Chapter 23-Meeting The Vicomte
Late Friday morning Emilie and Jean-Claude stood outside the property of Lord and Lady de Chagny. They could see the chateau in the distance and Jean-Claude said chuckling,
"That's a long walk to the front door." Emilie smiled and elbowed him in the ribs, it was a warm day and she didn't want to look too disheveled by the time she reached the front door.
"Come on." She said starting to walk up the graveled path. Jean-Claude sighed and followed behind. As they continued to walk, Emilie remained silent. She felt the nervousness creeping into her stomach and making her feel nauseous. Jean-Claude took notice and grabbed her hand and squeezed it silently reassuring her.
When they finally reached the front door of the very large chateau, there was a bell that indicated that they should ring it. Emilie stood frozen as if she didn't know what to do and Jean-Claude pushed the bell. After what seemed like years, the door opened and a stately older man answered the door and asked,
"How may I be of service to you?" Emilie still stood frozen. Jean-Claude smiled and gave her a nudge and she started talking.
"We are here to see Lord de Chagny." The man looked at her strangely and asked,
"Do you have an appointment?" Her smile faded and she replied,
"No, not really Monsieur."
"Well Mademoiselle, the Lord cannot have unexpected visitors." She started to frown and Jean-Claude spoke up,
"Please, Monsieur, tell him that Christine Daae's daughter is here to see him. I'm sure he won't reject her then. Please." The butler looked back at Emilie as her eyes had fallen to the ground in disappointment. He opened the door and led them into a very large foyer filled with flowers and a large staircase that looked as if it belonged in her father's opera house.
"Wait here and let me ask him if he will see you." The butler took off through a doorway underneath the staircase and Emile and Jean-Claude looked around the large room.
"Wow, and I thought your house was huge." Jean-Claude said to her.
"To think my mother would have lived here." Emilie said quietly looking around as well. They remained quiet as her nervousness became unbearable. The same butler finally returned and said,
"Lord de Chagny will see you in the library. I will show you the way." Emilie gave a small and excited smile to Jean-Claude as they followed the butler through the same doorway underneath the staircase. Walking through a grand hallway and admiring the rooms and historical architecture, they finally arrived at a large room filled with dozens of books. The vicomte was sitting on a small sofa in front of a fireplace and stood up when Emilie and Jean-Claude entered the room. The Vicomte looked at his butler and said,
"Please bring us some tea Martin."
"Oui Monsieur." The butler replied leaving the room. The Vicomte walked over to his guests, his fair hair was gelled back and his blue eyes smiled at his guests. Taking Emilie's hand he said,
"You look just like your mother, what is your name?" She smiled thinking about her mother and replied,
"Emilie Moreau." He led her over to the sofa and Jean-Claude followed. Sitting down beside her he said,
"I think about your mother often. How is she?"
"My father and my mother still live in Nice, I have a younger brother and I don't really know much before then and that's where you come in." The Vicomte's eyes widened and he looked at her strangely and replied,
"So she is still…married to Erik?" Emilie was taken aback by the Vicomte using her father's first name so casually for no one ever did besides her mother.
"Yes, they are still married." He looked away and stood up. Looking back at her he asked,
"What do you know and what do you want to know? I'm sorry; I guess I am a little confused about this meeting." Jean-Claude gave Emilie's hand another reassuring squeeze and she replied,
"My parents won't tell me anything before I was born and I have been doing my own research from what I can find. All I really know is that my mother sang at the Paris Opera House, I have heard her sing on occasion, but apparently she was a bit of a celebrity. The two of you were engaged at one point and that's all I know. As for my father, well, I know nothing and they won't tell me either. In fact, they both reacted in a very strange way and I overheard a conversation where my father questioned my own paternity." The Vicomte held up his hands and interrupted,
"Wait a minute, dear; do you think I am your father?" Embarrassed, she just looked at him and then looked down,
"I would love to be your father. Your mother was the love of my life; she was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, but…" He paused as if looking for the right words. This was Erik's daughter and he didn't want to disrespect him in front of her, despite his feelings towards the man.
"Fate got in the way." He finished. Emilie gave a quick look at Jean-Claude who was looking at her and she looked back to the Vicomte,
"I'm sorry Lord de Chagny, but I am just not buying that explanation. Something happened, something major and I can't get any help from my parents, but I deserve to know the truth. I also found this." She pulled out the newspaper from her pocketbook that she had found in her mother's closet earlier that week. She had decided the day before she left for Paris that she would bring it. She handed the folded up paper to him and he unfolded it and looked at the front page headlines. He sat down in a chair opposite the sofa and sighed out loud,
"She kept this?" He asked Emilie.
"It was in my mother's closet along with some letters from you. I read a letter that you had written about taking her away before her wedding to my father or as you put it, the monster. I'm just really confused and I want so desperately to know the truth." The Vicomte handed the newspaper back to her and the door to the room opened. It was the butler with a tray with teacups and a teapot. All three of them looked at him as he sat it down on a table and left the room. The Vicomte pursed his lips together and said to Emilie,
"It is not pleasant, not by far, I don't want to be the bringer of bad news and I don't want to disrespect your mother and your, your father at least not to his daughter. Maybe you better let me tell you by yourself." Her eyebrows furrowed in a worried look and Jean-Claude had already stood up. Emilie gripped her pocketbook in nervousness and Jean-Claude said,
"I will just wait outside."
