The next morning I awoke to find Elise sleeping soundly in my bed. She looked so comfortable; I couldn't bear to wake her. As quietly as possible, I grabbed some clothes from my bureau and dressed quickly in my bathroom. I did not want her to get in any trouble for not reporting to Dorice, the head maid, so I dashed downstairs to find the cranky old woman.
I found Dorice downstairs in the living room cleaning up the mess Elise and I had made the night before.
"Good morning, Dorice," I said brightly.
"Good morning, Monsieur," she replied, giving me a queer look as she held up the two small Port glasses.
"Ah, yes, the wine. I'm afraid I invited an old friend of mine over last night after the staff was off duty and we had a bit too much to drink."
"Oh?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at me.
"Yes my old friend Claude, he went home rather belligerent, I hope me made it all right," I lied, laughing nervously.
My answer must have sufficed, for she huffily changed the subject.
"Well, in case you have not noticed, we are a bit short-staffed this morning. This mess would have been cleaned up by now had Elise reported in."
"Yes, Elise, I'm afraid that was my doing. I was up quite early and found her in the kitchen and asked her to run a few errands for me since I don't feel one hundred percent today. I may have had a tad too much wine. I hope you don't mind."
"Oh…" Dorice paused for a moment, clearly caught off-guard by story. "Well, I do wish you would have consulted me first. I could have sent someone more capable. Elise is, shall we say, a bit flighty. She generally does good work, but sometimes I think her head is in the clouds."
"I am quite certain that she will be able to handle everything," I assured Dorice. "Now I must be getting upstairs. I have a bit of a headache and would not like to be disturbed."
"As you wish, Monsieur de Chagny," Dorice replied, giving me a small curtsy.
Before I headed upstairs, I snuck in to the laundry room to grab Elise a fresh uniform. I peeked out into the hallway and once I determined that the coast was clear, I rushed back upstairs to my bedroom. Elise was still asleep, so I carefully placed the clean clothes at the edge of the bed, and sat down in my armchair with a book.
I had read about ten pages when I was interrupted by a loud crash. I lowered the book and saw Elise crumpled in a heap on the floor.
"Ouch," she cried, sitting up. "What the…how?" She looked around the room and as soon as she spotted me in the chair and frantically pulled a blanket over her chest.
"Oh please tell me I didn't do anything stupid," she moaned, and she climbed off the floor and sat nervously on the edge of the bed. "We didn't…" she asked, gesturing at the bed.
"No, nothing at all happened," I guaranteed her. "You had a little too much wine and I did not want Pauline to report you so I took you upstairs to sleep and -"
"Yes but what about Dorice?" she interrupted in a panic. "She will have my head when she finds me! I am supposed to report to her at nine o'clock every morning!"
"It's all right; I've taken care of everything. I spoke to Dorice and I told her that I found you early this morning and asked you to run some errands for me since I am not feeling well. It would not be right for you to get trouble on account of me. It was nice having someone to talk to."
A look of relief spread across Elise's face. She flopped backwards onto the bed and sighed.
"I hope I didn't do or say anything to make myself look like a complete idiot," she said, rubbing her sleepy eyes.
"You laughed a lot," I replied.
"That's what happens when I have wine! Matthew once told me – Matthew! I told you all about him, didn't I?"
"Yes."
"I remember now, I told you how he keeps pestering me and then I said…oh…please forgive me." She sat up and looked me dead in the eye. "I hope you don't think that I was implying anything when I said you could be my lover. I only meant it as a joke," she said solemnly.
"I wouldn't have taken it any other way. Besides, you may have something there. What if the next time Matthew shows up we put on a little show for him? You know, I could pretend to be your beau. Perhaps then he might leave you alone."
"Maybe that would work," she said, her eyes lighting up. "Do you think it would really discourage him? It would be fun to at least try."
"I'd be willing to give it a shot if you are. And I want to assure you I have no underlying motives, either. I would simply like to help out my new friend."
"Your new friend…wow, it's amazing how insomnia and a bottle of wine can bring people together!" she laughed.
"You're right," I said. "I think we both needed someone to talk to."
"I know I did. I'm glad I've gotten to know you. You're not anything like people say, you know. A lot of people seem to think you're this stuck-up rich guy that thinks he's better than everyone else. Just for the record, I've never thought that. I think you've been kind of misunderstood, and you're a great guy. No snobby man I know would have ever had wine with the staff, and if he did, I would have ended up being taken advantage of and without a job the next day."
"I'm glad at least someone likes me for who I am. So anyway, when is Matthew due to visit you?"
"Hmm, I think he said something about stopping by this evening. Tonight is my night off, so I'm sure he's going to try to take me out."
"Well then, as soon as you get off duty I want you to change into your finest dress and meet me downstairs. We shall show Matthew that you are unavailable, to him anyway, and then I shall take my new friend out for a fine meal."
"That sounds wonderful but promise me one thing, Raoul."
"What's that?" I asked.
"Don't let me drink too much wine again."