself he held nothing more than surface feelings (his heart had been quite dead since the departure of his beloved) for the girl, they were there nevertheless. He wanted to protect her. If the Marquis proved himself worthy this time, then, he would allow her to see him. The thought of her continuing a relationship with the nobleman stung but he ignored it.
While each of the two men were lost in thought, the front door opened and the woman in question breezed in. One look in her eyes confirmed to both Erik and Nadir that the evening had been success.
"Oh! That was the best evening of my life! I never knew nobility could be interesting to talk to. The opera was wonderful; he seems to be reasonably knowledgeable about music. Afterwards, we went to a small restaurant and talked for nearly an hour." She gasped for breath as she breathed for the first time since she had walked in.
"But, I'm tired so I believe I will go on to bed. Goodnight, all!" With a wave, the slightly mad girl swished and clicked her way down the hall to her bedroom, leaving Erik and Nadir with jaws slightly ajar.
"Did she drink something?" The Phantom muttered, frowning towards where the young lady had disappeared.
"Who knows." Was Nadir's only reply.