Tears of Hate

by Filhound

After the final lair, everyone walks away with feelings of betrayal; due to misunderstandings stemming from that night. Both Christine and Erik have given up music because of its association with the other. They live away from one another bitter towards the past and uncertain of their future. The only constant is that they do not want one another. I don't own the characters.

42. Chapter 42

Chapter 42

Erik's POV

As I struggled to save my cousin, a gaggle of emotions filled my head fighting for a place in my mind. Try as I could to stem the bleeding it continued to flow like a river of crimson. A single thought entered my mind, and clung to life as it grew to fruition, why must I always wallow in blood? Is everyone that I ever love, or could love destined to die simply for the crime of being close to me? What did I do to deserve such a fate? I only wanted to be loved for myself, not hated, shunned or despised simply because of my monstrous face. Was that truly a great deal to ask of my uncaring creator? I ask for nothing else not wealth, power or any other form of greatness. I plead simply for the one thing that most of humanity receives as a birthright, love. Any kind of love be it maternal, paternal, filial or spousal.

Would Christine be next should I take her as my bride? If so I would most certainly become a lunatic once again. Perhaps I should have stayed in my dungeon and embraced my dark despair instead of trying to avoid my fate. Death always follows me as my one constant companion. Perhaps he does so because I am death personified in human form; if one can describe my face as human. Despite what my cousin has told me, I am a child of Pluto, not Apollo. When this is over, perhaps I should just flee this place alone, and join my patron in the underworld. I could go back to Paris and find my coffin and nail it shut from within, so that no one could ever again cheat me of death. Perhaps I will flee this place once this is done so that Christine will not be the next victim. She can find another to love who is not so cursed.

As for my cousin, I had already forgiven him. Why did he put his life on the line to save me? His image had been burnished but his glory had not really faded. He was the true son of Apollo, not me. Even now as his life's blood was flowing from his wound he was still a handsome man. He looked like a wounded Achilles, or Odysseus. He had so much to look forward to, a life full of love and laughter. I had tried so hard to save him, but I am better at taking life than preserving it. He had lost so much blood, too much for my comfort. I had seen men die from less drastic wounds. It would be a miracle if Christian should survive this. I used every ounce of my strength, but it does not appear to be enough.

I wiped the sweat from my brow as I was finally finished, and the flow of blood from the wounds finally stopped. He was still alive but barely. I could not lift him, but I knew that help would come soon. I turned to Meg and our eyes met in shared agony. She put her arms around me and we held one another tightly and sobbed together in mutual grief. I had never given nor received comfort for grief in my horrific past, not even when Nadir lost his son Reza. I had stepped away not wanting to offend my friend with the touch of a repulsive creature such as me. But with Meg and me our pain was mutual and instinctively we reached for one another. Our tears flowed together in rivers of pain and mingled together in a communion of feeling.

When we had finished our embrace I turned to Meg and asked her "Why would he have done that? Put his own life in danger for me? He did not have to prove himself to me. I had already forgiven him. I should have told him. I am sorry so very sorry." I told her brokenly. "I never should have come here. Death always claims the people that I care about. When this is over I am going to leave and go where no one will ever find me."

She looked at me angrily and cupped my still unmasked face in her hands and looked at me straight in the eyes. Her words upbraided me and my selfish thoughts "Don't you dare leave us and run away from everyone who love and care about you. Christian saved you because he cared about you. I am sure that you would have done the same for him. He knew that you had forgiven him, you did tell him and he was grateful for it. Christian will not die here today. You and I won't let him. I will marry him, and you will stay and marry Christine. In my heart I know that it is not his time to die. Don't you dare believe that he will."

She stared at me with a piercing intensity that I did not know that she was capable of possessing. The tears and grief were gone and replaced by a naked determination to insure that her will would be done. This was not the gossipy giggly Meg Giry that I knew from the Opera House but a more mature and stronger woman who would take charge of her destiny.

I suddenly laughed, Meg had changed my dark mood to one of hope "I have no doubt that Christian will live. You have once again shown me the error of my ways. You are a good friend to me Meg."

She smiled at me warmly "Then you will not leave no matter what happens?"

I looked into her eyes and smiled "How can I do so when I would face your fury. Who would have guessed that little Giry would face the Phantom and beat him? You would track me down and God knows what you would do to me. I would rather face an angry mob than you."

We both laughed and then turned to see Nadir and Christine approaching with several servants to help us lift Christian's limp form.

