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. What color is that? Black. Like mine, too. Yes, only I don t have any greys yet. Sylvie stiffened in his arms and steppedback. I have greys? She sounded so outraged that Erik laughedaloud. Not many, he assured her, and thecontrast is lovely. She sniffed. Flatterer. She reached totouch his face one more time. I know youshall probably never allow this again, and Iwant to fix your appearance in my mind. Hischeeks were wet, and she smiled warmly at himas she wiped them without comment. Why would you want to do a silly thinglike that? My appearance is not exactly a hand-some one. She shrugged, dropping her hands. It syou, Erik.This is nothing more than a mira-cle that I m even meeting you at all! I knowyou re getting married soon, and I don tknow if you ll ever want to see me again; I msomewhat an embarrassment to the rest of thefamily because of the blindness and the cir-~ 309 ~ - An Wallace -cumstances in which I live.This may be myonly chance. She spoke matter-of-factly, andErik was impressed.It was obvious she wasn tjust trying to curry favor with the new head ofthe family.He scoffed. If you think you re an embar-rassment, you should try being me. She laughed.He went on. It s true; deformed as I am, Iam getting married tomorrow to an operasinger, my former vocal student, who shall con-tinue being an opera singer even after our mar-riage.I somehow suspect that the Chagnyfamily hasn t even begun to be embarrassedyet! He helped her back to her chair and tookthe one opposite her. If you are not tooashamed of us by now, would you like to meetmy bride? Sylvie s smile was very real; no shame to beseen. I would love to, Erik.But would youmind first& What? If you re a musician, good enough to teachan opera singer, would you let me hear youplay or sing something? Singing, especially;your speaking voice is beautiful, and I wouldparticularly enjoy hearing you sing. ~ 310 ~ - Letters to Erik -Never proof against flattery of his talents,Erik smiled and sat down at the piano.Hechose part of the opening aria from Orphée etEurydice, and started singing.~ 311 ~ Chapter 17A Mystery, A Mistress, and aMisunderstandinghristine had slept a little longer thanCshe d been used to, and woke up feel-ing wonderful.She stretched luxuriously andthought with a frisson of pleasure that twomornings from now, she would be waking withErik beside her.It was nice having him on theother side of the door at night certainly betterthan Raoul s being at the far end of a long cor-ridor, when she d been married but shecouldn t wait until she and Erik could begin toshare a room, a bed, and a life together.~ 312 ~ - Letters to Erik -Anneke must have been waiting outside forsome sounds of movement, for she came inright away and helped Christine to dress. Thank you, Christine said as the maid put thefinishing touches on Christine s hair. Andwhere is M.Erik this morning? In the music room, Madame, Anneke re-plied. M.Guillaume, the house steward, sayshe had an early visitor. A visitor? Christine mused. It must be Fr.Arnaud.I shall go say hello. She made her way down to the music roomand pushed the door open quietly.She stopped dead in the doorway, shocked.Erik was standing very close to a tall, black-haired woman, facing her.She was close toErik in age, Christine thought; rather striking,with a proud bearing.As Christine watched, Erik untied his maskand reached for the woman s hands, placingthem on his naked face.The visitor touchedhim willingly, caressing his face with a tender-ness that made Christine s heart fill with a hotrush of jealousy.He even leaned down a littlebit, so the visitor could reach his brow, tostroke his hair.Christine s eyes widened as shewatched the stranger run her hands over Erik s~ 313 ~ - An Wallace -upper body, finally drawing him into an em-brace.When the woman pressed a kiss to Erik swithered cheek, Christine swallowed back thesick feeling in her stomach and forced herselfto withdraw.She closed the door quietly behindher.Blinking back a tear or two, she hurried toher room.Who was that woman?She was sure Erik wouldn t be cheating onher; he loved her too much for that.But at thesame time, he had been up here in Rouen be-fore without her, and before that he had beenalone for five years.He could have met any-body.But he took off his mask for her!Christine had no illusions about Erik slooks.She knew that her fiancé s face was ut-terly gruesome to most people.All the same,she took it as a compliment that she was theonly person who was allowed to see it regu-larly.He did not unmask himself even in frontof Kaveh or Darius very often; he would do itfor Christine, though, every time they werealone together.Apparently he was willing not only to un-mask himself for this stranger, but to let her runher hands all over his body and his naked face.~ 314 ~ - Letters to Erik -Maybe she was an old mistress, come to saygoodbye [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ]
