Raoul paced back and forth in front of the fire place rubbing his temples. "This is all your fault!" He exclaimed. "Both of you! You just had to keep picking at her! She was still emotionally frail; you couldn't just leave her alone and let us be happy! Just let her adjust in her own time!"
The de Chagny Sisters sat on the couch, not looking at their brother. One looked at the clock on the mantel, the other at the paintings on the wall.
Their youngest brother stopped pacing and turned to them, "Which one of you saw her last? What did you say to her?"
"Raoul, it is past eleven o'clock," Michelle yawned. "I thought you woke us for a real emergency."
"Christine missing is a real emergency!"
"No, it is not," Bernadette patted the curl rags in her hair. "I was the one who spoke to her last. She probably has a case of cold feet. Went back to her old guardian's house. What was that woman's name… Valerius?"
"What did you say to her?!" Raoul grabbed Bernadette's arms as he bent and put his face mere inches from hers.
"I told her she needed to be wearing her engagement ring on her finger, not on a chain tucked away under her dress' neckline," Bernadette pulled away and stood up. "I was only thinking of you, dear brother," She smoothed down his hair. "Now, I suggest you end this foolishness now. Have a nightcap and go to bed. What would Phillippe think if he discovered you went chasing Christine down in the middle of the night, only to find her safe at Madame Valerius' house?"
"But what kind of man am I if I do not chase after the woman I love?"
"Raoul, you said yourself she needs to adjust in her own time," Michelle's lids were closed but her fingers fiddled with her robe's ribbons. "Let her have tonight. Tomorrow you can go see Valerius." She stood, "Good night."
"What now?" Michelle grumbled in response to the knock on her bedroom door. She stumbled out of her bed to open the door only for her sister to barrel in.
"Oh Michelle, we have a dilemma," Bernadette pushed the door shut and locked it.
"What are you talking about?" Michelle crawled back under her covers. "The dilemma we have is I want to sleep and my siblings keep waking me up."
Her sister turned the oil lamp on the night stand on low before sitting on the edge of the bed, "I lied to Raoul. Christine missing is a real problem." She made the sign of the cross, "Remember how we agreed to let her wear Mama's cameo?"
"Yes."
"After showing it to her and telling her about it, I changed my mind. I told her if she truly loved our brother, she'd wear her engagement ring on her finger, that she doesn't have to hide it anymore. But no, she keeps it empty for that Opera Ghost! She defended him, when I called him a monster! I told her I didn't believe she completely loves Raoul and I wasn't going to let her wear our Mama's cameo knowing in good faith a part of her heart still belongs to that thing."
"But didn't he die?"
"That's what the papers reported." Bernadette took her sister's hand, "But what if he didn't die? He was a magician after all. Raoul told us how he was always creating tricks and delusions."
"And you think Christine went out and tracked him down, abandoning our brother in the middle of the night all because you decided you wouldn't let her wear our mother's cameo because she defended the man who taught her how to sing?"
"I think she loves them both, but now that she's seen what is expected of her in our world and how we behaved towards her she…"
Michelle cut her sister off by laughing, "Bernie you sound almost as bad as Raoul! No wonder Phillippe keeps his distance from him. The boy pulls everyone into his drama. Maybe the Lord took Mama during his birth as a way to protect her."
"How dare you say such a thing! You'll confess that on Sunday!"
"You seem to forget just what a pest he was before we sent him off to school. Christine leaving for a dead monster just might be the Lord making up for Mama. Go back to bed, pray that that Opera Ghost is alive and instead we'll be having fete Friday night instead of wedding."