Nadir checked his pulse and turned to me and told me "We sent for a doctor. He is still alive but barely. You have stopped his bleeding. If he lives it is because of your actions doostam." He pointed to a tree. "The bullet lodged over there in that tree after clearing his body. It is fortunate for him that it did so."

I motioned for the servants to come and we gently lifted his tall athletic form and carried him into the Chateau. We brought him to a suite on the ground floor and laid him down on a bed. Fortunately the bleeding had not resumed. He looked deathly pale and did not stir. But he did give out a moan of pain. That was a good sign that he was still clinging to life no matter how tenuously.

Nadir turned to me and said "Do you have any morphine and that acetylsalicylate acid that you gave me? Maybe we can use it to help alleviate his pain. It may be a while until the doctor comes."

Nadir knew that I always kept a supply of morphine with me. I had fought with the allure of addictive substances at various times in my life. I was proud that I had not resorted to doing so after my most recent injury and heartache. It was the first time since Persia that I had not done so. I had been too busy first fleeing Paris and then establishing myself in Alsace to heed its siren's call. Still I did have some, as I always did.

"Yes of course, I brought most of my medical supplies with me from Paris. I will go and get them. They will make him more comfortable."

As I started to leave, Christine came and walked beside me. She looked at me with some concern. "Are you alright?" she asked me softly." You look so tired, like you have traveled to hell and back."

I gave her a sad smile "I have travelled to hell, but I am feeling better now. Meg and I had to comfort one another. I was feeling sorry for myself but she talked some sense into me."

"I'm glad Erik. I am here for you my love, always. Please let me help you whenever you need me, don't shut me out." She pleaded.

I paused for a moment and stared into her warm blue eyes, and wondered once again how someone as unworthy as I had secured her love.

"Thank you." I whispered. Then I took her into my arms and embraced her. "You are so sweet and kind. I love you so much."

"No more than I love you. Thank goodness that neither one of us was hurt. We owe our lives to Christian and now he is fighting for his." She looked at me with concern. "What are you going to do about Raoul? Are you going to kill him?"

"There was a time that I would have without hesitation. If Christian dies then he will be a murderer." I added. "I could do to him what he wanted to do with me, but how would you feel Christine? Do I need to show your boy mercy?" I looked at her to see her reaction. It was conflicted.

"I don't know Erik. He keeps trying to kill you, but he is still a victim of the Comtesse. I would like you to give him one last chance." She added. "Before this happened you were willing to try to end the war between you and try making him understand what was really going on, nothing has changed not really."

"That was before he tried to kill yet again." I remarked bitterly anger lacing my voice as I thought about that damned boy. "I am not even sure that it was me who was his intended victim. He called you a 'whore' right before he fired. At the moment I would like to get my Punjab lasso around his throat and kill him. He has been nothing but trouble and this time he went too far. He had no care whether or not he killed you. I already showed him mercy twice, once in my lair and also at his estate. I could have killed him as he slept, but I did not want to make you unhappy. Even if, at the time I thought that you hated me and I thought that I hated you, I did not want you to suffer. I could not do that to you. I am afraid that he will never let you go for as long as he lives." I admitted to her.

"Erik, you sound like he did when he was trying to persuade me to betray you. To my regret I went along with him. I will not make the same mistake twice. I know that it is a lot to ask of you; but I beg you to show him mercy this one last time. He has never had the chance to see you for who you truly are. He judges you for how you look, as I once did. People often are afraid of what they don't understand. He does not understand who you are and what you have gone through. Give him the chance to really see you for the man that you are and not the monster that he has been brainwashed into believing that you are. You have him where you want him, completely at your mercy. This time I will not save him, but you can. A monster would act mercilessly and kill him. Only a good and compassionate man such as you has the strength to set him free. Once you do so he will be forced to look at you in a different light, a better light."

"He doesn't appear to be redeemable; he tried to kill us Christine, without regard to your safety. Are we to look behind our backs for the rest of our lives wondering if he is going to strike once again? I don't think that I am ready to gamble with your life my love. I am sorry but I think that we have reached a critical point, the point of no return. This time the boy has gone too far." I told her.

"He was angry Erik, just as you were on the roof. He acted jealously without thinking clearly, just as you might have done. If it had been Raoul and I kissing in the garden would you have liked it any better? He might be more like you than either of you would like to believe. He might be your cousin, just as much as Christian is. You must keep that in mind. You forgave both Christian and Otto. You could do the same for him. Please give him one last chance. Show him the truth about who you are. Just as I showed you that you were not alone, prove to him that you are a better man than he will ever be. If he still cannot be made to see, I will kill him myself to keep you safe." She pleaded.

