Limelight

Chapter Twenty Seven: The Vicomte's Final Attempt at Courting

Chapter Twenty Seven: The Vicomte's Final Attempt at Courting

November 7th, 1910, 7:00am

I rose at around six thirty in the morning, but now it was seven; I sat in my golden fabric chair, holding the newspaper whilst a steaming cup of coffee sat on my desk. The door connecting my and Victoria's rooms opened and out stepped Littlest Lottie, yawning and stretching; she sighed and kissed my cheek. "How did you sleep?" Asked she, sitting across from me; I sighed and told her it was a bit broken, but, all was well. She and I went to breakfast as normal, where I saw a sight that struck fear into my heart; it was the Vicomte, looking completely normal, eating an omelet.

I shook my head and she and I got pancakes, omelets, grapes, bacon, and a bit of sliced cheese. We sat at the opposite side of the parlor; hoping he wouldn't recognize us. "But, how did he escape his chains? I thought the Priest and Persian had him tied up tight!" Whispered Victoria, looking frantically at the Vicomte's head; I shook my head.

"I do not know, ma chérie, but I am tired of this; the horrible game we are playing, I'm tired of it." I whispered (English translation: my darling) taking a bite of my pancakes. Victoria became quiet and around ten minutes later, she spoke again.

"I know this is a...delicate subject, but...are you still the Opera Ghost's fiancé?" Asked she, looking to me as she cut her omelet in half; I sighed and slightly shook my head.

"I don't know that answer either" I said softly, poking my omelet. Victoria gave a weak smile and finished her breakfast; slowly turning her head, and then quickly turning back to me.

"He's watching you, sissy; he waved to me, but I did not wave back. Oh, he's watching you!" Said she with enthusiasm that I had lost; I nodded and finished my pancakes. I stood with her and we gave our dishes to a maid; Victoria reported that the Vicomte also stood and began to shadow us. I stopped and looked to Victoria, then sighed.

"Go to your room, Cherie, go and do not turn back; promise?" I asked, she nodded and attempted to ask me why; I held up my hand to silence her. "Just, go" said I, and I watched her disappear around a corner, and listened to her eccentric footfall grow soft and distant. "What is it that you want, Aaron?" I asked, turning to find him standing very close to me with a small smile on his face.

"Oh, what has that man done to you? What sadness has he brought upon you? What has made that luminous smile disappear into darkness?" Asked he, falling to his knees and taking up my hands; slowly kissing them, but never loosing eye contact with me. "You ask me what I want, and my answer is you; I ask you what you want, and your answer is him.

 Yet, he is the one who hurt you, he is the one who left you, Littler Lottie, on the day of supreme happiness!...he is the one you should be turning away from, not I; I promise you, swear to you, that I will love you and never, never walk away from you!" He cried, quickly kissing my hands.

"It is hard to hear your pleas when you locked me in a torture chamber and left me for dead" I whispered and he shook his head.

"I was a madman, crazed with love and blinded by anger; I was going to make you love me. Now, though, now I see that what I did was so terribly wrong...now the madness is gone and all that is left is Vicomte Aaron Benjamin. A man who's only want is one woman...Elizabeth de Chagny...Countess Elizabeth Benjamin...it has a ring, you know?" Said he, urgently; I sighed and shook my head slowly.

"Aaron, you frighten me; you frighten me with being so unpredictable, one day you kiss my hands and the next you attempt to fry me. Aaron...I'm just so tired of being frightened; so tired of all this...alas, it may be over...no, no it is not over yet. It is on the cusp of being over, this battle is on its last legs; I cannot take this much longer!" I pulled myself away from the kneeling Vicomte and walked a few paces, before turning back to him with a saddened expression. "My hope is restored...only to be crushed--no, no not crushed...demolished!

....I cannot take much more sadness, Vicomte, I've had my fill of it for a very, very long time." Said I, sitting down; the Vicomte hurried over to me.

"Let me stop the sadness, let me stop your tears! Let your hope be restored and never demolished again! Let us be happy together, forever, oh, please, Elizabeth, please let us be married!" He cried, kissing all over my hands and up my arms "Oh, I love you, Elizabeth, I love you!" said he, kissing my arm again.

