Don't you hate cliffhangers? I know that I do. I enjoyed all of the comments and speculation. This chapter will end some of it. As you probably can tell, the end is approaching…. I will miss writing this one.

Chapter 41

Christian's POV

Having my father around is like taking care of an infant. The man had become very petulant in his old age. We had reversed our roles and now I was the one who had to keep him in line like an unruly child. I could only stand a few minutes with him and then I had to leave him. He treated Erik with so much disdain that I was afraid that my cousin would decide not to forgive him and whip out his fearsome Punjab lasso before my eyes. Instead Erik was a model of patience. I was embarrassed and humiliated that my father could not see that Erik was being more than generous with us considering how badly that we had wronged him for his entire life. My father could not see the tightness in Erik's expression as he restrained his infamous temper to deal with my father. I promised myself that I would put the old man back on the first train to Bonn once the Gräfin had been dispensed with. In the meantime, I could not do so because if he were to disappear he might go to the Gräfin and betray us all. I spoke to Volker and asked him to keep an eye on him, while I decided to go for a walk to clear my mind.

It had been a very stressful several days since Erik found out about my treachery and forgave me. I had done as he and the Persian had suggested, and sent word to the Gräfin that I was ready to do her bidding and that I would like to come to see her soon. Strangely I heard nothing but knew that she had sent for her grandson and that he had arrived at her Schloss. Clearly she did not trust me and could betray me at any time to the police. The only saving grace was that there was a complete lack of proof that the death had been a murder. It had been ruled a death from natural causes. I still had many friends who would vouch for me with the police.

She did not realize that she lost had her power over me with regards to Erik, since he now knew my whole sordid past. He had forgiven me but I knew that he did not trust me. He made no further mention of having a joint wedding with me and Meg so I waited to propose to her until after Erik and Christine's. I hoped that our plan to expose the Gräfin to the Vizgraf de Chagny would end her reign of terror once and for all. Erik admitted to me that the Vizgraf likely hated him too much to believe the truth even with us all confronting her. He told me that the boy did not even consider him to be human but some sort of beast or fiend. Upon hearing that, I could not help but feel a stab of remorse. If he had been raised here by his grandfather or father no one would have dared to call a Freiherr of Germany a beast, no matter how unsightly a person that he might be. My cousin's deformity was unpleasant to look at, but he was a handsome man in other ways. As Meg told me, the more that she had seen it, the less disturbing that it looked. It was not a normal face, by any means, but it was the face of a man of character and intelligence and therefore garnered respect. I hoped that someday I would have the opportunity to make amends for my past treachery.

As it turned out the opportunity came quicker than I expected. I had decided to take a walk in my vineyards to clear my head and my morose temper from dealing with my father. I loved to do so. The grapes were starting to grow and they had received a nice sprinkling in the rain. They looked very healthy and lush, a good sign for another fine vintage. I still hoped that my cousin would allow me to stay and that we could harvest the grapes together. I would teach him the skills that my father taught me, when he was sober enough to do so.

Winemaking was in the Mulheim blood. We liked to tend the soil and our vines. A gentleman did not engage in trade if he wanted to be viewed as such. Tending to our estates was very acceptable and encouraged. If I took pride in nothing else ever again, I did know that I had been a good guardian of our family estate. It had prospered under my care, even more than under the very benign care of my great uncle. Since I had been his murderer, I wanted to take extra good care of it to atone for my misdeed in doing so. It was my own form of restitution for what I had done to the old man, and what my father had done to Charles. I wanted succeeding generations of our family to continue our family tradition. I would do my part to ensure its future.

The stormy morning had given way to a gentle afternoon. It was much warmer than it had been earlier in the day. I could feel the late afternoon sun on my cheeks. I could hear my cousin and his future bride's laughter as they behaved as lovers do. I smiled inside pleased with my role in reuniting the couple. That, at least, was something to be proud of. I thought to myself. I decided to head towards the house to seek out Meg. Erik and Christine had woken up my own desire to spend some time with Meg. By now she should be dressed. I stared walking towards the house when I heard a noise. I decided to investigate and took a few steps in the direction of the sound. As I neared the source, I noticed that some of the vines had been disturbed. A rage was aroused in me; whoever did such a thing took little care to make sure that they did not trample my grapes and vines. I was ready to call out to the offending person, when suddenly I heard him scream 'whore' in French and I heard a rifle cocking in the direction of my cousin. The noise was behind me and I knew that I could get shot if I ran in front of him, but I had no choice if I wanted to save Erik. I owed him my life for his grandfather's and I was ready to atone. With a speed that I did not know that I possessed I leapt at the man and knocked his gun to the ground right as he let off a shot. The rifle fell out of his hand from the force of my blow and I was able to grab hold of it and use it to subdue the assailant. I felt a trickle of blood in my side and felt a great deal of pain. I fell to the ground in agony. I had knocked the man unconscious but I was quickly losing consciousness myself. My life's blood was flowing out of my body.

