Chapter 2: A night at the Opera
Danielle spent the next five days avoiding the Boulevard Saint-Michel, where the Cafe Musain was located, but she knew that Sabine and the Gorbeau family needed her baskets for medicine and nourishment. It was selfish of her to stay away simply because she wished to hide from a pesky student who asked too many questions and could figure out too many things. If it were exposed that she was a bourgeois she wouldn't be treated the same by the poor. She would be nothing but money to them; nothing but a rich, unfeeling aristocrat who couldn't possibly know or care for their plight. All trust would be broken, and she couldn't bear that.
Danielle was walking in the garden, thinking on these things, when Raul stumbled towards her from the shrubbery. She paused and waited for him.
"Danielle! Do you remember Christine Daae?" He asked, but didn't pause for an answer, "She's the new Prima Donna at the Opera, and I love her." He finished triumphantly.
"You love her already?" She asked skeptically.
"We were children together." He explained simply.
"Yes. But, Raul," She struggled to find polite words to express her hesitance, "That was a very long time ago. People do change."
"But our love has stayed the same." He sighed, "I expected you wouldn't understand it, but I thought you'd at least be happy for me." He reprimanded her gently. She sighed and started walking down the pathway once more.
"I'm very happy for you Raul. I hope she's everything you deserve."
"She's more than that, Danielle! She's perfection itself." He summarized in a dream-like state.
"Then you should do everything you can to keep her." She advised.
"Oh, I plan to! I plan to do everything in my power to keep her happy." He swore to the general vicinity and turned to Danielle, "You must come to the Opera tonight! You can see Christine perform and meet her afterwards."
"Raul, I'm not sure that's a good idea. I'm not feeling well." She lied and instantly felt terrible. But it was for the Gorbeau family.
"Nonsense! Everyone's been asking why my charming sister never comes to the Opera with me and I've run out of excuses."
"Tell 'everyone' I ran away with a tree trimmer." She muttered bitterly. He ignored her.
"And it would be a good opportunity to debut that fashionable blue dress I gave you!" He finished triumphantly.
"Oh, well, naturally, if it means I can wear my blue dress." Her voice was laced with sarcasm.
"I knew you'd do it Danielle! You'll love her, I promise!" Then he bounded off to who knows where, looking astoundingly like a lovesick puppy dog. Danielle sighed heavily and sank onto a nearby bench. Through her sarcasm she had agreed to go to the Opera, thereby postponing her trip to the Rue Saint-Michel for another day. She decided Raul would be too distracted to notice she was missing, and if he did Annette could tell him Danielle had gone to the market. She could make two baskets quickly enough, but she may not have time to change her clothes, so she threw on a bonnet that would hopefully hide her features.
She enlisted Alain as a chaperone, but asked him to stay in the shadows if he could; people would not recognize her, but they most surely would recognize his tall stature. They made their way quickly to the Rue Saint-Michel and down the Mondetour alleyway to Sabine's door, where Danielle left a basket. It wouldn't do for her friend to see her like this. She strode to the end of the alley and glanced around to ascertain that no one was there. When she saw it was clear, she hastened to the Gorbeaus' door and left the second basket. She turned back and made her way to Alain. When she was halfway across the street, she heard a sound and looked back to see a young girl digging through the basket, eating the bread and pocketing the money.
"Excuse my, what's your name?" She asked gently and started walking toward the girl, who looked at her like a scared animal, then put on her guard and gave Danielle a cool, undaunted expression.
"Eponine. And I've got just as much right to be here as you." She responded.
"I don't doubt it, Eponine. I'm Danielle. You can take that basket, if you like." She offered, "Do you come by here often?" She inquired before Eponine could refuse the gift. It was a trick she'd learned years ago. Eponine would no doubt refuse the basket, and pride would keep her from taking it even if she changed her mind. If Danielle changed the subject the gamine couldn't say yes or no to the basket; it made everything so much easier.
"Come 'ere every night. Marius and 'is friends meet at the Cafe over there." She gestured to the Cafe Musain. Danielle had no idea who Marius was, but Eponine talked as though he were the King.
"What do you do there?" She questioned.
"I mostly listen to 'em talk." The girl admitted.
"Well, that sounds lovely!" Danielle smiled.
"You should come." Eponine decided, "You should listen, hear these boys talk. They sound so smart sometimes." She smiled for the first time; a shy, almost blushing smile.
"Perhaps I'll do that, thank you Eponine! I'll see you then." Danielle wanted to talk to the girl more, but she needed to get back before her brother missed her. As she was turning to go, she saw the nightmarish form of the impudent student walking toward the Cafe Musain; toward her. He saw Eponine and nodded and nodded to her, then his gaze seemed to travel in slow motion, coming ever closer to her. He was still walking forward, but her feet seemed rooted to the ground. Every instinct told her to leave, to run as fast as she could, but something held her back. Just before their eyes met she turned her head so her bonnet hid most of her profile and nearly ran to Alain. She giggled at her close escape and walked on.
