A/N Sorry for the delay is getting this out...work induced exhaustion and a bit of a wall re the story i'm afraid but I won't bore you! Anyway, Bella's back. Oh in case anyone's interested I have put the Don Juan premiere as 2nd last Sat in March, the 18th to be exact and ch14 happens on 15th April. I'm using 1871 calendar (thanks google) which helps keep me grounded timewise.

Chapter 14

Easter, 1871 came and went. Erik and Meg had avoided going out much over the festivities as the city had become completely septic with tourists. It had gotten so bad that Meg herself was beginning to develop a phobia of crowds and small spaces. Visitors blatantly refused to comply with the local custom of staying in single file and keeping the left shoulder to the wall which made walking about nigh on impossible. She had helped Rosa in the shop for few hours each day in the week running up to Easter as they had been overwhelmed with business prior to the second largest holiday in the Venetian calendar. It gave her something useful to do and got her away from Erik who in turn was afforded some privacy to do whatever it was that he did when she was not there to annoy him.

It must be difficult for him to adjust to having company, Meg thought, being in the presence of another all the time, having spent his entire life alone. She shuddered at the idea of being by herself all the time with no one to talk to, to share meals with or laugh with. What happened when he was sick? Did he even get sick? She was a complete misery when she was unwell; it was her biggest professional downfall and her mother never let her forget it. She could cope with endless training, little sleep and performance after performance without flagging but when illness struck her down she was useless. It was the only time she succumbed to staying in bed because she became so completely depleted that she had no choice and if she were honest it was nice to be coddled once in a while. Erik would have had no one to even notice when he was under the weather or to care if he felt rotten. She could not imagine it being particularly healthy living underground in the cold and damp...brrrr...he must think this place paradise in comparison. Warm, soft bed linen every night and sunshine almost every day. These were things Meg had always taken for granted but since coming to Venice had begun to see things differently - as if through Erik's eyes. It was a double edged sword making her ridiculously thankful and happy for everything she had but unbelievably sad and just a little angry for everything that Erik did not.

Now it was the Saturday after Easter; the mass exodus having continued all week. It meant that Meg could finally go outside and wander about; she wanted to stand in the middle of Piazza San Marco and twirl with her arms outstretched. She wanted new shoes that did not pinch her feet and some new clothes that did not scratch and itch. Erik had told her to do her worst, taunted by a raised eyebrow that defied her to make any sort of dent in his funds. Well, she had drafted Rosa for the task and she was going to show him just how dangerous a game he was playing by giving her free reign with his bank account. He obviously had no idea about women and their relationship with clothes! She felt like her birthday and Christmas had arrived all at once and could not even begin to decide what she wanted to buy first. This would have to be done in stages though so as not to attract suspicion as to why she should have such an enormous disposable income.

"I am off now...do you need anything from the shops?" Meg pulled on her shawl and gathered her little bag from the table. She was meeting Rosa downstairs in the pasticceria and she planned on having a girls only day; the older woman delighted to have been asked and only too eager to have an excuse to shop for something new to impress her husband.

"No thank you, except if you happen to be passing the art suppliers and think of it then perhaps some charcoal. They were out of it the last time. Other than that I expect to see you back here heaving with bags and parcels and emptied pockets although I sincerely doubt you will manage it."

"Erik in case you had forgotten I am supposed to be your lowly nurse. I cannot very well go around buying up Venice like an heiress in front of Rosa – what would she think? That me flouncing about in shot silk is somehow vital to your recovery?" Having access to that kind of money was the preserve of the elite and their mistresses. The very idea of what Rosa might deduce from it was colouring her to her roots.

Erik was quite amused by the idea of Meg flouncing although there was not much room for it here. She had only ever worn those serviceable and plain dresses her mother had picked for her so he was intrigued as to what she would transform herself into when given the opportunity. He knew better than anyone that costuming was vital – he always felt so much more together when he was properly turned out and could not see why it should be any different for Meg. She had probably had very little to spend in the past and even less occasion to dress up, likely spending all of her time either in stage costume or practice dress. Well he sincerely hoped she would rise to the challenge and spend to her heart's content, even if it meant secretly squirreling away a dress a day lest anyone catch a whiff of scandal; Heaven forbid people should think she was someone's "bit of muslin".

