August 10th 1887: Christine
"You don´t have to do this yourself, Christine.", Raoul told me softly, leaning closer to me on the sofa to wrap an arm around my shoulders. "You´re still a little weak from having given birth so recently, and there are five women applying for the job as our new maid. It could take all morning to choose the most appropriate one. Shouldn´t I simply send a message to Mme.Giry, asking her to have a look at them while you catch up on some sleep? You can´t have had more than two hours last night…"
The last argument was the only one I had to agree with. Apart from the not very surprising fact that Philippe woke me up several times a night I had dreadful nightmares, in which I had to defend my child from all kinds of evil. My mind had created scene after horrible scene, probably in preparation for what was to come. It was true, I wasn´t in the best state possible for finding a good maid.
Still I insisted on doing it. Since that dream I had had the day before yesterday, in which the maid had stolen the baby and brought it to Erik, I had grown very sensitive towards this topic. Although I knew such an obvious attack wasn´t very likely, I couldn´t help being wary. Erik could at least try to get someone he secretly paid into my household to pass on information. And I didn´t want him to know how Philippe looked or where he slept, let alone our whole daily routine. If it hadn´t been for my husband, there wouldn´t even have been a birth announcement in the newspaper.
Poor Raoul! It hadn´t been easy to explain why the baby´s middle name had to be Charles. When we had talked about the subject on the evening after Philippe´s birth he had admitted that he´d have liked the child to have his own name as middle name, just like our daughter, who was called Antoinette Christine. Yet my explanation that Charles had been a very good friend of my father had finally persuaded him.
Personally I´d rather not know who Charles was. If it had been one of Erik´s companions, there was probably blood sticking to the name. But then, I could count myself lucky that the note hadn´t said ´His middle name will be Erik.´. Even with the help of a hundred friends of my father Raoul would have never accepted that name.
Looking at my husband, who still seemed to struggle with himself whether to inform Antoinette Giry, I wondered why I had given in to Erik at all. I sighed soundlessly. The honest answer was that I had been frightened. Hopefully I´d be able to fight Erik in five years´ time, but at the moment I was simply too weak. So I had made this one concession. After all, the middle name wasn´t that important.
"I will do it, and you can´t hold be back.", I told him flatly, throwing him a glance of utmost determination. Raoul ran a hand through his hair, which was a sign that he was about to give in. My features relaxed, and I smiled. "Oh… all right.", he eventually said. "But promise me that you´ll make breaks between the single applicants." I nodded, my smile widening. "Thank you, love.", I whispered.
He still seemed to have some doubts. "If only I could stay here, too!", he exclaimed. "But M.Maron insists on my presence at the meeting." "It´s fine, Raoul.", I muttered reassuringly. "Don´t forget that I also chose Jacqueline, and she´s the best maid we could have found for Antoinette." In this moment Jacques entered the living room. "The coach is ready, M. le Comte.", he announced, ignoring me as usual. The elderly servant had never understood how a member of aristocracy could marry a singer. The concept of love was completely strange to him.
I had to admit that I quite enjoyed making him even more indignant every now and then. Now was such a moment. Instead of the usual farewell I pulled the surprised-looking Raoul closer for a searing kiss. When it ended I whispered: "Don´t come home too late tonight!". "I´ll see what I can do.", he gave back, his cheeks as rosy as a little boy´s. Jacques cleared his throat. "The coach, Monsieur.", he repeated, throwing me a very discreet glance which still clearly expressed that he thought me to be the root of all evil. After another embrace Raoul and I finally managed to say goodbye in a ´decent´ way and he left. Almost at the same second Jacqueline told me that the first applicant was here.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
Two hours and three women later I still hadn´t found the right maid. The first one had been a very nice, but also very shy girl, barely older than sixteen. She had shown an honest interest in Philippe, yet she hadn´t even dared take him out of the cradle. As my questions had grown more direct she had eventually admitted that she hadn´t had any experience with children. Although I had liked the girl, I hadn´t wanted to entrust her with my baby.
The second applicant had been a loud, bossy woman, who had spent more than fifteen minutes telling me what was wrong about my child´s clothing and my way of holding him. Then I had simply sent her away, saying I had decided for someone else. At first I had been quite fond of the idea of having an elderly maid, a gentle woman like Antoinette Giry. Yet this woman had been nothing like her.
The third woman had liked talking very much as well. After a tedious enumeration of all the diseases she had ever suffered from and the conditions under which she couldn´t come to work I had asked myself why she wanted this job. After all, children were well-known for being ill every now and then. The only positive aspect was that none of the applicants seemed to have been sent by Erik. Otherwise they´d have put more effort into getting the job.
Everything was all right with number four, at least at first sight. "And what do your parents do?", I was just asking the woman, who was about my own age. Checking the background was very important for me. She gave me a tentative smile. "My father works in the stables of M. de Fourret.", she replied. "And my mother is a seamstress at the Opéra Populaire." The teacup in my hand began to shake slightly as I desperately tried to maintain my composure. So this was her. Surely Erik had offered the woman a pay rise if her daughter kept him informed about my household. "This should be enough.", I said, considerably more coldly than before. "You´ll receive a letter with my decision within the next days."
The woman left, shaking her head incredulously, in the same moment the last applicant entered the room. By now I had filled my cup again and offered her some tea as well. Glad that I had managed to find the potential intruder I took my time looking at her while she drank. According to the letter she had sent me Marielle Palaux was eighteen years old, but with the white blouse and the grey skirt she looked older than I was. Her hair was black, and the eyes seemed to be almost as dark. She was quite pretty, and I couldn´t help wondering whether having such a girl in the house wouldn´t be a danger.
Yet when we started talking my worries soon vanished. Marielle was happily engaged. She also was an orphan, who had taken care of her brothers and sisters ever since she had been little. Moreover, I liked the way she treated Philippe, with a lot of affection and consideration. Half an hour later, as we had agreed on all the details, I had found our new maid. Shaking her hand I smiled brightly. I had made the right choice.
MarielleDear Aunt Carine!
At last I´ve managed to get a job. I´ll work as a maid for the Countess de Chagny. Her son Philippe is the cutest little thing I´ve ever seen. I can still hardly believe that I´ll be allowed to take care of him.
The Countess is a very friendly woman. It´s a pity I had to lie to her. But what else should I have done? She´d have never employed me if she had known about my connection to him. I can´t even blame her. If she had any idea…
Anyway, at least I´ll earn a lot of money like that. I hope I´ll be able to save enough to visit you soon. After all, you´re all I have left.
Yours, Marielle