The gendarmes questioned Christine and Erik for nearly an hour before the doctor arrived and insisted they leave them alone to be examined. Erik was outraged at the policeman's first assumption; that Erik was lying about the attackers and that he himself was the one who caused Christine's injuries. If it were not for Christine standing there to commiserate his story, he might have been the one in cuffs. She gave descriptions of the three men and their names as she heard them called. She also did not hesitate to inform them of the injuries she inflicted on the one who attacked her. Erik was surprised at her vehemence. He added his own description of his defense and the injuries he caused to the other two. The officer jotted down their confessions on a small notepad. He did not seem surprised to hear of it all. He asked Erik to see the blade he used and after looking it over and eyeing Erik skeptically for carrying a double edged knife, handed it back to him handle first.

Marie looked sick as she explained to Christine, "I had them removed last night after they got drunk and were threatening to ruin this place. I'm so sorry, Christine. I thought they left town last night."

"Those were the same men we had to deal with last night?" he asked, to which Marie nodded. He sighed, "It doesn't surprise me."

A second officer returned a time later after the doctor had seen to and properly bandaged Christine's lacerations on her arms and hands. He reported seeing bloody spattering around the area of the assault but no sign of the men were there. He also brought back Erik's mask, which at first finding it had puzzled him, but seeing Erik now with the other one on, he did not question its origin or purpose.

Erik seethed, his head pounding in frustration. He secretly hoped he had killed Kurt with the slice at his torso, but in afterthought it was probably better for them that he hadn't considering that he was there with Christine.

After they finished their report and questioned the other witnesses they said, "Will you be staying here much longer in case we have any leads?"

Erik looked at Christine in askance and she gave a small nod. "Yes, we are going to be staying a few more days then we will be heading back to Paris," he replied.

"With your permission, I would like to get your information there in case we need to contact you once more," the officer said.

Erik gave them Christine's address, knowing he could not very well use his own. They thanked him and tipped their hats as they left through the front door. The room was oddly quiet after the doctor and gendarmes cleared out. Only Erik, Christine, Marie, and her maid still stood there.

"Marie," Christine asked, "Would it be too much trouble for you to draw up a hot bath?"

Marie flustered, "Of course not my dear!" and with that, left promptly with her maid to heat the water for the tub.

Christine rubbed her arms up and down, standing in the middle of the room. She looked so small and helpless to Erik. His outer shell showed him to be calm, but he did not feel it inside. He took her gently into his arms, enveloping her completely in his embrace.

"I feel so dirty," she said, her voice muffled by his shirt. "I can't get the feeling of his grimy hands off my skin."

For once in his life, Erik did not know what to do; should he even hold her right now? He longed to comfort her and to take back what had happened. He wanted to rush out the door and hunt those men down to make them pay for making Christine feel this way. He wanted them to suffer for it. But he knew he wouldn't. Christine would not want him to kill on her behalf.

He stood there holding her gently, stroking her mussed hair tenderly. He expected her to start crying uncontrollably at any moment, but she did not. She just stood there in his arms, staring off into oblivion. Erik worried for her; she must be in shock from the scare. He released her moved her slowly down onto the divan. She did not look directly at him and that scared him.

"Christine," he whispered, "Are you alright? Are you in pain?"

Christine was silent then said, "No. I'm not in any pain," then she added, "Neither am I alright."

Erik swallowed a lump in his throat. This was what he had been afraid of. His innocent Christine was gone now and he wondered if he would ever get her back. The girl that sat before him seemed hollow and broken. Her eyes were not dull, but the fire behind them had changed. He had never seen that look upon her face before. She looked stunned, angry, and deep in thought.

"Christine, please tell me what I can do?" Erik finally asked, at a loss for an answer on his own.

She did not answer. She sat and stared past him, deep in her mind now. Erik felt ill. This was his entire fault.

"I should have never have asked you to be with me," he said quietly. The torment in his voice made her look up at him finally. "I warned you the other day that this might one day happen. I told you how people treat me and by association how they will treat you." Erik rose and paced the room clenching his fists tightly. "I am not worthy of you, let alone worth the risk to your safety."

Christine tracked him with her eyes but was otherwise still.

"I can't always be there to protect you and I shouldn't have to be! If you were with the Vicomte, nothing like this would ever happen!" Erik was shouting now. Christine sat watching him, not reacting, except to squint her eyes.