Now, my heart broke for this man; for, I did not love him. Oh, how was I to 'let him off easy'? How was I to tell him that the only women he loved, did not feel the same way about him? The Vicomte saw my pitiful expression and sighed "please, Elizabeth, please let me make you happy" said he in a whisper, his voice breaking.

"Poor, unhappy Vicomte" I whispered after a pause, taking my hands from his and cupping his cheeks "poor, unhappy Aaron" I said softly, after another short pause "Aaron, I am not the one to cause your happiness, I am not the one to spark your love--"

"Yes! Yes, you are! You do not just spark it, you create a flame, an undying flame of passion! Oh, Elizabeth, sweet, wonderful, Elizabeth; if you could only feel what I feel when I see your face! If you could only know how I die for you!

How you are so close to me...yet, so far away." Said the Vicomte, running his fingers through my hair; I shook my head and stared at the pleading Vicomte.

"Aaron, my heart weeps for you...for, sadly, I do not...I do not feel the same about you. I wish I did, Aaron, oh, I wish I did! You are, no doubt, a wonderful man; but, Aaron, you are not my man. You are not the man destined for me...take Christy, she has taken a major fancy to you; I hear. She will do anything to make you smile, the ballet dancers tell me; I am sorry, Aaron...my heart weeps for you to-night."

Said I, turning my face away from the Vicomte; for, if I saw the sadness spread upon his face, I would surely break down. Aaron placed his hand upon my cheek and pushed my face back to his; I heard him gulp and sniffle, then, in a voice that broke with a stuffy nose he said "please, tell me you are joking; tell me this is not true! For, Elizabeth, I cannot live without you...I've lived thus far with the sheer hope of your hand; take that away...and I'll be a dead man. Oh, please say what you uttered was not so! Please, my love, please say that you were wrong!

Say that your heart will jump in joy with my ring on your hand! Please..." Said he, a tear running down his cheek; my heart split in two, but I had to hold strong...but...what if I was wrong? What if my Angel ran away forever? What if this was Littler Lottie's last chance at love? Oh, no, this couldn't be so!

I did not love him, what was I thinking? Yet...and yet there is a part of me hesitating! "Vicomte" I finally whispered "I love the Opera Ghost...but" I continued, the Vicomte's eyes opened with hope; "but...there is a part of me...that doesn't want to let you go." At hearing those words, the Vicomte started hyperventilating; then, as I laid him against the wall, he grasped me with terrible strength and pulled me to him, connecting our lips. At first, I struggled, but then, I relaxed; he pulled me into his lap and continued running his fingers through my hair.

The Vicomte wouldn't let me go, even as my lungs burned and begged for oxygen, he wouldn't let go of my lips; all of a sudden, there came a cold wind and I was thrown from the Vicomte's arms, across the hallway. For a moment I laid on my back and just breathed; coughing a few times, but enjoying the sweet, sweet air, that's when I heard my Angel's voice. My Angel of Music's voice! I sat up to see my Angel of Heaven holding the Vicomte by his collar; lifting him a foot from the ground! "Don't you ever touch my Elizabeth again, don't you think of courting my wife!

She's mine and mine alone, you incessant booby! How dare you guilt her into feeling for you? How dare you trick her into having feelings for you?" My Opera Ghost yelled, all of a sudden I saw a Punjab lasso in my Angel of Music's hand...as he threw it over the Vicomte's head and dropped the Vicomte; yanking on the rope and tightening the lasso around Aaron's neck. "How dare you trap her in the torture chamber?

How dare you even lay a finger on her!" The Opera Ghost growled, bringing the Vicomte inches from his face; the Vicomte was gasping and choking for air. Now, my Angel threw the Vicomte, making the Vicomte land on his stomach as he coughed; my Angel turned to me and quickly came to me, the Punjab lasso with the Vicomte at the end of it still in his hand. My Opera Ghost plucked me off of the ground and threw me over his shoulder, dragging the Vicomte along with us to god knows where.