An American Home

Life

With every scenario, every plan, that they devised, Jane and Michaela were agreed on one point. Erik had to be told of the danger. Thus, when they left, Katherine went to do as she had promised. She stood outside the music room for almost a minute, working up the courage to go in.

The curtains were open inside, when she finally stepped in. Pip and Erik were bent over several sheets of paper, both of them making different alterations. “What are you two up to?” Katherine asked, unable to keep from smiling at the picture they presented.

In an instant, all the papers were gathered together and in Pip's arms. “Its a surprise!” the boy declared, looking scandalized. “You need to knock before you come in! You're always telling me to do it!” With his nose in the air, the boy stalked to the door, going past Katherine.

“Sorry, Pip,” Katherine called after him. She shook her head with a laugh.

“Are your friends satisfied that I'm not going to murder you?” Erik asked, moving to his organ.

“They didn't think you were going to kill me!” Katherine exclaimed in defense of her friends. She paused as Erik raised an eyebrow at her. “Are you teasing me?”

Without answering, Erik began to play the organ, his hands moving across the keys with graceful ease. Taking a deep breath, Katherine walked over to join him. “What's wrong now?” Erik asked. “You only ever breathe like that when you have something you have to tell me.”

Surprised, Katherine paused. “Do I? I hadn't realized I was so predictable.”

“So? What is it now?”

“Raoul de Chagny has sent someone to New York to find you,” Katherine said bluntly. “The man I danced with yesterday. He's here for you.”

To her surprise, Erik simply nodded. “I'm aware of him.”

“How are you 'aware' of him?” Katherine demanded. “When did you-? Why didn't you tell me?”

“Foster mentioned that there had been a man asking around for me,” Erik responded, glancing over his shoulder at his wife. “Madame Giry also received a letter from her daughter, warning of the man. And you're one to ask why I didn’t tell you something, Katherine. I would have, but I didn’t want to worry you.”

Katherine felt her cheeks flush. “We're not getting this right, are we?” she asked. She sat on the bench, her back to the organ. Erik stopped playing and regarded her with a quizzical look. “Communicating in our marriage, I mean. We're still keeping secrets from each other. Maybe for good reason but we don't trust each other.”

“We both knew this would not be easy,” Erik responded, taking her hand in his. He hesitated. “Do you regret it?”

“Of course not! How can you ask me that?”

“Because you have not been yourself.”

A smile surfacing, Katherine looked down. “I think I have good reason for that,” she pointed out. She felt Erik tense and heaved a sigh. “But what are we going to do, Erik? This man won't give up on finding you very easy.”

“We'll figure something out,” Erik responded.

Leaning forward to rest her head against his shoulder, Katherine chuckled. “Would it surprise you that Michaela and Jane have some ideas already?”

“I'm surprised that you don't,” Erik said, moving his hand to rest on the back of her neck. “What do they want to do?”

Katherine chuckled. “They haven't agreed yet. The whole family is coming to dinner tomorrow, so if there's anything you know for certain that we need to do, now would be the time to figure it out because I have no idea what they're going to be like once they get started.”