"Stop it."

Christine spoke so low he barely heard her but the small phrase froze Erik where he stood. He did not expect to hear such venom in her small voice. It was not a plea, it was a command and he was powerless to do anything but obey.

Christine stood slowly, her eyes never leaving him. When she spoke again, her voice chilled Erik's bones.

"Those men would have attacked us regardless of whether it was you or any other man. Had I been alone, I would lie raped and dying on that beach." Erik flinched at the thought. "Had Raoul been with me, he would have fought and lost and joined me in that fate."

Erik swallowed, the tone in her voice said he should not argue right now. She turned from him and he waited for her to continue but she said nothing for a long while. He approached her without a sound and wrapped his arms around her waist once more from behind then whispered into her ear, "I never want to have to imagine something so awful again. I cannot bear to lose you." He squeezed a tear painfully from his swollen eye feeling it burn there.

Christine did not respond for a moment. The quiet in the room was deafening to Erik, and he feared deep down she might actually take his advice and leave him. She stood coldly in his embrace but he was reluctant to let go. Christine seemed to finally notice he was there, holding her and she placed her hands on his arms at her waist.

"I could never bear to lose you either," she said softly. Her voice held some emotion Erik could not place. "I'm going to take a bath now," she said. "Will you see to it that this dress is burned? I apologize since it is new, but I never wish to see it again."

Erik murmured he would and she walked away from him down the hall to the bath house. She did not look back at him as she left. He felt numbness creeping over him and a dread of things to come. As much as he knew it was too dangerous for them to be together, he could not stand to see her leave. He would die of it.

Erik took the opportunity of her absence to change his own clothing and wash in his room. The cut on his brow did not need stitches, thank goodness. It would heal, but it made his mask fit uncomfortably from the swelling. At least he got his softer mask back from the officer. The material was more flexible and forgiving. He exited his room to see the maid carrying a heap of clothing out to be laundered and offered to take it for her. He walked to the burn pile in back and threw the dress on it as well as his own clothing, having gotten blood on his shirt and trousers; some his, some not. He stood awhile watching the flames lick around the cloth until it was quickly reduced to fuming ash.

Several hours passed before she emerged, clean and freshly dressed and bandaged. Her skin was raw and red and Erik wondered how hard she had scrubbed herself to be rid of the feeling of that man's hands on her. He knew there was no amount of soap and water to cleanse such a violation from the mind. Did she even remember the tenderness they shared just before it happened?

Her lower lip was swollen and bruised and her eyes were red and puffy. He knew she probably broke down and cried in her bath. She looked much better than before and he saw some of the life back in her eyes along with something else, something serious.

"Walk with me please," she said and then passed him to exit the front door to the garden.

Erik followed dumbly to the garden and sat on the bench next to her underneath the trellis. He waited for her to speak awhile before her voice broke the silence.

"I know you still think I would be better off without you," she started.

Erik's heart slowed and his stomach knotted.

"But the truth is, I need you," she continued. Erik held his breath, not expecting to hear her say that. "I can't imagine my life without you anymore. When you told me to run away, I didn't want leave. I was more afraid for you than for myself."

Erik almost laughed. "You think I cannot defend myself?"

Christine glanced at him and actually smiled a little, "No, I did not think that. But three against one is more than anybody should have to handle." She played with the edge of the bandage across her palm, itching at the material. "Do you know what I was most afraid of?"

Erik shook his head, "No. What was it?"

"I was afraid I would never see you again. Alive that is," she paused. "I thought I would not get away and would have to lie there and listen to you get murdered only yards from where I was and there was nothing I could do about it. It made me sick to think I would have to let those men do things to me while knowing there was nothing I could do to help you."

"Christine, that would not have happened," Erik argued trying to console her.

"Enough Erik!" Christine suddenly shouted. "You don't know what could have happened any more than I do! The point is, I have never felt more helpless in my entire life. Not even when I lost my father did I feel so debilitated."

Erik stared at her in shock. "I don't know what to do," he replied, at a loss for words.

Christine stood and left him at the bench. She pulled a few dead leaves from a branch and crumbled them between her fingertips. "I know of one thing you can do."

"What, Christine. Tell me and I will do anything to make you feel better," Erik said desperately.

"Are you certain?" Christine said as she looked at him from her tired eyes.

"Yes," was his simple reply and he meant it.