Moments later I saw my cousin come up to me, his face fraught with rage and emotion. Christine followed close behind but he motioned for her to stay back and get help. "Go find Nadir and hurry, Christian is hurt." I heard him say.

I tried to speak but Erik lifted a hand and stopped me. His attempted assailant was unconscious beside me. "Don't speak Christian, you are gravely wounded." I could see him tearing off pieces of his shirt and using them to apply pressure in an attempt to stem my bleeding.

"I have some knowledge of medicine cousin, but I am not sure if the bullet hit anything vital. You were shot point blank but I can see that the bullet went cleanly through you. There is an exit wound." He told me. I think that he was trying to keep me conscious.

As I faded into darkness I could hear more people coming and I could feel myself being lifted. I could hear Erik shout "Restrain this man."

Then Christine gasped "It's Raoul."

That is the last thing that I heard until the world went silent.

Meg's POV Two hours earlier

I was so pleased that Erik had decided to forgive Christian for what he had done. I knew in my heart that he would. His compassion ended any remaining feeling that I might have had that the Phantom of the Opera was an insane and vengeful person. He had a fiery temper, one which almost cost Christian his life, but once you could get beyond his temper you could see a man who had simply endured more pain than an ordinary person could bear. Most men would have embraced insanity to escape from the pain and the betrayals inflicted upon them by others. Erik still carried more than a kernel of compassion in his browbeaten heart. Christian was so pleased that his cousin could forgive him. Yet he still carried the guilt of a man who had betrayed both himself and the people that he cared for. I wondered if the scars from his actions would ever be healed, especially since it was now known that he had been manipulated by someone more sinister than could be imagined. I wanted to help him heal those wounds and be the man that nature meant for him to be.

In the past few days Christine and I had finally regained most of what had been lost in the catacombs of the Opera house. It was the excitement of her upcoming wedding, and her obvious display of pure bliss over it. I could clearly see the joy stamped in her face indelibly and her radiance melted both my resistance to her and my lingering doubt of her fidelity to Erik, and her love for him. Their eyes would lock together in mutual adoration when we were dining. I would see her place her hand in Erik's lap when they were seated next to one another. They would exchange playful banter. Erik would no longer grow angry when she teased him but would smile warmly and be equally playful in return. With Raoul she had sounded like a dreamy girl, more in love with his handsome face and gallantry than the actual boy that he was. With Erik, she had to learn to endure his face; but she had fallen for the beauty of soul of the man beneath that fearsome visage.

We exchanged sisterly confidences as we spoke of our love for the men in our lives. We would giggle endlessly until Maman would chide us for behaving childishly. I could see that she was actually pleased with both of us and our new relationships. Maman had always wanted to see both Christine and I find happiness, and despite her words I could see the approval in her eyes. Maman had lost her love way too soon, when father had gone out to look for food during the war. I hoped that Nadir would make a move towards her. Both Nadir and Maman had endured the loss of their spouse too soon. Nadir had also lost his only child. The tragedy of his loss was permanently etched into his soulful jade eyes. I would love to see Maman have someone more to cherish than just Christine, Erik and I. She was yet too young to be deprived of the love of an adoring husband. The three of us no longer needed her to guide us as we once did. We had all found a new path that would lead us into happy and fulfilling lives.

I thought of my wedding dress that was hanging in the wardrobe. When I saw it two days before, on our shopping spree, I fell in love with it immediately. It was a beautiful confection of pink Battenberg lace and taffeta. Christine insisted that I buy it just in case Christian proposed in the near future. It suited me perfectly as if it had been made for me. Christine found a watered silk and lace dress that was very regal in appearance. It made her look like an angel straight from heaven. She looked stunningly beautiful and ethereal as she modeled it for me. "Oh Christine, you look so beautiful and regal like a queen in a book." I told her as she donned it. "You simply must buy it."

"It is terribly expensive." She told me.

Maman smiled at her "Erik can afford any dress that you would like my dear. It is your wedding day, he would want you to feel special." She turned to Nadir "Isn't that true?"

The Persian nodded to us in agreement. "Erik would be most pleased to see you in that dress. You look very beautiful. You do too Meg. Erik would insist on me buying you this dress for when you marry. You might as well do so. " He told me. Once we were fitted for our dresses we left. Nadir promised to pick them up the next day. We then left and had lunch. Christian met us there and we all enjoyed a meal. I felt sad that Erik did not yet feel comfortable enough in public to join us.

