Author's Note:

Dear Readers,

In this chapter, I have used the name of an English Duke. I am not English nor am I familiar with English nobility. I googled "English Dukes" and liked the name. So, pardon me if I have misused it. I meant not offense. Please enjoy this chapter! :)

sarahandmarquis

Chapter 11:

Stalking down the steps, Candela scanned the street and found the black cab, drawn by a flighty horse and driven by a shy-looking lad. Giving him a kindly smile, she hurried towards the hansom and handed him a few coins.

"In a moment, my companion will be here. Have you been told where to take us?" The boy bobbed his head.

"Yes, Ma'am. The Rue Scribe street next to the Opera House and I am to drop you off there and not look back." Candela nodded and glanced behind her at the sound of the door flying opening and boots striking the pavement.

"You are very right. I trust you have been paid enough for your silence?" A light batting of her eyes had him instantly agreeing and even choosing to ignore the dark companion as he climbed into the carriage before anyone could get a good look at his face.

After a quick smile to the driver, Candela scrambled into the cab and tapped on the roof to let him know they were ready to depart. Glancing upward at her riding partner, she scowled at him and he answered with a snarl.

"No need to get so upset over it all. You act as if I was doing something completely scandalous. I was having dinner with a friend after an afternoon with my suitor." His flinch at her mentioning the Marquis didn't go unnoticed by the maid and the movement puzzled her exceedingly. Only for a moment did it cross her mind that he might have become possessive of her.

"You should have told me."

"How? I needed to speak with Nadir immediately."

"About what? What could have been more important than keeping your promises?" Candela's mouth opened in preparation for the biting response that her mind would create but she found none lurking in the dark recesses of her brain. A moment passed before her façade crumpled and she lowered her proudly held head.

"The proper answer is nothing but I suppose even the best of people are prone to forgetfulness. I had much on my mind when I left the park. I'll try not to forget again, Signor Phantom. I didn't know that you would even notice my absence, let alone be angry over it."

Erik's fury had cooled with the lack of sufficient fuel and her subdued behavior had silenced him for a moment, only to have her last sentence rouse him into a righteous temper. How could she think that he wouldn't feel when she was gone! Now she was once more safe within his grasp, he had to struggle with the cold knife of terror in his gut.

She would leave.

Her young man would court her and sweep her off her feet. Even if she didn't love him now, she would one day. And, when she did, she would wed him and she would leave. A life of solitude no longer appealed to him as it had before. Erik found himself softened after a year's worth of companionship.

"Don't assume Erik ignores your existence in his house." He chewed on his bottom lip beneath the mask before reaching forward and ever so gently tilting her face to look at him. "He's been alone all his life. He knows when he is alone once more." She nodded slowly and closed her eyes, resting her head against the cab's seat and sighing quietly.

"What disturbed you so that you forgot? Has something gone wrong?" If her young man had done anything to harm her, Marquis though he was he would meet a swift end.

"The Marquis asked to speak with my uncle about courting me. It scared me because I don't have an uncle to show him. I went to Nadir to ask him and he volunteered to play him. So, that problem is solved."

Courting. He hadn't been far off. Within a year, she would likely be engaged and in less than two, married. The pretty girl who had served him loyally as his housekeeper wouldn't be "his" girl any longer but instead the girl of another man.

Of course, he would never be allowed to see her again. She would have her own life to lead, her own family to raise, her own husband to attend to. there would be no time in her life for an aging, sentimental freak.

As the carriage rattled to a stop, Erik was jolted from his thoughts, his color rising beneath the mask as Candela seemed to have noticed his mental vacancy. Climbing out behind her, he led her down the alleyway and, after stealing a quick glance behind him to be sure that the cabby hadn't waited to see where the pair would vanish too, opened the little door.

"In, quickly." Erik ordered, pleased when she obeyed him without hesitation. After lighting the lantern, he turned to look at the Spaniard and hesitated for a moment, disliking the lure those innocent dark eyes intentionally held.

She wasn't as ugly as he had originally thought.

E-OC

Jules settled into his office chair and smiled as he sorted through the daily correspondence. Letters from business partners, bills, and, at the bottom of the stack, a note from his cousin. Grinning, he snatched up his letter opener and slit the envelope, withdrawing the single piece of paper, covered in messy writing.

"You never did learn, did you, Reine?" Chuckling, he opened the note and skimmed through.

Dearest Cousin,

I trust you are well and happily waiting my soon arrival in Paris. It has been so long since we've seen either other! William is looking forward to seeing his 'uncle' so very much. You won't believe how big the boy has grown in the past few years. Nearly as tall as me, though, I suppose that isn't saying much after all.

He's so much like the Duke. It took me several hours to get him to accept that his horse wouldn't be coming with him and that you would have access to a horse for him to ride. He is an expert horseman even at his tender age. I tried not to raise his hopes too much that you would teach him how to fence but, if it wouldn't be too much of a problem, I ask that you would. It would make him so happy!

