The Imitation Phantom

Chapter 2

Risks

Christine held up a letter the moment she saw the one crumpled in Lunette's hands. She smiled. "They want us to decide upon a lead actress."

"Then there will never be a performance." Erik grumbled. "They are all too weak to carry my music."

"Then what would you have them do?" She laughed. "I certainly will not do it."

"And I would not ask it of you." He shook his head and tapped his lip with one contemplative finger. "Perhaps we could train up a decent young singer. Or rather," he glanced at Lunette and then back to Christine. "you could."

"So you'll come then?"

Lunette left them at a nod from Raoul. They walked a few feet away. "I don't like this." Raoul muttered.

"You think there's an ulterior motive?"

"No, nothing like that." He looked over his shoulder at Christine. "I just don't want her singing with him again. I trust that she never truly loved him but that does not mean he has no power over her still."

Lunette shrugged. "He says that he is controlled. And he does not love her."

"He told you that?" Raoul raised a skeptical brow.

Lunette looked away. "Yes." Raoul waited, sensing the 'but' in her hesitation. She didn't fill it in.

"But you doubt him."

She shook her head quickly. "No! I know Erik is faithful; I know he loves me."

It was a very large 'but.'

"He has not played in years, Raoul! What if it is too much? What if he cannot help his madness?"

Raoul raised a brow. "You used to say he was not mad."

"I wonder sometimes. I want him to play, if only to have somewhere to put this tension of his. It calms him. But I am afraid to take the risk."

"What risk?" Felix rounded the corner, giving them both a questioning stare. Gustave stood by him, curiously looking back at his mother and Erik.

"Nothing, Felix."

"Is this about Paris?"

Gustave folded his arms. "There are rumors circulating that a legend will return to Paris. We know Monsieur Erik has something to do with it. But no one will tell us what."

"They are only stories, Gustave." Raoul waved them away. They left reluctantly, whispering to each other as they went. "I do not understand why he refuses to play." He murmured when they were out of hearing.

Lunette shook her head. "He fears it will release his demons. He has not sung for nearly sixteen years and even then, I only heard it once before. He hums but quietly."

"But he taught Alouette to play. He plays for services."

"Yes, but he pretends to be like any other man. He does not make use of his true talents. He hides them and it is killing him, I see it everyday. The children know nothing of what he is truly capable."

"Perhaps that is for the best? I would not want them knowing of his... Crimes."

She folded her arms and sighed. "This trip could do wonders for him or it could kill us all."

Raoul chewed his lower lip in contemplation. "I say we take the risk. And what comes, comes. We have endured worse."

Still standing by Christine, Erik glanced towards Lunette. Alouette had just run down the stairs, throwing a white sun hat on her head and grinning excitedly at her mother and Raoul.

"Worried?" Christine tilted her head at him.

He sighed. "The children are excited to go. I wish to see my House again. But for The Season?"

"What's the matter with that?"

"There are hoards of families with children who come up for The Season. Their daughters come out, their sons go on the prowl. I don't like it."

Christine smiled slowly. "Alouette is still young and as romantic as she is, she is not ready for marriage. Thank heavens she knows it."

He sighed heavily. "I suppose with her face I shouldn't worry."

"Erik!" She slapped his arm. "Don't say such things! She's a beautiful young woman. There are people who could overlook her..."

"Disfigurement?" He finished dryly, narrowing his eyes at her. "You couldn't." She grimaced and looked away. "She is happy and curious and far too adventurous for her own good. And talented to boot. If the boys will overlook her face, she will never have any peace. Felix is perhaps too quiet for the women's liking and uninterested in the arts. I have no worries for him."

"But?" She raised a brow.

"But Lunette..."

"Lunette?!" She snorted. "She is not as foolish as she was when we met her. She knows how to stay out of trouble now."

"No, she is young, Christine. She's still young."

"She's almost forty." Christine remarked dryly.

"And I am nearing sixty. She appears young still. I would not be surprised if a man came along to sweep her away. And I would not blame her for going with him. For all the trouble I give her, what incentive does she have to stay? I am old, hideous, losing my strength and my mind... And look at her." He gestured to where his wife walked with Raoul, their heads bent in conversation. "She is as beautiful and kind as ever, far too friendly for her own good, and as curious as her daughter. There are too many men in Paris who are interested in married women. I wish to return, Christine, but I fear I will not leave with my family at my side."

Christine didn't say anything. She knew there was a point at which she could not turn his mood. Lunette had written to her a few days ago, relating Erik's return to that dangerous gloom and her inability to help him. Christine wondered if he knew how much Lunette worried about his love for her. She worried that she wasn't enough, that perhaps he would think she wasn't trying because she wasn't helping. There was no chance Lunette would leave him. Instead she worried that he would give up on her. But it was not Christine's place to tell Erik such things.

With a heavy sigh, she patted his shoulder and called after Alouette. If there was anyone to share in her excitement over returning to the Garnier, it was sure to be her.