I wanted to deny that the boy could have any familial ties to me. I abhorred him with every fiber of my being. "I will keep that in mind." I agreed. Then I asked with some amusement creeping into my voice "If I do spare him, and he does not see the light, what sort of weapon will you use to protect me? Will you duel using swords, shoot him with a gun or perhaps I should teach you to use a Punjab lasso. As you choke the life out of him at least he will have a vindictive angel to look at rather than a demon like me."

She hugged me tightly yet again. "You are a good man Erik. Don't ever doubt that again." She told me.

We arrived at my suite and I found the medications and carried them down to my stricken cousin. Christine went off to find clean bandages. We did not know how long that the doctor would take to get there and we wanted to keep Christian alive, clean and comfortable. I returned to the room and Nadir administered the medications to him. Meg sat at his bedside holding his limp hand. A short time later Christian's valet Volker came in and brought in the physician. The Doctor was a kind looking man about the same age as Christian and me. To my surprise he barely glanced at my unmasked face. He introduced himself as Norbert Herrmann. We explained to him what we had done to treat the wound and he examined it.

"It is rather large, but clean; the bullet passed right through him. I must close both wounds and then we will wait and see if he will make it. He is very weak from the loss of so much blood but whoever stopped the bleeding might have saved his life." He told us.

He went into his bag and we watched him close the wounds he was very neat and deliberate. I had sent Christine away and tried to do the same to Meg but she refused to leave Christian's side. I cannot say that I could blame her. I would do the same if it had been Christine. When the doctor was finished he turned to us.

"He is clinging to life so far. He is in fine shape and still young which might bode well for him. His wound looks like the bullet was fired point blank. How did this happen? Must we inform the authorities?" he asked. I could tell that he was more than a little bit suspicious.

Nadir and I glanced at one another. I turned to the Doctor and improvised. I did not want the authorities involved. I wanted to deal with the Vicomte in my own way.

"Er My cousin and I had a date to go hunting and he was cleaning his rifle. Unfortunately he did not take proper precautions and the gun went off and he wounded himself." I told him.

He looked at me and knew that I was being untruthful "You have the look of your grandfather. He was a very kind man, very charitable to the less fortunate. My father died in the war when I was still young. Your grandfather gave me the funds to go to medical school in Germany. I am very grateful to him and to your family. I owe everything to him that I am today. Therefore I will not press you to tell me how a passionate sportsman who has been around weapons for all of his life could be so careless as to shoot himself. I owe your grandfather that much."

"Thank you for your discretion Doctor. It is much appreciated." I told him.

He scanned my face and then asked me gently "Your deformity appears to be a birth defect is that the case?" he could see me flinch. "I mean no disrespect Monsieur le Baron, it is merely professional curiosity."

I relaxed a little and told him "It has been there since birth."

"It is quite severe, the worst that I have ever seen. You must have been subjected to a lot of torment from others?" he asked.

"Yes of course." I admitted. "I usually wear a mask to hide it, but the accident made me forget to do so." I told him.

"I am not sure that you are a candidate for surgery, but we have had great success with facial prosthetics here in Germany. We treated a lot of facial injuries after the war. If you would like we could discuss whether or not you would like one at a more convenient time. My wife is an excellent cook and we would be honored to receive you in our home." He told me.

I was touched by that I had never received an invitation to anyone's home. "You would not need to have me in your home Monsieur. I would not want to offend your wife's sensibilities. I am aware of the effect that my appearance has on most people even when I am wearing my mask and wig."

He smiled at me "My wife is a physician's wife and sometimes helps me in my practice. She would not be the least bit uncomfortable if you were to join us for dinner. We would be most envied by everyone. The city is buzzing with word about the mysterious new Baron who has made his home in this ancient Chateau. Almost no one has met you."

"I have tended to lead a very solitary life until now, although perhaps I should accept because my fiancée Christine is new to the area as well. It would not be fair to her that we remain so isolated here. Perhaps with your prosthetic, I would not appear as forbidding as I have in the past." I told him.

