MADDIE

Christmas Eve, 1906

Charles has been acting very strange this morning. He ran out the door just after breakfast without so much as a second word. He has been avoiding me since yesterday morning. I know he is, because when we were walking toward each other in the hall, he immediately disappeared into his room and shut the door. He left me a note this morning that said, "I have a surprise for you tonight." I think he's up to something. Then again, when isn't he up to something?

Around mid-afternoon, he returned and before I could even say hello, he ran upstairs and slammed his bedroom door. Ten minutes later, he returned with a huge smile on his face, but I was a bit hurt by the way he had been acting so I pretended not to care.

"Happy Christmas Eve." He said, kissing my cheek breathlessly. I nodded at him, but didn't say it back. Hurt flashed in his light green eyes.

"Maddie, are you angry with me?" He asked, sitting next to me on the sofa. I shook my head.

"If you do not want to talk to me, I do not wish to speak with you…" I said, and picked up a book I had been reading.

"What?" He asked, and I looked up at him, irked.

"You have been avoiding me like the plague for going on two days now Charles. Why?" He sighed.

"I…haven't been avoiding you…" He said lamely and I stood.

"Look Charles, I don't know what I did to you but I am sorry!" I yelled and he stood, new fire suddenly in his eyes, darkening them.

"It's not what you did to me damn it! It's what you do to me! Look Madeleine…I'm not going to lie and say I am not attracted to you because guess what? I am! It kills me to be around you every day and know that you don't feel the same…" I stood in shock at his confession, but suddenly felt even more angry.

"You think you're the only one with problems? Do you want to know why? Do you even care to know?" I asked. If he was so intent on knowing, he would get every last dirty detail.

"Yes Madeleine! I want to know! Enlighten me please!"

"You asked for it." I muttered and sharply motioned for him to sit back down. "My mother was a prostitute. At least she became one after I was born. My grandfather forced her into it. We lived at his tavern, she and I. I saw things that I hope to God you never have to see. He was evil, and disgusting. I hated him, hate him and I hope he is burning in Hell. If he was still alive I would murder him in cold blood and laugh over his dead body." Charles's eyes widened but he nodded for me to continue.

"I don't have a father…well, I do, but I don't know who he is. All I remember her saying was he was a rich married man and wanted nothing to do with us. Fine. If he doesn't want me I don't want him. When I was six, my mother died of syphilis right in front of me. I knew they would throw me in an orphanage so I took her locket off of her and grabbed a few small things out of her drawer, and I ran.

For a year I lived on the streets, eating out of people's garbage, relying on pity. Every day I hoped to die. Finally when I was seven, I began to work in a little café in Paris for a bit of food and a place to sleep at night. That café was run by Louis Dupont. I worked there for five years and every night since I had come, he would force me to do what he wanted for him. I have done things married woman would faint just thinking about!" I knew I was crying now, but I didn't care, he had brought this on himself. His face was pale and his head in his hands, which made me angry again.

"That's right, Charles…now what do you think of me? Do you still think I deserve to be prima donna? Do you still think I am worthy of living under your roof? Oliver Dorgan wasn't an idiot you know. He saw his whore and he made sure to get her because that's all I am and all I will ever be!" I fell to my knees, dizzy with the pain I felt.

"Stop…" Charles murmured, standing. "How can you talk like that about yourself? You were a child Goddamn it! A little girl! Deirdre told me a little, but this…how? Why?" He had me by the shoulders now and was shaking me a bit violently. I felt like a child and he suddenly seemed the largest man in the world.

"You listen to me Madeleine Denton, and you listen well. You are no whore and you never were…I will not tolerate this self-degrading talk. Not in my house. Not ever. Do you understand? Do you!" He shook me again. I could only nod, numbly, as he softened, pulling me tightly to him before sitting me down.

"Good girl…" He said and moved to fetch me a glass of water and offered me his handkerchief. "Now, drink slowly and wipe your face. I'll be right back." I drank as he said to and laid my head against the back of the sofa.

He returned with a small wrapped box and a card, sitting next to me again. Smiling he said,

"I was going to give you this tonight when everyone is here, but I think now would be the best time." I looked up at him suspicious. It was a small box, obviously a jewelry box of some sort. Panic flew through my body. Oh God, I'm just learning to trust you; please don't ask me to marry you! My mind screamed as I shakily took the small package and tenderly unwrapped it. It was a jewelry box. My heart froze, but Charles stopped me from opening it.

"Read the card first." He said firmly and I picked up the paper, relieved a bit to delay the inevitable.

Madeleine,

Please don't kill me. I did this for you…

Charles

I looked up at him suspiciously and took the small velvet box again. What had he done? He nodded for me to open it and with a trembling hand, I did. When I saw its contents I had to draw in a breath. It was my mother's locket. I looked up at him angrily for a second and he turned red, afraid. My anger, however, didn't seem important when I noticed the condition Mama's locket was in. There was a new chain, shiny and beautiful, the locket itself had been renewed and her name was easy to read again. I opened it to see Mama's beautiful face smiling at me. I looked back up at Charles, my face blotchy and my eyes burning with tears and I said,

"You took my locket." He nodded. "Why did you do this for me?" I asked him, sniffling.

"You deserved something nice for a change. Maddie, I see you all the time, thinking of everyone else…but who has ever done anything really thoughtful for you with the exception of Granny Giry and Aunt Meg?" No one.

"Why me?" I asked him, clutching the necklace to my heart and he shrugged.

"Look, all my life, girls have surrounded me, trying to flatter me. Wanting me for my money, my looks. You of all people understand what it is like wishing for someone to like you for who you are." I nodded, but sighed.

"But Charles, you didn't even know me when you first approached me. Why then?" I asked, and he looked away.

"I think I was drawn to you because somehow I sensed your determination, your will to succeed in your dancing. I saw a lot of myself in you, strange as it sounds." He looked at my trembling hand holding the locket. "Do you want me to put it on for you?" I nodded, not really knowing what else to say.

"Th-Thanks…" I said and turned back to face him, tears still running down my cheeks. In fact, they hadn't stopped.

"I don't know if I can fall in love…" I said finally, after he held me. He put a finger to my lips to hush me.

"Madeleine, I am not asking you to marry me. I am only asking that you give me a chance to prove to you that I will not hurt you. I promise." He looked down at me with such sincerity that for just a moment, I felt like everything would be fine from then on, but a little voice in the back of my mind warned me about things that were too good to be true.

"Look, you don't have to do this if you feel sorry for me…I'll understand…" I said, my fear worsening. Mama's words ringing in my head. Let yourself be happy."I don't need pity, I don't want you to-"

I was cut off because his lips had come down on mine finally. After so many times it had almost happened, this was the glorious climax of our time together. It was not a deep kiss, just a simple pressing of the lips together, but still we held together, eyes closed. My arms had even found my way to his neck. We pulled apart, breathless and he held me against his chest, both of us staring out into space and we must have been standing like that for a long time because neither of us had heard Charles's father and Therese come in.