"Monsieur, please feel free to tour the grounds." The Vicomte said to Jean-Claude as he gave Emilie's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. Jean-Claude left the room and Emilie said to the Vicomte,
"Is it really that bad? Is my father really that bad?" The Vicomte sighed and replied,
"Yes, it is that bad. I don't know who your father is now, but who he was a long time ago was my enemy and I never gave up fighting him. Your mother was manipulated into marrying your father. Your mother and I were in love for a long time. I wanted to marry her and bring her here to live, but Erik had his own plans. I really shouldn't be telling you this." Emilie looked up at him and quietly said,
"It's not going to change my mind about my father. I know him in a different way and he is the best father I could have. So please, just tell me what you know." The Vicomte raised his eyebrows and said,
"He killed my brother, and he wanted to kill me if your mother didn't marry him. He manipulated people at the opera house into thinking that he was a ghost to get what he wanted, money and your mother. Your mother didn't want to marry him, when she moved to Nice she wrote me when she figured out where he had taken her and told me to come and help her escape before her wedding. But I didn't make it in time for the wedding, so I tried to help her escape after the wedding but he found out and took her back. I promised him that I would wait until he died before I took her away again."
"And now they love each other and you're married too." Emilie finished. The Vicomte became disgusted talking about Erik all over again. It angered him thinking about the whole thing and to hear his daughter say that Christine is in love with him angered him even more.
"I don't believe that she's in love with him." Now it was Emilie's turn to be angry.
"Believe me when I tell you that they are. The person you are describing doesn't sound at all like my father. Maybe I am in denial, call it what you wish, but to think that someone died at the mercy of my father's hand is so hard to fathom."
"Like I told you I don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but you seemed so intent on finding out the truth. If Erik is who Christine truly loves, then I'm happy for her. And yes I am married because your mother never came." Angry and trying to wrap her mind around everything that she was told, she started to walk towards the door.
"I have some old pictures and newspaper clippings of your mother if you would like to see them." The Vicomte called after her. She slightly smiled and turned around,
"I think I have had enough for one day. Thank you for seeing me on such short notice and telling me all of this." Opening the door she saw Jean-Claude standing there and said,
"Please, let's go." The two quickly made it outside and Emilie took a deep breath before the tears came.
"Was it that bad?" Jean-Claude asked putting his arm around her.
"I never could have imagined it would be as bad as what that man in there told me. He told me my father killed his brother and that he manipulated my mother into marrying him with murder. My father is a murderer." Jean-Claude remained quiet as they continued to walk down the path.
"You don't know that for sure." He said finally breaking the silence of her quiet crying.
"I don't know for sure. But it does make sense since it made my father so uncomfortable when I asked him about their past, it only makes sense."
"Yes, but you have to remember your father's mask." She shot him a quick and angry look,
"What about my father's mask?"
"I didn't mean it like that, it's just that there is something that he is obviously hiding under there and maybe that made him feel different when it came to love all those years ago. I don't know, I know just as much as you do and it honestly is astonishing to hear that he once murdered people as well." Emilie softened up a little and replied,
"Yes maybe you're right. But as much as I can't believe my father would do such a thing, I feel like I wish he wasn't my father and I feel like my mother probably didn't want me at the time she had me due to the circumstances now that I know the truth." Jean-Claude stopped her from walking on and hugged her,
"I may not know your mother and father very well, but I do know that they both love you very much. We can't pick who our parents are and what they did before we were born, but I just know that they do love each other and I know that your father loves your mother and she loves him too and as you and I know about love, we know that as long as we love each other there is nothing more important than that. Maybe you should talk to your parents now that you know the truth." He suggested. She stopped walking and gave him another sharp look,
"Have you suddenly gone mad? Did you totally forget that my father is an apparent murderer?"
"Have you gone mad into thinking that he's going to murder you?" Getting louder she yelled at him,
"I don't think that! However, I'm sure he has a temper! If this is all true, it makes sense that they didn't want me or my brother to know!" She started to walk away briskly. Jean-Claude stood watching her and finally trotted up to her. With tears running down her face she said,
"I know my father can be harsh, but I never thought he would ever be a murderer. I guess I really don't know who my parents are at all." They walked on in silence and Jean-Claude grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze.
Meanwhile, Raoul had replayed his meeting with Emilie over and over in his head. He thought of Christine often and never stopped loving her. He knew that she had to live her own life, but he still wished after all these years that he was the one she was sharing her life with. He felt bad for Emilie, he knew what he did was wrong by telling her family secrets and he didn't want to hurt Christine but he did want to hurt Erik. That man had ruined two lives and he wanted anything to destroy him still. He sat down to write a letter to Christine and tell her all about that day's events.