I sadly don't own the Phantom or any other characters created by G. Leroux, S. Kay and A. L. Webber, but they always have a place in my heart. I chose to forgo the demand for witnesses at a wedding, it would complicate the story. I also did some editing on the previous chapters. Thanks for all the reviews I got until now!
THE REGISTRY
The registry was at a 10 minutes walk from the bank, situated in the back of the Hôtel de Ville which, after the fire of 1871, had been wonderfully rebuilt. The outside resembled the 16th century Renaissance style, but the inside was in the functionality and splendour of the modern design. It housed most of the city's administration, a remnant of Napoleon's centralization.
Meanwhile there were a few more people out in the streets, and Erik wondered if Joséphine was blissfully unaware of the stares that followed them or if she just chose to ignore them.
When they arrived at the entrance, their path was blocked by a guard.
"Where do you want to go?" he asked, looking with disdain at Erik. What did an apparent lady like her want from a man like that? He only wore a shirt and trousers, so he didn't seem to be rich, nor was he handsome, from what he could see from the part of his face that wasn't hidden by the bandage.
Joséphine tapped impatiently with her left foot. "Well, what do you think, we are going to get married!" The guard looked at them, dumbfounded. Erik smiled at her continued defence of him. She was nothing if not feisty and bull-headed.
Even with the bandage, people tended to stare, and his dirty and dishevelled clothes did nothing to diminish this, and he was always torn between wanting to run and hide or to strangle them all, so he preferred to keep silent at the moment to not lose control.
"Do you look at all people who come here like that or is it just us? You are in no position to judge us," she reprimanded him, hands on her hips. Embarrassed, the guard stepped aside to let them pass, mumbling an excuse.
Inside the building, Joséphine let out a breath. When she proposed to Erik last night, she wasn't aware of the resistance they were going to face. She only had thought about her stepmother, who would have been against any man, no matter his looks, money or manners. It took all the strength she had to ignore the looks and to stand up to the people that wanted to turn them away.
But she was nothing if not headstrong, she had begun to walk this path, and she would stubbornly continue it, no matter what obstacles she happened to encounter on her way.
Even now, with his deformation masked as an injury, people stared. She still didn't know much of him, but nobody, not even an allegedly murderer like him, deserved a treatment like that only because of his complexion. No wonder he hid himself from the world for such a long time.
As if reading her thoughts, Erik spoke up. "It will always be like that. Society doesn't approve of people who are different, and no mask or bandage can hide what I am. They will ostracize you for associating with me. Are you sure that you are up to that?"
He gave her the chance to withdraw from their arrangement, if she backed out, he had to find another way to stay close to Christine, but he didn't want Joséphine to be unaware of the consequences of this union. She had treated him like a normal man, and for that he was grateful.
Joséphine stopped and looked at him. He seemed to be prepared for her rejection. She took a minute to let what he said sink in.
"You are right," she said, then stopped his retreat by taking his hand.
"It seems like there will always be people like this guard. And I saw the looks of some people on the streets. But when they learned at the bank that you were a wealthy client they were willing to overlook their first impression of you."
"Money seems to buy nearly everything," he said flatly.
She gave a nod at that. "I admit that I did not think my proposal totally through. But I am still in need of a husband, and we have come this far. I consider our agreement as some sort of contract: you help me keep my inheritance; I help you regain the woman you love. I already made the mistake once of not taking a contract seriously. I won't do it now." She looked at him expectantly.
Erik nodded in acquiescence and continued towards the registration office. Joséphine hurried to follow him.
Erik knocked, and after being called to enter, stepped through the door with Joséphine in tow. A corpulent man sat behind his desk, writing notes on some papers.
"Another marriage?" he asked them without looking up.
"Yes, Monsieur," Erik replied.
"Documents, please," the magistrate proceeded. Erik held a hand out for Joséphine's papers and laid them on the desk together with his own.
Finally, the functionary tore his gaze away from his papers and looked at the couple, paling at the sight of Erik.
"Uhm, are you sure, Mademoiselle?" he addressed Joséphine, his eyes darting between Erik's tall form and the young woman.
"I wouldn't be here otherwise," she said with a scowl on her face, clearly offended. The magistrate had the decency to blush at his improper behaviour, then regained his composure and invited them to sit down.
He took a look at their documents, and, finding nothing unusual, stood up to take a folder from the cabinet.
"Fill out these forms," he told them, feeling clearly uncomfortable in their presence, which made Erik scoot even closer to the desk. When they were finished, the man took them back and read them through, finding nothing to refuse them.
"Repeat after me, Monsieur," he looked at the form, "Perrault. I, Erik Perrault, take you to be my lawfully wedded wife. I vow to love you and care for you as long as we both shall live. I take you, with all your faults and strengths, as I offer myself to you with all my faults and strengths. I will help you when you need help, and turn to you when I need help. I choose you as the person with whom I will spend my life."
Erik did as requested then listened to Joséphine as she repeated the vows.
"I, Joséphine d'Escayrac, take you to be my lawfully wedded husband. I vow to love you and care for you as long as we both shall live. I take you, with all your faults and strengths, as I offer myself to you with all my faults and strengths. I will help you when you need help, and turn to you when I need help. I choose you as the person with whom I will spend my life."
She wasn't crying this time, but had a determined look on her face.
"Now sign the Register," he told them, earning a stern look from Erik, "please," he added.
When they were done, he set his signature under theirs and closed the folder.
"You are now legally married, I now ask you to leave, for I have work to do," he said as he put the folder away.
Joséphine's scowl deepened, finding the behaviour of the man clearly unprofessional, when Erik rose and stepped closer to him. The functionary nearly collided with the cabinet, frightened. Erik smirked and took the man's hand in his.
"Thank you Monsieur, it was a wonderful ceremony," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
Then he turned abruptly and left the office. Joséphine rose and cast the magistrate, who stood visibly shaken next to the cabinet, one last reproachful look, then left as well. She found this display strangely amusing, considering that she had been terribly frightened of Erik this morning. But that was because of his actions, not his looks.
Erik awaited her outside the office, looking out one of the windows of the corridor. When he heard her approach, he turned to face her.
"You should have slapped him for the way he treated you, Erik," she told him.
"Believe me, I wanted to, but it would not have been wise."
They started down the hall towards the exit. Ignoring the guard on their way out, Joséphine first turned them right towards the bank of the Seine, but then, thinking that Erik might prefer a less crowded path, chose to head in the direction they had come from.
"I am sure that at the opera house you would have reacted differently," Joséphine continued in a whisper, not wanting somebody to listen in.
"Don't talk to me about the opera and things you know nothing about," Erik scolded her, picking up speed.
"If you want me to help you, you must tell me what happened there," she retorted.
"Not now," Erik said flatly, considering the matter closed.
Seeing that she couldn't get any more information out of him for the moment, she let it drop and fell into step next to him.
"Very well," she conceded, "let's go home and tell my stepmother the good news of my finding a husband in time."