"Alain, would it be too much trouble to take another basket to the Gorbeaus residence tonight? I gave the other to a new friend." She called back in Alains' general direction.
"Indeed, Mademoiselle. Shall I put ten francs in the new basket?"
"Of course, Alain. Good of you to ask." She answered crisply.
They made short time back to the townhouse, and Danielle was hard pressed to prepare herself before Raul came to her door. Annette had come to help her dress and together they pulled on the aquamarine gown and piled her hair atop her head in curls and braids. She put her mothers locket round her neck and a diamond bracelet on her wrist; the effect was complete. The dress had flounces and yards of lace, it was exceedingly beautiful. She was a princess, it was such a lovely feeling.
Raul knocked on her door and together they walked to the carriage. They traveled east on the Rue Saint-Anbine as Danielle studied her brother intently. He was gazing out the window, but appeared to be looking at nothing, there was a crease in his brow and a nervous expression in his eyes. Something was not right.
"Is something amiss?"
"No," He answered and patted her hand reassuringly, "Everything's fine." It was a shame she didn't believe him; he always patted her hand when he was lying.
The Opera house was very grand, with marble pillars, floors and staircases, cream and gold gilding, and every other manner of abundance. It gave Danielle a headache; she just wanted to go sit down and read the book she'd stuck in her reticule. Raul had dragged her to a group of gentlemen nearly the instant they'd arrived. He introduced them and imparted on a fascinating dialogue of the Opera and its' funding. Needless to say, it was incredibly tedious, but what was interesting to Danielle was the matching look of fear on the two managers faces. It was the same one Raul wore.
It was a really magnificent Opera, Danielle was sure; she just preferred her book. Raul would occasionally tap her shoulder and she'd look up and tell him, again, how lovely and kind Christine seemed. She was very thankful to the girl, Raul was completely focused on her and seemed to overlook that Danielle was reading a novel at an important social event.
A young man sat in the seat beside her and cleared his throat. Danielle peeked from the pages of her book to see him; he was handsomely dressed and had a kind and awkward expression. He looked between her and the book as though weighing whether or not to speak to her. Deciding to save him the trouble, she closed her book quietly and turned in her seat to face him.
"Bonjour." She smiled.
"Bonjour, Mademoiselle." He spoke gently.
"I'm Danielle De Chagny. Raul's sister." She inclined her head as a replacement curtsy.
"Pleased to meet you." He took her hand and kissed it, "I'm Jean Prouvaire, But I prefer Jehan." He smiled self-consciously. Danielle remembered the book in her lap and held it for him to see.
"I'm reading 'Sense and Sensibility' by Jane Austen. Have you heard of it?" It had been published quite a few years ago and was very popular in England, but Danielle didn't know how it had been received in France.
"I have. 'Piracy is our only option'." He quoted. Danielle laughed lightly, and if she'd been paying attention at all to the Opera she'd have heard a new, angry voice yelling from the rafters.
"I wanted to be a pirate when I was young!" She divulged, as though it were a great secret, "I read stories of Anne Bonny constantly. The book disappeared when I was twelve." She leaned forward conspiratorially, "I think Raul hid it. I never saw it again." Something happened onstage and one of the managers came out, announcing the ballet from Act three. Christine was going to sing the lead now. Danielle turned back to Jehan.
"Did you see what happened?" She asked.
"No, I didn't. I'm sorry." He blushed. She waved her hand dismissively and smiled at him.
"It's not important, I've paid no attention anyway." She raised her eyebrows, "The music in this Opera is beautiful. So enchanting and mysterious." She closed her eyes, listening. The tempo was speeding up, and the music reached a crescendo. Then, there was a scream, and another, until members of the audience screamed also. That was certainly not part of the Opera. Danielle opened her eyes and craned her neck to see the stage better. Suddenly there was a hand on her arm, pulling her to the back of their box. It was Jehan.
"Don't look out there, Mademoiselle." His voice was still soft and gentle, but urgent. She nodded as Raul barreled past her and flung open the door, no doubt to see Christine.
"What is it? What's out there?" She asked fearfully.
"It's nothing to worry about. The Opera will continue." He reassured her, allowing her to clutch his hands tightly with her own. "There was an accident; all will be well." But he didn't sound certain. He suggested she read 'Sense and Sensibility' aloud while they waited for the Opera to continue, so they sat together and waited for Christine's grand entrance.
It was quite a bit later when Christine emerged from Stage right and began singing. Something overhead shook, like the tinkling of glass. Danielle looked up in time to see the giant chandelier go crashing to the floor.
A/N: Hope it was okay! Not too boring?I know this had a lot of Phantom of the Opera in it, but we will get to Les Mis. I needed to establish Raul/Christine a little bit. And I will be taking the Enjolras thing slowly, not as slow as it has been, but I don't want a love at first sight thing. :)
BlackCat718! Oh my goodness! I was so excited to get your review! You seriously made my day. I really hope you liked this chapter!