September 18th 1892: Raoul
"What do you want?" the Phantom asked, the hostility cleary audible.
I lowered my arm, realising that I didn't have to knock anymore. If I had known they were in there, I'd have just listened at the door. Perhaps I'd have been able to hear something interesting… or revolting.
"I want to see my wife… if you don't mind," I replied icily. "I would have been here sooner, but I checked the bedrooms first. After all the things I heard, I'd have expected you to be in one of them rather than in a room full of books. Well, I suppose that if the two right people come together, the surroundings don't matter."
The words had sounded cold and ironic in my head, but when they left my mouth, they were just as full of pain as I felt on the inside. If I could have taken them back, I'd have done so. How did the Phantom do it? How was it possible that his mere presence made me spill out my feelings, whereas he remained perfectly calm?
"You're wrong, Vicomte, and not for the first time," he said. "Christine and I didn't do any of the things you were obviously thinking of. Not today, anyway." He smirked. "We were just talking. She does have a sense for creating a romantic atmosphere, doesn't she?" He indicated the balcony at the end of the room behind him, but I had barely heard his last sentences anyway.
"How could you lie with a married woman?" I hissed. "How could you?"
"Well, that was rather simple, really," he answered pleasantly. "It wasn't harder than lying with an unmarried woman…"
"That is not what I mean, and you know it," I muttered, feeling increasingly helpless. I was the one asking the questions, and still he was the one in charge of the conversation. I just couldn't understand it.
"Oh, you're trying to appeal to my moral conscience then?" he drawled. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but none such thing exists in me – a fact which you should be aware of by now. You should have known that if I got the chance to have my way with Christine, I'd do so. And believe me, she was more than willing."
My hands clenched into fists at my sides. Nothing had changed between us, nothing at all. He was still as unpleasant as ever, and I was still just as furious at him. I wanted nothing more than to punch him straight in the face to wipe that smirk off it, even if it meant that my hand would hurt again. Yet before I could do as much as raise my arm, a voice came from inside the room.
"What's going on?" Christine called. "Erik, are you still there? And Raoul? What are you doing?"
"Nothing," the Phantom replied merrily. "He'll be with you in a moment, and I'm about to leave. There's no need to worry."
I gave a sigh, abandoing all hopes of hitting him anytime soon. Now that I was aware that Christine knew we were both there, I couldn't do it anymore. It would have made her opinion of me even worse, and that was the last thing I needed at the moment. I threw the Phantom an angry glance, but he merely smiled. I should have known that it needed more than a glance to intimidate a man who could kill with a flick of his lasso.
"Listen," he whispered suddenly, and I was surprised about the urgency in his voice. "There's something you should know before you talk to Christine: I'll leave the country. I don't know how long I'll be gone. It could be a year or more, and I'll only come back to Paris every few months."
A warmth spread through my belly and up to my heart. My face split into a wide smile.
"You're leaving?" I repeated incredulously, hardly daring to believe my luck.
He nodded shortly.
"But I'll still stay in touch with Christine and Philippe," he stressed. "So treat them well. I have my ways of reaching you, even if I'm not around myself."
"Have you just told me this in advance in order to threaten me?" I asked.
"No," he replied. "I wanted to inform you that things will change in the future. I hope that Christine's indecision will change as well, now that I made the decision so much easier for her. But you mustn't pressure her. She's been through enough already."
"I know that," I said hotly, only to swallow the rest of my retort as I looked at him. Somehow, the aggressive atmosphere had vanished during the last sentences, and all that remained was a strange kind of calm. I sensed that it wouldn't have been right to stay aggressive myself. "I'll take good care of Christine and the children," I promised.
For some reason I didn't understand myself, I stretched out my hand. He looked at it warily, as if expecting a trap, then he shook it. We both let go very quickly. The fact that we agreed on something for once didn't mean that we liked each other.
"I have to go now," the Phantom announced abruptly. "And you should better get inside, before Christine calls for you again."
"Are you leaving the country tonight?" I asked, making a feeble attempt to mask my happiness.
"No," he answered. "It'll take a few weeks to prepare everything. I'm sorry to disappoint you," he added, the smirk reappearing on his face. It was still irritating, but not as much as before. Now that I knew that I wouldn't have to endure him for much longer, it was a lot easier to be tolerant.
"Goodbye then," I said as he stepped over the threshold, leaving the door open for me. "And…" I cleared my throat. "…and thank you for looking after my family. Most of the time, you seem to have done all right."
The Phantom opened his mouth, then closed it again, as if he were rethinking what he had wanted to say.
"You're welcome," he muttered as he started to walk down the corridor.
Now I could finally go inside. I closed the door behind me and crossed the room with fast strides. I felt positively elated, as if I were gliding rather than walking. The glorious news and all they implied hit me with full force, and I couldn't help laughing loudly. The Phantom would leave. He'd finally leave Christine and the children alone, and we'd be a proper family again.
The future had looked rather dark before, but now it shone with a new light. Yes, we had lost our house and probably all that had been in it, but suddenly that didn't seem to be very important anymore. I was not a poor man. We'd be able to buy a new house and a lot of new things. And yes, Jacqueline and Jacques were lying in hospital, but I was sure they'd recover. I'd pay for the best doctors and the best care. Life would be good again.
Christine was crying. I could hardly believe my eyes as I walked outside. She was sitting on a chair on the balcony, sobbing into her handkerchief. It was so unlike my own cheerful mood that I needed a moment to understand it. How could she be crying when things were finally getting better?
"Don't cry, love," I whispered softly. "It's fine. I'm with you."
Quickly I settled down on the chair next to hers. At first I thought it best to just mutter words of sympathy and leave her in peace, for I was sure she was merely overcome by emotions because the day's events had been too much for her. Yet when she hadn't stopped after several minutes, I felt the need to do something more.
"What is it?" I asked. "Why are you crying? Is it because of him?"
Christine's face was still buried in her handkerchief, but she inclined her head slightly. I took it as a yes.
"I know it has to be hard for you to see him leave," I said, trying to sound sympathetic rather than gleeful. "He told me about it just now. I know he meant a lot to you. But he won't be gone forever. You know how quickly time passes. Just a few months, then he'll be back." Personally, I had the tiny little hope that he wouldn't come back at all. The world was a dangerous place, as we had all been reminded of just today, and who knew what would happen to him? But of course I didn't share that thought with my wife.
"And we'll be happy together," I went on when she didn't reply. "I'll have a lot of time for the family and also for you. I… I want you to know that I forgive you for what you've done with the Phantom… as long as it doesn't happen again in the future." I chuckled softly. With the Phantom out of the country, how likely was it that it would happen again?
At last, Christine looked up. There were tears caught in her eyelashes, just like I had expected. Yet I hadn't expected her to look this furious.
"You don't understand anything, do you, Raoul?" she whispered. "You can't seriously think that things will be all right again, just because Erik's leaving. Raoul, I… I don't want to be with you anymore."