"There are many rumors about you floating about that your appearance might settle. I heard one particular rumor this morning that is the most recent to circulate. A young French nobleman arrived at the police station requesting that the police come to arrest you. He claimed that you were the infamous Phantom of the Opera. The police declined to do so especially given the fact that all charges against the man had been dropped in France. The man was quite irate and vowed to take care of the business himself. I rather wondered if your cousin's accident had occurred due to that man's intervention, but apparently not." He looked at me pointedly.

"Were it to be true, how would the local population feel about the alleged Phantom settling in their midst despite his innocence?" I asked.

"I doubt that it would matter to anyone given that it was a French affair; even if it wasn't, the Mulheim family has always been a presence here. We look after our own."

He told me.

"Then it really does not matter whether or not I am that man. Since it is but a rumor as you say, I will not bother to either admit it or refute it. I would not want to deny the people around here the enjoyment of a good mystery. It would only serve to make them come up with something else to conjecture about me." I told him with a smile.

He laughed "You are so right, Monsieur le Baron."

"You may call me 'Erik' since I will soon be a guest in your house."

"You may call me Norbert." He reached out his hand to shake mine, again a first for me. I took his warm hand in mine and grasped it tightly. No one normally gave me such a courtesy, as if I were just an ordinary man.

He continued "I will not keep you. I must return to my wife and tell her about meeting the new Baron. She will be most anxious to hear about you."

"Then please do not disappoint her." I replied.

He left and I could not help but be amused by the uproar that my unseen presence had created. I was pleased with the notion that I might find acceptance here. When he was gone I knew that it was time to attend to other business, the Vicomte. Nadir insisted on coming with me to interrogate him. He knew that I might not be able to control my temper. He was still of a mind to try to sway the boy to drop his vendetta against me but I was not convinced that it was possible. The fop had never convinced me that he was capable of seeing the world in any color but black and white, and for him I was the embodiment of evil.

We descended to the room where the dungeon might once have existed; but now it was a wine cellar filled with casks from Christian's various vintages. My cousin had turned much of the lower reaches of the Chateau into such. As we approached the room where the Vicomte had been detained I heard Otto screaming at him.

"You have not answered me. Did she send you to kill my boy, as well as the Phantom? Bah, you are useless. Perhaps I should just kill you. It is my right to do so." I heard the click of a gun cocking ready to fire.

I was sorely tempted not to intervene. It would solve my problem with the fop nicely, and I would not have to justify his death to Christine. Hmm so tempting, I could be just moments too late. But curse me, I had promised Christine that I would deal with him fairly. The maniac Otto is in my realm, not his, I could not let him usurp my authority. I would have to stop him before he killed the boy. My mind made up, I crept into the room behind Otto and unleashed my Punjab to knock him to the ground. I sprung on top of Otto to subdue him. He was very weak so it was not difficult.

"Why did you stop me, Frenchman he tried to kill you? I am doing you a favor." Otto asked me in German.

"This is my Schloss, not yours and therefore it is my decision and mine alone on how to deal with this boy. He and I have some unfinished business. I will not have you interfering with me in my realm. If you kill him, you will die. I will have no trouble letting you join my murdered ancestors in death? Leave us now, or your neck will wear this as a collar." I told him.

"Very well but if Christian dies, he will die. It is as simple as that." He told me bitterly. You will not stop me.

"We shall see." I conceded "But you will leave the Vicomte for me to deal with, at least for now."

"Fine" Otto told me "But remember my words. I will avenge my son and if you get in the way I will kill you."

"I have no trouble with the concept of killing the Vicomte but you are premature. The boy may have shot Christian but you know who was behind the trigger. Trust me cousin. Let me deal with the boy." I told him

Otto gave me one last look and then yielded to me. I gave him little choice. I might despise my rival but he would not die at Otto's hands. If he were amenable to reason he might even survive the day. I would not let the Comtesse claim more lives even if it were Raoul's. The fop looked defeated and dirty. My men had tied him to a chair and awaited my commands. They all loved Christian and would not object to any action that I might decide to take. I dismissed all of them until just Nadir was with me. The boy looked at my unmasked face with both ill- disguised disgust and defiance towards me. I could see the hatred seething from his eyes. I could see no small measure of fear in his eyes as well. He had been warned that I would make him look like me. I did not want him to think that I had changed my mind about that just yet. I wanted to torture him in the knowledge that I was capable of anything.

He spat at me "I suppose that you will want me to thank you for saving me from that maniac just now?"