When I told Christine that, she turned to me and said "Give him time. He is already more comfortable than he was when I remove his mask. He does not even flinch anymore. I think that he will join us in public once he feels that he can do so without too many wayward glances. Christian has proposed to him that he introduce him individually to some of the more important men in the area."

I smiled at Christian "You are so thoughtful to think of that."

"I have spent the past few months persuading him that there are many who would accept him here. We Germans are not nearly as obsessed with vanity and superficiality as you French are." He observed.

We spent the rest of the meal debating over which country was better. Christine finally intervened good-naturedly and told us both "It is simple, Sweden is better than both France and Germany." She smirked. We all laughed.

Maman and I were both looking forward to resuming our careers at the Opera House in Strasbourg. That night at dinner Erik encouraged Christine to make herself known to the managers there as well. Even though he was no longer a wanted man in France, he still hesitated to make his identity known to the people of Strasbourg.

"I will buy a box for the next season and watch you perform but I will limit my actions to just that." He told us.

Christine asked him "What about your opera? Don't you wish to see it performed in its entirety?"

Erik got a dark and distant look in his eyes and told us "That Opera is finished and must never be performed again. It is too powerful to be heard by anyone. If you want I will compose a new opera for all of you about an evil and twisted soul who found redemption in the arms of a beautiful woman."

Christine turned to him and told him "You were never an evil and twisted soul, ange."

He snorted and looked straight at Christian "I know mon amour, it is the story of Christian and Meg. No one would want to hear my story. I am too hideous to garner any sort of sympathy."

We all looked at him and Christine told him "That is not true you are very handsome, you would receive a lot of sympathy."

Erik looked at us all triumphantly "The boy always did say that I was an excellent hypnotist. Perhaps he was right about something."

I smiled when I thought about how far that we had come since I had to stop Erik from jumping off the roof of the Palais Garnier.

Two days later we had decided our course of action to end the Comtesses' threats.

I felt some unease at Nadir's idea that we just all go over to call upon the Comtesse and confront her and Raoul right in her own home. I did not think that Raoul could be easily persuaded to see who his grandmother really was. His hatred of the Phantom would only grow deeper when he discovered that Erik and Christine were now engaged. He was a vain and proud young nobleman who would not simply bow out for someone that he deemed so loathsome, even if Christine could find a way to persuade him. She confided in me about what he had almost done to her in Paris and told me to keep it a secret from Erik. She knew that if Erik found out about it that he would abandon any thought of showing Raoul mercy. Erik was irrational when it came to Christine and he would most certainly act as her avenging angel. I had no doubt that his Punjab lasso would find a new home around the Vicomte's neck and we would be fleeing to America this time.

I kept my reservations to myself because I could think of no better solution to the problem. Christine's idea to attempt to persuade him on so called neutral ground was yet worse. It was liable to backfire as the Comtesse would probably insist on coming with Raoul to meet with Christine.

My sense of unease did not ebb as I went to get changed. Just as I was finished and ready to go find Christian I heard the sound of a gun firing and then a lot of commotion. I heard Erik shouting. I ran down to see what was going on and I ran into Christine who was looking for Nadir.

She turned to me and told me "Christian was shot by Raoul. He needs help. Have you seen Nadir?"

"Nnnooo." I stammered meaning more than one thing.

I did not know where Nadir was but wanted to rush out to see Christian. I needed to know that he was going to be alright but I could already feel the black hand of grief enter my heart and grab hold of it. I hurried out past the garden to the edge of the vineyards and I could see several servants grabbing hold of an unconscious Vicomte and securing him. A rifle was lying on the ground between him and Christian, and Erik was leaning over Christian with his usually fastidious appearance askew. He was not wearing either his mask or wig and his shirt was torn. He was desperately trying to stop the bleeding. He was dripping in sweat at his efforts. Christian was unconscious and had the pallor of death. My heart was filling with pain. Erik heard me come up behind him and gave me a distressed glare.

His eyes looked so much like Christian's as he looked at me. "I'm sorry Meg. I am trying my best to save him, but he is slipping away. I don't think that I can."

I tore off my petticoats for him to use and told him. "Keep trying Erik. Please. Remember how I saved you."

He nodded to me wordlessly and continued to try to stop the bleeding. I could see the determination etched in his one finely arched brow.

I reached for Christian's limp hand and clutched it in mine and told him "Please Christian don't die. We have a bright future together full of love and laughter. Please stay with me." My tears were streaming down both of my cheeks and they fell like raindrops on his limp hand which I held to my cheek. His eyes fluttered open weakly as if to comfort me but then closed again. I prayed that it was not for the last time.