Archer pushed past the crowd surrounding his prize. Her voice had captured the entire theater, proving she was a siren in both beauty and song. He took Ella by the hand. "Come with me love. I have something for you."

"What is it?" she asked in curiosity.

He smiled. "It's a surprise." He pulled her up through the opera house and onto the snow covered roof. It was the most private place he could think of, and he didn't want this moment to be interrupted. He didn't want whoever was after Ella to know what he was doing. This had to remain secret for her own safety.

"Why are we up here?" Ella hugged herself, shaking from the freezing temperature. "Archer, it's cold up here."

"We'll only be up here for a few moments," he replied, before pulling off his jacket and wrapping it around her shoulders. "Better?"

She nodded and pulled it tighter around herself. "But now you'll be cold."

"I'm fine," he replied, amused by her concern.

"So what are we doing up here?" she inquired.

"Ella you know I love you. There's nothing I wouldn't do for you."

Her eyes widened in surprise. "Archer, where is this going?"

He slowly sank to one knee and pulled out the ring he had in his pocket. "Ella, I love you. You mean the world to me. I want you in my life forever. I want you at my side from now until the end of time. Ella, love, will you marry me?"

"Oh Archer," Ella whispered to the man on his knee before her. The sparkling diamond ring he presented to her demanded an answer this moment. "I…I…I don't know what to say."

"Say yes," he replied. "It's as simple as that."

"It's just that this is all so sudden. I wasn't expecting this." A thousand things whirled through her mind. She didn't want to hurt him, but she couldn't accept this proposal. "I…I can't."

"Why not?" Archer demanded. "Ella, this is our chance for us to be together, our chance for us to be happy." He slipped the ring on her finger and pressed his lips against hers. Ella could feel his desperation in the kiss. "If it's him, if it's whoever hurt you, don't let him stop us. We can leave Paris; we can leave France if you want. We can go wherever you choose."

"You want to elope?" she cried in surprise. "What would people say?"

"Who cares what they think?" he countered. "Ella, I love you! You're the only person I want to be with. I'll do anything to protect you!"

Ella closed her eyes, trying to come up with the right thing to say. Erik owned her heart, but he was nowhere to be found. Archer was here and he wanted her now. "We're mid-production. I can't just leave here now."

"There won't be a better time for us to leave than right now. There's no Prima Donna at the moment, there's nothing stopping us."

She shook her head and tugged the ring from her finger. "I auditioned for the lead. I can't leave. Please understand."

Archer took her hands and kissed them gently. "Forget this place. Ella, come with me. I can give you whatever you want; I can make your dreams come true. All you have to do is say yes."

"I…I need some time. Let me think this over," she begged. "Just a couple days. That's all I ask. Just let me think this through. Please."

He nodded and kissed her again. "Take all the time you need love."

Erik saw nothing but red, rage burning within. How dare that boy kiss his angel like it was his God-given right! At least she hadn't given him a straight answer. There was still hope she loved him.

Keeping out of sight, he followed Ella back downstairs. Perhaps there was some way he could convey his feelings to her without Antoinette finding out. He needed to slip Ella a message, to prove he still cared. Then he realized he took orders from no one. Erik moved to step out in front of her, when a hand wrapped around his arm, tugging him away.

"Leave her alone," Antoinette ordered.

"Five minutes," he pleaded. "Five minutes with her, that's all I ask. Then I'll never bother her again if that's her wish. Just let me speak with her."

"No Erik. She's had a hard enough life; she doesn't need you hurting her more."

"You think I don't know that?" he cried. "But he's trying to convince her to elope with him. He knows nothing about her. He's after her for her beauty, nothing more!"

"And you're after her for her voice," the ballet mistress retorted. "So tell me, how are you any different from him?"

"I know her! I know her pain! She's told me what her father did to her! And she knows what the gypsies did to me! We have a connection, one that even Christine and I didn't have."

"Yet somehow she's discussing running away with the patron and not with you."

"Because you won't let me tell her how I feel. I promised her I wouldn't let anyone send her away, which means I have to listen to you despite what I think." He sighed. "Just let me talk to her!"

Ella paced back and forth across her dressing room, torn apart. It had been three days since Archer had proposed, and she had yet to give him an answer. She loved Erik, but he wasn't here. She couldn't spend the rest of her life waiting around for someone who wasn't going to come. Archer was so incredibly kind and loving towards her. Someday, maybe, she could grow to really care for him.

But was it fair to Archer? She didn't love him, and for all she knew, she'd spend the rest of her life pining for Erik. Technically Archer never asked for her love, but Ella was sure he would want it. And there was a bigger question: Could she live with him forever?

There was a knock on the door before Archer walked into the room. "How are you, love?" She offered him a soft smile as her only response. "Have you reached a decision yet?"

She hesitated for a few more moments before replying with, "How soon did you want to leave?"

Archer beamed and placed the ring on her hand. "We'll leave Sunday night. We can get married then leave Paris. We'll go wherever you want." He pulled her against him and kissed her more passionately than he had ever before.

"Oops, am I interrupting?"

Ella instantly pulled away and turned to the door. "Meg," she gasped. "I…It's…um…"

Her friend held up her hands in a gesture of surrender. "I'm sorry. I'm leaving."

Everyone was uncomfortable. Ella could feel her face flush and she could see Meg's cheeks turn red as well. Archer was able to disguise his embarrassment much better than the two girls. "Miss Giry, wait a moment. I'm sure we can depend on you to keep this quiet."

"Yes, well, I um…I came to tell you, Ella, that you go the part, but I can see that you're, um, kind of busy," Meg stammered.

"I…I got the part?" Ella gasped. She turned to Archer. "I got the part!"

"Ella, does this change your answer?" Archer asked softly.

"Change what answer?" Meg asked, before she spotted the ring. "Ohmygoodnessnoway!"

"Meg, don't tell anyone," Ella begged. She took the ring off and gave it to Archer. "Can Meg and I talk?" He nodded and kissed her quickly before disappearing.

"So…?" Meg asked with a wicked grin.

"He wants to elope Sunday night," Ella confessed.

"That's so romantic!" her friend squealed. "But you just got the lead. Are you going to give that up?"

Ella sighed. "I don't know. Honestly, I don't think I ever actually said yes to his proposal."

"You didn't?"

"I asked for time to think about it, and then I asked what he was planning to do if I said yes. He just kind of assumed that meant yes I guess."

"What are you going to do? Are you going to run away with him?"

Ella shook her head before admitting, "I don't know."