I suppressed my anger and replied "It would be appropriate Monsieur le Vicomte. You are most ungrateful considering that I just postponed your death. My cousin is not terribly pleased with you, since you have shot his only son. I am at a loss about what to do with you. You have made yet another attempt on my life, and Christine's as well. By all rights I should have let him kill you. Your death would be off of my conscience, but Christine has persuaded me to show you some mercy. You don't deserve any but I would do anything in my power to please her. Not that you deserve her regard. But I am being a poor host. I must bid you welcome to my new home."

He looked at me in defiance. It would not last long if I had my way. "Why don't you just kill me monster? If I escape I will kill you. I don't know what new clever game that you are playing."

"You are a fool to defy me when I hold your life in my hands once more. I gave your life back to you before. Did I not warn you about the consequences of seeking me out? If you had left me alone after I let you and Christine go, you would have never seen me again and Christine would have been yours. I was finished with you." I told him.

"I was supposed to trust you to keep your word, a deranged monster?" He spat. "I would do it again if I could. This time I would make sure that you were dead." He added.

I smiled at him evilly "I have no doubt that you would. Sadly for you, you are at my mercy."

The Phantom inside of me really wanted to deal with the boy once and for all. It would be very easy to simply snap his neck and end it. My cousin was lying there struggling to stay alive because the boy was such a dupe. He had been more than a nuisance from the moment that he set foot in my opera house. Still Christine's words rang true inside my head. The Comtesse had fooled more intelligent men then the fop, and this would-be Galahad might be my cousin. Did I really want to add the guilt of killing my own blood to my already blood-soaked conscience? I pushed the anger aside that had welled up inside of me. I would not let the Comtesse win by spilling more blood in this ridiculous vendetta of hers, even if the boy deserved it.

The Comtesse was the monster that wallowed in blood by her own choice, not me. The death of the boy would accomplish nothing but turning me into the creature that he believed me to be. I left that person back in Persia a long time ago. I would and I could keep my anger at bay. I would take charge of both my fate and the boy's. When I had calmed myself, I turned back to my nemesis to face him once more. I might not kill him but I would torture him, at least mentally.

I took a poker that was found on his person and I caressed the tip, as if deciding whether to use it. "You are truly a mindless fop. I have you at my mercy and you would taunt me. You have no idea where I have been and what I have done in the past. The Persian over there can tell you stories about me that would make your blue blood burn in terror. The Shah of Persia employed my genius in such a way that made me the object of many a man's nightmares. Men who were much more gallant and braver than you."

He looked at Nadir reflexively and the Daroga gave him a confirming smile. He looked back at me in terror.

I continued "They called me the Angel of Doom or Death. One visit from me in their prison cell and they knew that their life was over. One glance at my unmasked face and they would pray to Allah for mercy and forgiveness. My maze was one of the more benign apparatus' of torture that the Shah commissioned from me. Perhaps you would like me to introduce you to some of my more imaginative ones."

A little of my anger and self -disgust crept into my voice. I was not very proud of my past. I would rather not think of those days at all, but felt the need to put the arrogant Vicomte in his place. I was almost finished. It would not do to have the fop die of a heart attack. I only wanted to maintain his fear of me. It was the least that he deserved considering what he had done to both Christian and me. "I suppose that you intended to use this on me, it would do little harm to me fop, and it would not help you regain Christine. I am a hideous man no matter what you might do to me."

I deliberately walked towards a lit fireplace and put the poker in it.

I smiled at him evilly wanting him to suffer one last time. I twirled the poker in my hand. "You on the other hand have a lot more to lose. You are, for the moment, more generously endowed when it comes to facial features. As much as I despise you, I will grant you that, even with my recent 'redecoration' of your foppish face." I could see the fear in his eyes.

I came close to him so close that I touched my marred cheek to his. He flinched in disgust as if he might catch my deformity like a disease. My anger fled at his action because it was so ridiculous. To disconcert him further I deliberately laughed like a maniac; harder than I had done when I had make La Carlotta croak like a frog. He was really ridiculous. I wondered how I had ever considered him a worthy adversary. He was still such a boy with much still to learn if he were capable of doing so.

He looked at me and finally spoke with much less bravado "You are insane Phantom, a maniac."

I laughed even harder and mocked his words "You are right boy, I am insane. I agree."

I put down the poker and told him "Fortunately for you, not so much that I would not bestow my fate upon you boy, even if I do despise you. I would not or could not do such a thing even to my worst enemy. Despite what you might believe, you are not. You are not worthy enough to bear that title."

I picked up my Punjab lasso and touched the noose lovingly as if I were going to use it on him. Raoul's frightened eyes turned to Nadir who looked at both of us passively.