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. What color is that? Black. Like mine, too. Yes, only I don t have any greys yet. Sylvie stiffened in his arms and steppedback. I have greys? She sounded so outraged that Erik laughedaloud. Not many, he assured her, and thecontrast is lovely. She sniffed. Flatterer. She reached totouch his face one more time. I know youshall probably never allow this again, and Iwant to fix your appearance in my mind. Hischeeks were wet, and she smiled warmly at himas she wiped them without comment. Why would you want to do a silly thinglike that? My appearance is not exactly a hand-some one. She shrugged, dropping her hands. It syou, Erik.This is nothing more than a mira-cle that I m even meeting you at all! I knowyou re getting married soon, and I don tknow if you ll ever want to see me again; I msomewhat an embarrassment to the rest of thefamily because of the blindness and the cir-~ 309 ~ - An Wallace -cumstances in which I live.This may be myonly chance. She spoke matter-of-factly, andErik was impressed.It was obvious she wasn tjust trying to curry favor with the new head ofthe family.He scoffed. If you think you re an embar-rassment, you should try being me. She laughed.He went on. It s true; deformed as I am, Iam getting married tomorrow to an operasinger, my former vocal student, who shall con-tinue being an opera singer even after our mar-riage.I somehow suspect that the Chagnyfamily hasn t even begun to be embarrassedyet! He helped her back to her chair and tookthe one opposite her. If you are not tooashamed of us by now, would you like to meetmy bride? Sylvie s smile was very real; no shame to beseen. I would love to, Erik.But would youmind first& What? If you re a musician, good enough to teachan opera singer, would you let me hear youplay or sing something? Singing, especially;your speaking voice is beautiful, and I wouldparticularly enjoy hearing you sing. ~ 310 ~ - Letters to Erik -Never proof against flattery of his talents,Erik smiled and sat down at the piano.Hechose part of the opening aria from Orphée etEurydice, and started singing.~ 311 ~ Chapter 17A Mystery, A Mistress, and aMisunderstandinghristine had slept a little longer thanCshe d been used to, and woke up feel-ing wonderful.She stretched luxuriously andthought with a frisson of pleasure that twomornings from now, she would be waking withErik beside her.It was nice having him on theother side of the door at night certainly betterthan Raoul s being at the far end of a long cor-ridor, when she d been married but shecouldn t wait until she and Erik could begin toshare a room, a bed, and a life together.~ 312 ~ - Letters to Erik -Anneke must have been waiting outside forsome sounds of movement, for she came inright away and helped Christine to dress. Thank you, Christine said as the maid put thefinishing touches on Christine s hair. Andwhere is M.Erik this morning? In the music room, Madame, Anneke re-plied. M.Guillaume, the house steward, sayshe had an early visitor. A visitor? Christine mused. It must be Fr.Arnaud.I shall go say hello. She made her way down to the music roomand pushed the door open quietly.She stopped dead in the doorway, shocked.Erik was standing very close to a tall, black-haired woman, facing her.She was close toErik in age, Christine thought; rather striking,with a proud bearing.As Christine watched, Erik untied his maskand reached for the woman s hands, placingthem on his naked face.The visitor touchedhim willingly, caressing his face with a tender-ness that made Christine s heart fill with a hotrush of jealousy.He even leaned down a littlebit, so the visitor could reach his brow, tostroke his hair.Christine s eyes widened as shewatched the stranger run her hands over Erik s~ 313 ~ - An Wallace -upper body, finally drawing him into an em-brace.When the woman pressed a kiss to Erik swithered cheek, Christine swallowed back thesick feeling in her stomach and forced herselfto withdraw.She closed the door quietly behindher.Blinking back a tear or two, she hurried toher room.Who was that woman?She was sure Erik wouldn t be cheating onher; he loved her too much for that.But at thesame time, he had been up here in Rouen be-fore without her, and before that he had beenalone for five years.He could have met any-body.But he took off his mask for her!Christine had no illusions about Erik slooks.She knew that her fiancé s face was ut-terly gruesome to most people.All the same,she took it as a compliment that she was theonly person who was allowed to see it regu-larly.He did not unmask himself even in frontof Kaveh or Darius very often; he would do itfor Christine, though, every time they werealone together.Apparently he was willing not only to un-mask himself for this stranger, but to let her runher hands all over his body and his naked face.~ 314 ~ - Letters to Erik -Maybe she was an old mistress, come to saygoodbye [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ]