Once we both had changed into dry clothing, I made a simple supper for us, hoping that my meager cooking skills would allow me to create passable meals for my beloved. She offered no protest when I set her plate before her, rather she ate hungrily, like a starved dog that's just been given a few meager table scraps. My heart was buffeted with even more guilt and pain. I'd spirited her away to my home and deprived her of food without meaning to.

It was going to take some getting used to, having another human to care for, someone sharing my space who needed things like food and sleep. Things I went without more often than not..

I still held onto hope that she would grow to love me, that she would decide to stay with me, in the end. Though were I to be honest with myself, I knew she would run the moment she saw a chance. And should she try, should she change her mind and decide to perform in my opera… I wouldn't stop her. At least I would have the time spent preparing her for the role to cherish for whatever days remained ahead of me in this life.

After we had both finished eating, she retired to the bedroom, where she curled up and fell asleep almost immediately. I found myself longing to lie down beside her- not to touch her, only to be near her. I didn't want to frighten her, however, and it would be most improper for the two of us to share a bed. I stood at the edge of the lake for a long time, listening to Christine snoring softly behind me, before I finally stripped down to just my pants and my mask and I slipped into the murky water once more to go and flip my boat and guide it back to my home.

I had to give Christine some credit. She had made it nearly a quarter of the way across before she'd lost her balance. I had no doubt she probably could've succeeded if her dress hadn't been quite so bulky. That had surely been her downfall.

I would have to procure a new oar. There was no telling where the one she'd been using had rolled, and I wasn't a strong enough swimmer to scour the bottom of the lake for it. But at least the boat was undamaged. Perhaps in a few days I could steal away and leave Christine alone so I could perhaps go and fetch her some chocolates and perhaps a pretty new dress as well as a few necessities I'd been neglecting in preparation for my plan. I'd thought of nothing but taking her as my own for weeks, and now that I had her, I was realizing it wasn't going to be easy to keep her.

I would have to check on the progress of my opera as well, though I was certain that would be more of a feat than the rest of my errands. The viscomte- and my bumbling managers- no doubt had a detail searching for me day and night. Slipping in to observe would be more difficult than before, but not impossible. They would never catch me.

Once my boat was pulled ashore and I was once again out of the water and working to dry myself off, I finally allowed myself to lower my guard. If we were to expect any unwanted guests, we would hear them splashing long before they were a threat, and I could dispatch with them accordingly.

I found it difficult to justify even occupying the same room as her while she slept, it felt an awful violation of her privacy, but the bedroom retained heat far better than the front room or the kitchen, and so I made a bed out of a few cushions and a bolt of red velvet and I covered myself with my cape. I would wake long before she did, anyway. She would have no knowledge of my imposing presence while she slept.