"Yes, my dear," Erik confirmed, sitting up beside Christine.
"But...how?" She asked, tilting her head quizzically.
"My mother...Marguerite Bellanger."
A memory came to mind of a dark haired woman with bright pink rouge and blue eyes, eyes that looked so much like his... "Erik! I know of her! She's famous! And we have met before! She saw my debut and came to my dressing room afterwards among the company of some diplomats." His eyes lit up with intrege, and he leaned forward.
"Did you two speak?"
"Shortly, she mentioned your brother actually, saying she wished he would have accompanied her, and then... oh Erik! She mumbled something else... I believe she said, "And, my other... he would have loved this." I remember wanting to ask her about you, but one of the men interrupted her and for the rest of the visit she remained silent, smiling at me every once in a while until they left.
"Well, then, you may also know know she was famously a mistress to King Phillipe." Christine nodded bashfully.
"I was his first son," he said, taking her hands in his. "Although I was illegitimate, I would have been recognized as an air to the throne, had my face not been so horribly disfigured from birth... You see my father was desperate for a son, his wife had only produced girls." Christine was wide eyed, in disbelief.
"The king had supposedly awaited my arrival with hope to publicly acknowledge me, yet once he saw my face, my mother was ordered to leave the castle and given another home far from society to live in and raise me. She was given monthly food rations and a salary. We were well taken care of until the arrival of the new parliament. My father still involved himself with my mother even so, leaving my mother with another son of his own offspring, my brother Charles. By this time his wife Queen Eugénie de Montijo gave heir to their first son, Napoléon. Now known as Napoléon IV, Prince Imperial. "
Christine sat up, and wrapped her arms around him. "My love," she said ending the embrace, "I am so terribly sorry that happened to you. You do not deserve the way that you were treated, it truly distresses me knowing that you could have had an incredibly different life. One full of family, and luxury, and-"
"No." he interrupted, shaking his head aggressively. "No. I am proud of my life. I've had many hardships , it's true; many, I wish to never divulge to you. Yet, I have had had six years of happiness and good fortune, simply by knowing you my dear. I'd trade every position of power if it meant gaining you for life instead." Christine's eyes welled with tears. Every word from his mouth felt absolute, no resistance in them at all. He cared for her unselfishly.
"Which brings us to this," he continued, getting up from the bed. "It's our time, my darling. Let us become one officially by law, as we have already joined our flesh. I wish to call you my wife." Christine's heart rippled with excitement at this declaration. She got up from their bed and sealed her arms around his strong frame and peered up at him finding comfort, love, and a comforable familiarity unlike any other in his gaze.
"Truly?" She probed. How could she be certain that he was ready? He'd left her to be in someone else's charge, just recently, after all, while she had known it was to be him all along that she would love eternally. Even through all his mystery and disguise in years past, something inside her knew very early. When exactly it was that there was no other choice but him was hard to tell. He'd been her steady anchor since she was just fourteen. Could it have been a series of moments that lead to her deep understanding? Possibly.
If she had to choose the earliest inclination of un-platonic affection towards him, it would have be the starlight summer night on top of the Palais Garnier three years ago when she was seventeen. Erik would have been twenty six then. Christine had mentioned how she loved looking up at the stars at night, how looking towards the heavens made her feel closer to her mother and father who she dearly missed. Erik listened, and when everyone was asleep, he took her above to view the midnight sky. He'd previously arranged a soft pallet on the cement roof for her and a brass telescope for her viewing. Along with the blanketed seating and telescope there were chocolates just like the ones she used to delight in over summers at the beach cottage.
The night was warm with a small and gentle breeze. There was a sense of fantasy to the scene as they admired the stars together and Erik pointed out several constellations. She remembered his partially hidden smile, and the way his eyes glimmered through his mask as he looked at her in the darkness. She knew in that moment she was becoming more than just a simple minded ingénue. She wasn't just a girl to him anymore. She... was a woman.
"Of course, Christine," he said immediately, bringing her forehead to his lips. "I understand you must feel uncertain, I know that leaving you has most certainly caused you and I irrefutable damage, but I promise you that I will never leave you again, you know I love you more than anything in this God forsaken world. I just believed you'd be better off without me. And if I were an unselfish man you'd still be. But I cannot face another day without being close to you. You have always been my passion and my muse. The one person that this life has granted me. And I intend to never loose sight of that again, my darling." She smiled a tender and hopeful smile, as she imagined him saying, "I do."
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