Mia pushed her food around her plate with her silverware. "Eat," Gaston ordered as he shoved another forkful into his mouth. "I want my child to be healthy and strong, which means you need to take better care of yourself."
She sighed and obediently picked up her fork. The only thing protecting her from Gaston's wrath was her pregnancy, and him not realizing that there was another man in the picture. Mia herself wasn't even certain who the father was. The odds were that it was most likely Erik's, and she was nearly positive that he was, but Gaston was still her husband, and from time to time, he made sure to remind her of it. They had been married for a few years now, and she had yet to deliver an heir, a fact that Gaston and her family brought up frequently. And even if the timeline didn't quite line up perfectly, her husband was desperate enough for an heir, he probably didn't think twice about the pregnancy.
"How far along did the doctor say you were?"
"He guessed about three months, which means I'll be showing very soon. The baby will hopefully come around the end of summer."
The couple lapsed into silence again. As soon as Mia had eaten enough to satisfy Gaston, she excused herself and retreated to her room. She sat on the edge of her bed and buried her face in her hands. Mia's life felt like a train wreck. She didn't know if Erik was injured or even still alive.
There was nothing she wanted more than for Erik to hold her, to tell her that he loved her, that everything was going to be alright, like he always did. She yearned to go back to the Populaire to find him, to make sure he was alright. But Erik had told her to stay away until he came for her, and she understood why. If anyone found her there, they would realize she hadn't been kidnapped and that would put Erik's life in even more danger. Mia let out a sob. She had no idea how long it would be until Erik deemed things "safe" enough for him to find her, and that was if he was still alive.
"Are you alright Madame?" She whirled around and saw Hazel standing in the doorway.
"I…I'm fine," she stammered, wiping her eyes quickly.
"You know, after the day you've been through, no one would question if you're upset Madame. In fact, it's to be expected."
Mia buried her face in her hands again and tried to fight back the tears. "It's just too much right now."
"Madame, why don't we go downstairs? You can relax away from the terrible memories and I'll make you a cup of tea to calm your nerves."
"Tea would be lovely Hazel, but I want to stay up here. I'll be alright, I promise. I just want a few minutes alone."
Hazel hesitated for a moment. "Madame, I don't think that's a good idea…Monsieur Barineau doesn't want you to be alone…in case…you know…"
She sighed. "Okay. But only because I don't want you to get in any more trouble with Gaston."
Mia followed Hazel downstairs and into the sitting room. Gaston was in his usual armchair reading the newspaper, and he barely looked up as she entered. She sat down on the sofa and turned to Hazel. "After you get that tea, could you be a dear and fetch my sewing basket? I left it in my room."
Once Hazel left, Gaston lowered his paper. "I trust Hazel has informed you that you will no longer be unaccompanied."
"Gaston…"
"The doctor told me that the thug your brother hired could have killed the baby. I'll not allow any more unnecessary risks." Mia nodded, having no choice but to be obedient. Infuriating Gaston would only make things worse for her. If she was trapped with Gaston forever, fighting him would just make her life even more miserable. "You'll also be sleeping in my room from now on."
The maid returned with the tea and the basket Mia requested. As she pulled out a bit of embroidery to work on, Mia couldn't help but wonder how Erik could get to her now if she was being guarded all the time.
Erik paced back and forth in his lair, rolling his injured shoulder, wishing it was healed already. He didn't want to go after Mia until he had full mobility of his arm in case he needed to fight. But being away from her was agonizing. There was no telling what kind of damage Amelia was causing, and Mia was so terrified of Gaston, she changed her mind every few minutes. At least if he got her away, he could take her where she wouldn't be afraid of him anymore.
He reached up and felt the stiches in his shoulder, willing his arm to heal faster. As soon as it was, he was going to take Mia up to Calais, then from there, find passage to England or America, or somewhere where her husband would never find her.
Sulking down here wasn't making things any better, and Erik knew it. The least he could do right now was continue his duties as Opera Ghost, specifically demanding his salary for the month. The more he could stockpile now, the more comfortable of a life he could provide for Mia. He made his way upstairs, where he heard Gaston and his mistress arguing. "How could you do this to me?" Violet screamed. "You said you would marry me!"
"Guess what! I lied! I never had any intentions of leaving Amelia for a slut like you! You were just stupid enough to fall for it!"
"You told me you loved me! You told me I was special!"
"I tell everyone that, my darling." He spat out his former petname for her. "I can assure you, you are far from special."
Violet slapped him across the face. "Go to hell," she snarled before storming out of the room. Erik couldn't help but wonder what on earth brought on the fight. Gaston didn't care about Mia but something caused him to end the affair. What could it be?
"Gaston I heard about what happened!" Violet cried, rushing to him. "Pity he just didn't kill her. Then we could be together without any complications."
He shoved her away. "I don't want her dead."
"No darling, of course you don't, but you promised me we were going to be together and you need to hurry. That would just make things easier."
"I told you I'd take care of it."
She ran her hands through her hair. "Gaston, I…I'm pregnant. The baby's yours." He began to curse profusely. "Oh don't be like that. Once we're together, it won't matter."
"Don't you get it? " Gaston shouted. "We will never be together! My wife is pregnant! I'm going to have a legitimate heir! My marriage has landed me among the aristocracy! I am on top of all of Paris, if not the world! I'm not going to give that up for anything, especially not an opera whore who claims she's about to have a bastard child! For all I know, the child's not even mine! You were so willing to throw yourself at me, how many other men do you throw yourself at?"
Violet was in tears. "How could you do this to me? You said you were going to marry me!"
Gaston was tired of women. Sooner or later they all turned into emotional wrecks that were far more trouble than they were worth. First Amelia, and now Violet. "Guess what! I lied! I never had any intentions of leaving Amelia for a slut like you! You were just stupid enough to fall for it!"
His mistress was beyond hysterical. "You told me you loved me! You told me I was special!"
"I tell everyone that, my darling. I can assure you, you are far from special." He wasn't lying. At some point or another, he had told every woman he had ever been with those things, Amelia included. Of course, that had been when they were courting, as he loved her just as much as every other woman he had slept with. Not at all.
She slapped him across the face. "Go to hell."
"Consider us done then," Gaston snapped as he made his way to the door.
"But what am I supposed to do?" Her voice had suddenly become desperate, pleading for help. "Gaston, it's yours."
He shrugged. "The bastard's not my problem. And now, neither are you."
Hey guys sorry about the long wait; college kind of got in the way. But I'm home for the next week for Thanksgiving break so I'll hopefully get another chapter out before I head back to school. Fun Fact of the Day that a lot of people don't seem to know. Victorian couples didn't generally sleep in the same room. Weird right? Apparently they decided that seeing someone's sleeping face was gross and caused people to fall out of love, waking up next to the same person day after day and seeing their not clean, pretty, made-up faces, so they generally only slept together when they were doing couple-y things. That's also why it's totally normal for Gaston and Mia to have their own rooms, and why in Leroux's novel, Erik wants to marry Christine but totally doesn't blink at the thought of her having her own room. That was totally normal back then. Haha, okay, Fun Fact of the Day over. Read and Review, and if you're one of my American readers, have a Happy Thanksgiving!
~nibblesfan