"You think that my Persian friend here would save you this time should I decide to use this?" I asked. "I am afraid that he might forget to help you this time and leave you to your fate just like you left him in my maze to die. Fortunately I remembered him and rescued him. Isn't that right Daroga?"

It was not true and we both knew it. Nadir would never let me go too far but he as of yet had not seen anything from me to prove me to be untrustworthy and agreed. "I see no reason to interfere this time given the circumstances. The man tried to kill you and Christine. If Christian dies, the Vicomte will be a murderer."

I smiled at the Vicomte and told him "You better pray that he doesn't die. If I decide to let you live, Otto will kill you anyways. I am also well within my rights to turn you over to the German police. I am sure that they would not take an attempt on two German Barons' lives gracefully; particularly by a Frenchman."

I looked back at Nadir "Do you really believe that this boy is capable of learning? He is not very bright. I see nothing of Mulheim heritage in him." I continued to fondle the Punjab lasso as if testing it out. "Perhaps I should just use this on him and end this matter at last." I said mildly as if considering it. "The world would not miss one effete young fop if I ended his shallow existence."

"It is up to you." Nadir answered. We spoke in French so that the Vicomte would understand everything. If I had really intended to harm him I would have spoken to Nadir in Farsi.

I threw down the Punjab lasso and told Nadir "We will follow the plan that we agreed upon before the Vicomte tried to change the equation. Please leave us for a while and ask Volker to bring us Christian's pistols. Then find Christine and the others, and tell them to come. I am sure that Christine will wish to say goodbye to the boy. She still has feelings towards him."

Raoul looked at Nadir fearfully as if begging him not to leave him alone with me. I looked at him and smiled "I would give you my word as a gentleman that I will not harm you in his absence, but we are in a bit of a quandary. Since you refuse to acknowledge me as a human at all you might not find it to be sufficient."

I turned to Nadir "I will keep the boy company. We have much to catch up on."

Nadir gave me one last warning glance, and then left. The boy gave a distressed look when he closed the door behind him, realizing that his fate was in my hands. I turned to the fop and told him. "In a few moments the Daroga will return with a set of dueling pistols. Unlike you, I am not a coward. I would not kill you either by stabbing you in the back while you are disarmed, or by shooting you from a distance hiding behind a tree. Although you have deemed me a monster, I still pride myself on being a gentleman despite my repulsive face and unsavory past. As a gentleman, I will give you the chance to defend yourself against me. One way or the other we will end this war. In return all that I ask is that you bear me the courtesy of listening to some information with an open mind. Christine tells me that you are an honorable man, and will act upon what is right, and just, provided that you can be made to see the nuances which lie just beneath the surface. So I will give you the chance to look beyond appearances and discover the truth; if you are capable."

"You are not going to kill me here and now?" He asked in confusion.

I laughed at the simplicity of his response. Is this ignorant fool really that stupid? "I'm sorry to disappoint you Monsieur le Vicomte. I do not choose to conform to the role of monster that you have assigned to me."

I took a knife and cut him loose from the binds that anchored him to the chair. He gazed at me in surprise.

"I trust that you will not take this knife and use it to stab me in the back when I have freed you yet again?" I mocked him. I picked up my Punjab and brandished it just in case he had thoughts of escaping.

He looked at me hesitantly and asked me "Tell me the truth Phantom; is Christine really here by choice, or was it by your design? Did you follow her here to kidnap her? Is she alright?"

I looked at him and smiled "So many questions fop. She is fine. How dare that you think otherwise." I glowered at him but continued "Christine came to me by design, but not my own. This Chateau has been in my family for a very long time. I came here to forget about Paris and all that transpired there. Christine was placed in my path, and we were able to speak to one another and settle the misunderstandings that had poisoned our relationship. It is amazing what havoc mere miscommunication can reap on relationships."

"So she is here of her own volition?" he asked.

"She is not a possession of mine for me to control or keep with me against her will. She is free to leave me if she were to choose so. Fortunately for me she has freely agreed to remain with me and become my bride." I told him.

He looked at me in shock and revulsion.

I enjoyed my little victory. "Christine is no longer afraid of me. She never needed to be. I have never posed any sort of threat to her. Once that element was disposed of, she learned to look beyond my more repugnant qualities and embrace my soul."

I heard Nadir returning with the others.

"But I must cut this discussion short for the moment. The others are almost here."