But, enough about my family, I insist when I arrive that I meet this woman that the papers won't shut up about. I thought you'd never find another girl after the Spanish tavern girl of so many years ago. You sent me dozens of letters about how beautiful and sweet she was. I believe you called her Tina. Such a pretty nickname!

Such fond memories. I do hope you're not looking for this Spaniard to be just like her. She was long gone years ago, Jules. Oh, well, I mustn't continue to prattle. My space on the paper is dwindling and I will see you soon.

With love,

Marie Reine, Duchess of St. Albans

After reading the closing remarks, the Marquis set aside the letter and sighed quietly. One of the trials of seeing his cousin was her continual remembering of Tina, a Spanish maiden he had met twenty years previously.

She had been the first love of his life but, as the lesser of the lovers, he had failed to the Comte. He played her for all she was worth, leaving her convinced he loved her. The faux love of Comte had blinded her to the true love of a Marquis.

Opening a drawer, he pressed a button which revealed a hidden compartment. Inside lay a lock of black hair safely tucked between two glass sheets, a handkerchief with the initials V.V. stitched into the white cloth, and a picture of a lovely lady dark haired and dark eyes, smiling up at the Marquis.

"Oh, my love…" He whispered. "You'd like Candela. She is a lot like you but different. As beautiful. As sweet. As smart. I don't know her very well but I do love her. I haven't forgotten you, just moved on. I will always love you. Even if our love was forbidden."

Planting a soft kiss on the picture, he tucked it back away and returned to his business affairs, smiling through the tears in his eyes.

E-OC

"Tea." Candela announced firmly, as she set the tray down on the coffee table and handed Erik a cup. "Strong Russian as is your favorite." Adding sugar and cream to hers, she settled down opposite him and glanced up at the phantom.

"So, the Marquis wishes to court you?" The maid nodded and sipped on her tea before pursing her lips and adding more sugar.

"Yes, apparently, he is quite interested in me." Absently, Erik nodded.

"I see. And, you will allow him?"

"Of course, I can't live here forever, Signor Phantom. I don't want to be a servant for all my life. I want a future." A growl began in the throat of the Phantom but he quickly hushed it. She might be his housekeeper but he didn't own her. A year previously, he had tried to own a woman and it had ended in disaster.

Both he and her had been destroyed emotionally.

"A future that isn't down here."

"Or anywhere." Candela confirmed. "The Marquis de Bonnaire is my ticket out of servanthood. I will become something more than my mother ever was. She lived and died in a cantina as a maid. She had a child out of wedlock. I don't want that for myself. I saw what it did to her." Candela looked downward, closing her eyes.

Erik twisted his fingers together, finding the squeaking noise of rubbing leather fascinating at that moment. There was nothing left in life for him but she wasn't yet twenty. What did his happiness matter? Though it horrified his mind and cut his heart, he silently agreed to let her go.

He might have been a fool once but not twice.

But, why did it hurt so much?

Candela sighed and finished off her tea before refilling her glance and noting his had barely dropped level. Silence was defending between the pair as they both sipped on their tea, unsure where to go on from their thoughts.

A half hour later, the maid finally spoke up,

"Did you hear about the Opera House?" She inquired, glancing upward at her employer.

"What about the Opera House?"

"That the current managers are looking for new ones. Apparently, your lack is just as stressful as your presence." To this, the Opera Ghost scoffed and rose from his seat, setting aside the half-empty cup of tea.

"They never got over the Phantom." He murmured and beelined for the door, desiring to escape the awkward situation and sort out his thoughts.

"I want you to become the manager." Candela spoke quickly, hoping her words would halt him in his tracks. They did.

Erik spun to face her, his stance as if she had struck him across the face. Perhaps she had but it made little difference to her at that moment. One day she would be gone and she refused to allow the Phantom to live a life with no one and nothing. A man needed work, that she was convinced. He would be a perfect manager.

"Erik can't become a manager! He can't show his face above ground unless it is after dark and then, only in the shadows. You're mad, girl. Mad!" Candela shrugged and giggled quietly.

"That's nothing new. But, please listen to me. You have been a manager behind the scenes, working what you wanted through blackmail and threats. Wouldn't it be easier to do it yourself? Besides, it would give you something to do with your life. You're going to waste away down here with nothing to do. I want you to take care of yourself. If you have a purpose, perhaps you will."

Erik gazed into her eyes, kindness and friendship pouring from every cell of the dark irises. His heart trembled within his chest. She cared. She might not love him but she cared. Someone cared about him. Cared about his future and what would happen to him when she was gone.

She wanted what she thought was the best for him.

Yet, she was wrong. So very, very wrong.

"Erik cannot be a manager. That is the end of this discussion." Spinning on his heels, he strode from the room, leaving his maid to clean the house by herself while he poured out his tumultuous emotions on the ever-understanding pipe organ.