The Treasure *Phantom of the Opera* (sequel to The Quest)

VI

One Last Night in Eden

Chapter VI

It's easy to play any musical instrument: all you have to do is touch the right key at the right time and the instrument will play itself.
- J.S. Bach

"I would give you spiced wine to drink from the juice of my pomegranates. Let his left hand be under my head and his right hand embrace me." (Song of Solomon 8: 2,3)

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After a night of little sleep, Helena suffered through her morning toilette and Marian's clumsiness with barely concealed impatience, loath to endure a repeat of the previous evening.

Marian knocked the container of facial powder across the vanity, dousing Helena's morning gown with a dusting of ivory. Helena furiously brushed at her lap as Marian whisked loose powder on the vanity into her cupped hand. Her ministrations went awry as half the granules showered to the floor, countless others finding their way atop Helena's cleaned skirt. Her maid's jerky actions produced a thick cloud of dust that tickled Helena's nose and throat, causing her to choke and cough.

"Enough!" she ground out. "Whatever is the matter with you?"

"Do you not sense it, Mistress?" Marian's dark eyes glowed, unnerving Helena. "Something lingers in the air, something disturbing, ever since that woman came to the manor."

She was one to harp of wickedness! "I will remind you that you speak of the wife of my late husband's brother," Helena corrected in a chilling tone of reprimand.

"Does that not give you greater cause to resent the intrusion?" She brushed her hands together, raining powder to the floor. "Her presence here is a danger. Why else should she inform her maid that she wished to stay to her rooms all day, undisturbed, and her speaking this directly after her odd behavior of last night?" At Helena's sharp glance she nodded. "Oui, milady. I know what took place between the two of you."

Her pointed words made Helena uneasy. "She fears for her husband. She's distressed. It's not unusual that she would prefer to enclose herself within her rooms for peace."

"That doesn't explain her communiqué of last night."

To know her maid had been eavesdropping rankled. "I have no further use of your services at this time. Leave me."

Marian's angular chin raised a notch in defiance. "Mark my words, you will rue the day you opened the doors of Le Manoir de Blanc La Rose to the Comtesse!"

Helena wrapped her shawl around her. "The Comtesse is no more dangerous than a field mouse."

"Even a field mouse gnaws at the master's stores, and intrudes in hidden crevices."

Helena released a disgusted breath. "What is it you imply, Marian? Speak your piece and go."

"The Comtesse visited the east wing yesterday."

Her grave words twisted the barbs of Helena's past. For a moment she panicked before remembering those doors remained locked. With an air of seeming indifference, she turned back to the mirror. "Never mind. It is of little importance."

"Little importance?" Marian scoffed. "And should her prying lead her to seek the ring of keys and snoop through the rooms, will you then regard the matter of 'little importance?'"

Helena clenched her teeth, her jaw hardening as she rose to her feet and confronted her maid. "You will keep your silence, and see that the keys remain unattainable. I am still mistress of this household and will not stand for the brazenness of a mere servant insulting my guest."