He watched her disappear through the balcony doors and down the steps to meet Rosa in the shop below and recalled that exactly four weeks had passed since he had been found by Madame Giry's petite daughter and life as he knew it was turned on its head. Four weeks to the day since he had crossed that bridge between sanity and madness, four weeks since he had laid bare his heart only to have it thrown back in his distorted face and four weeks since he had destroyed everything that had once been his half life. At times it felt as if it had all happened only yesterday and at others it seemed as if he had lived in these rooms with Meg his whole life. Here, above the Pellizzaris she had created a safe place for him to come to terms with himself, his actions and those of others; she had been both a frustrating and fascinating companion but always constant and always reliable. He realised he felt safe when she was near, knowing somehow that she would not let harm come to him. It was a feeling he was wholly unfamiliar with having spent his entire existence either hiding or looking over his shoulder. It was a warm liberating feeling, one which encouraged the tight bands across his shoulders and either side of his neck to slacken. How unexpected? That he a man of almost thirty-five who had terrorised the Populaire as OG had been given a soft place to fall by a young woman who had every reason to want him swinging from his neck. But he had given up trying to figure her out; she would no doubt continue to surprise him.

Meg had not been shopping for clothes since the week before the Masquerade when she had collected the new whalebone corset that fitted beneath her dress. She almost couldn't breathe that night it was laced so tightly and that was before the Phantom had made his show stopping entrance. Now she was standing in front of a full length mirror trying to decide whether she was much improved by the addition of a bustle. Always she had worn dresses or skirts with a nipped in waist and full skirt as that was what showed her steps to best advantage. This was different. She was not a scantily clad ballerina anymore; she was a young lady now and should begin to dress like one. Oh she didn't know? Where was Erik when she needed him? She just knew he would have known exactly what would look right. He always looked impeccable save for the night she found him. He seemed to have an eye for aesthetics and dressed perfectly for his height and shape. He would laugh if he saw her, all feminine intuition in the area of fashion deserting her now that the hour had arrived for her to make use of it.

"Rosa? Help!" Why was this not more fun? Tears of frustration welled in her eyes at not being able to enjoy herself when she knew any other woman would have given her right arm to be in her position, armed as she was with more money than sense and Erik's explicit instructions that she spend it.

"Oh Meg! What are these tears for? I have never known a woman to cry over having to buy new dresses!"

"Rosa I cannot decide," Meg wailed as she attempted a twirl in the cramped space, swamped by yards of fabric. "Erik...I mean my employer said I should get whatever I need but it's been so long since I bought anything...I do not know where to start."

"He is not really your employer is he Meg...Signore Erik? There is something in the way you sometimes speak of him that tells me so but I do not think you are his mistress either." The older woman cocked her head thoughtfully to one side and took Meg's hand in hers somehow knowing the young girl before her needed to speak. "Why does a young woman come to Venice with a much older man and pretend to be his nurse?"

Oh no! How had she known and for how long? Stupid girl...speaking of him in so familiar a way. What could she tell her that would not be a lie and yet keep their secret, Erik's secret?

"I have known Signore Erik most of my life. He and Maman knew each other as children and I suppose you could say he has kept watch over me for as long as I can remember." It was not a lie, she did know of him just not that he liked his coffee black with lots of sugar and he did in a sense watch over them all as OG.

"Ah...that explains how you appeared much more than what you said when you came enquiring about the rooms above the shop. He allowed you to speak for both of you which I would not have expected had he been your employer. There is more I think, is there not? What has brought you from your mama to a foreign land?"

How would she get around this one? If she even mentioned the Populaire they were finished. What would Erik say when he found out? Think Meg.

"Maman felt I needed to broaden my education and thought to take me travelling but circumstances prevented her from doing so at the last moment. Rather fortuitously (although not for him) Signore Erik had just suffered a terrible blow – his fiancée left him for a much younger man – it was quite awful. He wanted to get away from all reminders of her and informed Maman he would be going abroad for a time. She begged him to take me along; I think she thought I might pull him out of his melancholy and that he might teach me a little of the world. So here we are...and of course most people would not really understand so we thought it best to have some sort of reasonable explanation." She was quite proud of her story! It was not a hundred miles from the truth. She would have to tell Erik of course and fervently hoped that he would not be terribly angry with her.

"Oh how awful for him! The poor man. Well there is no greater place to mend a broken heart than Venezia! I can see why you felt the need for discretion but you can be assured your secret is safe with us. Why does he wear the bandages; Bella mentioned the angels liked him even more than her? Was he not really injured then?"

Rosa's big warm eyes held only kindness and Meg felt she was not asking to be nosy, more out of concern. "Yes Bella was very sweet to him; I don't think anyone had ever explained things quite like that to him before. He was not injured, at least not physically – you see he was born looking a little different and most people tend not to understand. He does not socialise much but Elena has asked us to her wedding and I really hope he will come."

Rosa observed how the younger woman's eyes softened as she spoke of her friend. She heard the affection in her voice and recognised the concern for his welfare. All of what Meg had told her went a long way to explaining what she herself had seen with her own eyes. But there still remained the mystery of the night she and her husband had listened to Signore Erik playing the most heartrending version of Chopin's Nocturne that one could almost say he was trying to woo his young charge. How interesting! What had begun as a mercy mission in Meg's mother's eyes was growing wings of a different sort from what Rosa could see. The poor girl was in a state over buying a dress! There was nothing surer than a mystifying man to addle a woman's brain to that extent.

"So exactly how much do you need? Are we talking one or two dresses or an entire wardrobe? And how much do you have to spend?"

"Oh goodness, well I really did not bring much with me so it is probably closer to the latter. As to the budget...he, I mean Signore Erik told me to get whatever I needed. He is a wealthy man and I think he feels he needs to spoil me on my mother's behalf. Will you help me?" Meg handed Rosa the little drawstring bag stuffed with notes and watched her eyes widen in astonishment.

"Well if he insists then we shall have to oblige! Take that hideous red thing off and wait here while I find something more suitable. You will need something for Elena's wedding of course but there is plenty of time for that." Rosa swept out of the tiny changing rooms with a sparkle of mischief in her eye and rubbed her hands together gleefully. Oh how wonderful, a perfect little hourglass figure and practically no spending limit; she would see her young friend admirably attired and perhaps turn the head of her heartsick friend while she was as it!

Erik was sitting at the small table inside the balcony doors minding his own business when a brown shiny head came bobbing up the outside steps. Bella! His heart plummeted to his feet when he saw she was followed closely behind by her sister. It was uncanny how closely she resembled the one he tried desperately to forget. He thought he had locked that fact away in the farthest reaches of his mind where all things Christine were buried but now the lid of the chest flew open and he struggled to compose himself as the little girl came bouncing through the open doors.

"Ciao Signore Erik! We brought you something. Papa knew Signorina Meg would be out all day with Mama and would not have time to cook later so he sent up some fish stew. It's my favourite so I know you will love it." Bella danced around his legs as she chattered away while her sister placed the heavy iron pan on the countertop in the kitchen. She turned and bobbed a courtesy and made to leave catching Bella by the hand as she passed.

"Are you not terribly bored by yourself? Can I stay and keep you company for a while until Mama comes back?" She turned to her sister and gazed up at her with pleading eyes. "Please can I stay Elena? Papa won't mind and then you will not have to watch me." She added the last part for good measure knowing her sister would far rather be free to do disgusting things like kiss her boyfriend Vitto.

"Oh all right then, but only if the signore does not mind for I am sure he would rather have some peace and quiet." Elena looked apologetically at Erik and then down at her little sister who had pulled her hand free and had attached herself to her new grown up friend instead. It was odd how her normally shy sister had become fascinated with the gloomy man before her.

"No it is quite alright, she can stay if she wishes. I will send her down when Signorina Meg comes back." It was late in the afternoon and they could not possibly be much longer. Meg would probably have bought one pair of shoes and one dress and then given up. He watched as Elena flew out the door lest he change his mind and raced down the steps, no doubt to meet her beloved. She was so sure of herself, quite unlike the delicate creature he had set free. He would have allowed himself to think on it a little longer were it not for the tugging on his pant leg. He looked down and frowned at his little doll staring up at him, arm wrapped around his leg.

"I heard you playing from my window...it was really pretty. Did the signorina like it too? I wish I could play like that but I'm too small; I already told you about the disaster with my piano lessons." Bella eyes rolled back in her head as she continued to assault Erik's ears with question after question. She never seemed to get out of breath and he noticed she hopped from one foot to the other as she spoke. She was just like a little jumping bean – so much energy – and he nearly laughed at her dramatic woes over her inability to play music.

"I saw you leaning over your windowsill you little minx! Should you not have been in bed? Signorina Meg was very grumpy that day so I played her something to cheer her up and you will be glad to know that it worked."

"Can I see her again? I was very careful the last time." Erik followed her pointed finger to the case where he kept the violin and smiled to himself. Perhaps her feet could not yet reach the pedals on a piano but his precious violin may just afford some light at the end of the tunnel for his eager little friend.

"Go and sit down and I shall see if she wants to come out and see you." While he had never done this before and would not normally allow anyone near his instrument an idea was forming in his mind; this little girl was careful and held the respect for his violin that she deserved. He had let her hold her before so why shouldn't he let her try? Taking the bow in his right hand and his hallowed Stradivarius in his left he crossed the floor to where Bella sat patiently waiting on the overstuffed couch. He sat beside her and placed the bow across his lap while he concentrated on getting her tiny hand around the scroll so she could hold her properly.

"Now lift her with your right hand and place her gently on your left shoulder so that your chin sits on the rest." He watched carefully as her eyes widened in awe at what he was allowing her to do. Bella moved just as he asked, jiggling around until she felt comfortable although the instrument was a little big for her. He handed the bow to her right hand and moved her fingers until they were holding it correctly. Her bottom lip began to tremble and her eyes welled up.

"What's the matter little one?" Erik had never seen anyone have this kind of reaction to an instrument before.

"I'm afraid I will let her fall; she's so precious and I'm too small for her." Big fat tears were running down her pink cheeks now and Erik was astonished. He put his right arm around her so his hand covered hers on the bow and then put his left hand underneath his violin to support it so it could not fall. "There, you cannot let her fall and if she does it will be my fault. No one is too small for the violin; mine might be a little large but they come in all sizes so that you can play at any age. Now, put the fingers of your left hand where I tell you and perhaps she will let you play something."

After several frustrating attempts to follow instructions Bella's lip began to wobble again and Erik feared the oncoming tears. If she was standing up he was sure she would have stamped her foot just like someone else he knew. "You do not look happy Bella? You are doing exceptionally well for your first time; the violin is a very difficult instrument." He hoped that heaping praise upon her would curtail the frustration he was becoming familiar with.

"It's just so hard and my fingers are still too short. I will have to wait until I am as big as Elena before I can play anything."

He did not want her to go home upset and feeling like a complete failure but she was right, her fingers were too small for his violin...but his were not. He moved closer to her and prised the fingers of her left hand from the strings replacing them with his own. "If you put your hand over mine then it will be almost as if you are doing it and you will be able to feel the different positions without hurting your fingers. Shall we try?" He had no idea if this would work and it was a strange sensation not to feel his precious beneath his chin but for Bella he would try.

Meg had never spent so much money in her life. She and Rosa must have been to every reputable clothing emporium in Venice and followed Erik's instructions to the letter. She had not quite managed to spend it all but there was always next week. Struggling briefly on the stairs she finally made it up into the living room followed by Rosa who carried the rest of her packages. She dropped the bandbox she carried in her right hand together with the armful of paper wrapped packages in her left and stared open mouthed at the most adorable sight she had ever seen. How could the sight of Erik teaching little Bella to play make her insides melt? Was his every action, every glance to liquefy her forevermore? Breathe.

Rosa caught her breath at the sight of her youngest child attempting to play Signore Erik's violin. She could see her tiny fingers shadowed his on the strings and that his hand guided hers on the bow. She stole a sideways glance at her shopping companion and registered the look of wonder and awe that spread across her face. How delicious! Between her bambina and her new friend this poor man would soon forget the heartache he had run from.

Both Meg and Rosa clapped and cheered enthusiastically when the little performance finished and Erik made Bella take a very theatrical bow for her part in it. He busied himself putting his violin back in her case while Bella and her mother said their goodbye's to Meg, unaccustomed as he was to that much attention.

"Thank you for helping me...maybe I can come back again soon." Little Bella had wrapped her two hands around one of his and was practically swinging out of him like a tiny monkey.

"You can come and help me play anytime you wish little one. You are not as small as you think." He watched as she skipped off down the steps followed by her mother who gave him the most enigmatic smile so that he was left feeling like he had missed some vital part of the conversation.

"Well Signorina, I deduce from the evidence that you have had a productive afternoon?" He took in the mountain of packages piled on the living room floor and calculated that there was probably more on order. He was impressed.

"A gentleman would not ask...and a lady never tells."