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Ascent to Power	By : Hot4Gerry Category: M through R > The Phantom of the Opera > Het Views: 5436 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own The Phantom of the Opera, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Chapter Sixteen
Daggers of Betrayal 1871 to 1873 Christine, Raoul, Meg

Across the ocean on the de Chagny estate another man's life hung in the balance in the year of 1872. Not from physical injuries. The blood he shed was internal. The wound inflicted with the dagger of betrayal. His seemingly fatal wounds were inflicted on his heart. The dagger of deceit and betrayal had been wielded by his love, his wife, Christine.

Raoul had taken Christine to his estate outside Paris after leaving the burning opera house. Christine had been so fragile in those first weeks. She would not speak of anything that had occurred that last night at the opera. She clung to Raoul while crying tears for a man who had nearly killed him while manipulating her fragile mind. He knew who she cried for with such desperate longing. While she slept she would call for him. Her Angel of Music.

Raoul had made love to Christine with such passion and consideration trying to drive thoughts of her angel from her mind. Christine had shown that she had such passion in her as well. If he had known for certain she had been a virgin he would have thought his Little Lotte had a lover on the side.

Christine had been quite willing to do things he had thought that only whores or courtesans would do to a man. When she had taken his manhood into his mouth he had thought he had died and gone to heaven. She had done things with her tongue that had brought out his carnal instincts. He had fucked her as he had never fucked a woman before. Still he often felt she was not responding to him but some fantasy lover at times.

Once Christine had regained her senses she had asked if they could never speak of her Angel of Music again or what happened beneath the opera house. Raoul would just as soon forget it himself. It had been a mutual agreement not to speak of it again. In retrospect he came to regret that decision. Hindsight showed him they should have delved deeper into Christine's feelings for the man who had been such a big part of her life. Perhaps Raoul in the furthest corners of his mind had known but not wanted to see the truth of Christine's bond to her Angel.

Without benefit of marriage he and Christine had become lovers. Christine had begged him with desperate pleas to make her his own. Weakened by his fierce love for her he had given in. He wanted to be married but Christine had shied away from that ultimate commitment. His love had blinded him as he accepted her feeble reasoning not to form that sacred bond between men and women. They loved each other. What difference did a ceremony or piece of paper make? He did not feel the need to formalize anything until Christine was ready. In his heart he was already one with her.

Every time he approached the subject she grew agitated. She would go the her bed claiming a severe migraine. Later he would understand that was her unspoken way of rejecting him without uttering the hurtful words. Words she could not use after he had almost given his life to rescue her from that monster who had used her childish beliefs instilled by her father to lure her into his web of deceit.

There will always be certain people who live to observe and comment on the lives of others. These people took great delight in informing Raoul's father of his paramour living in his home. When his father confronted him he protested the term firmly stating Christine was his fiancée. Raoul faced his father's censure proudly. No man or woman would say a word against Christine in his presence. His father gave him the option to end it or make her his wife. He wanted no more scandal. Her association with the performing arts was questionable at best.

If Raoul wanted his father at his wedding he would have to marry quickly as he was packing up and moving to England. France was becoming unsafe for nobles. He advised Raoul to do the same. Raoul could not take Christine away from Madame Giry or Meg. They were the only real family she had.

Raoul loved Christine. He gave her another engagement ring informing her they were to be married within the next two weeks. They would post the banns then find a small chapel to married in with just a few people present to witness their nuptials. If she wanted they could have a reception later as well as a renewal of their vows. Since he had no reservations of his own he made the assumption Christine would be a willing bride. They were married with very little ceremony. Only Raoul's father along with Raoul’s' best friend, Michael were in attendance. Neither Madame Giry nor her daughter Meg was able to come but sent along their best wishes.

Michael had stood beside Raoul during the whole mess in Paris. He had supported Raoul when he introduced Christine to his parents. Raoul could not have asked for a better friend. He had continued his support throughout their marriage.

For the first few months the discord in Paris kept them at home. Christine mailed letters to Madame Giry hopping they would make it to her and Meg. The estate had to be kept under armed guard for protection from their own countrymen. Gradually things returned to normal or as normal as one could expect after the horrors of the last few months. One skirmish was settled only to have another break out. Almost a year of torment nearly tore France asunder.

Six months after marrying Christine Madame Giry had invited them to lunch with her and Meg. Hostilities had settled down into minor skirmishes now and then. Life was returning to normal in Paris as normal as one would expect with another battle threatening to break out daily. Paris was getting back into the rythm of living. All France had had enough of death. When Christine and Raoul arrived there had been an Italian gentleman sitting with them at the table. He looked close to Madame's age. To his surprise Raoul had caught Madame blushing whenever the man looked in her direction. It was hard for him to reconcile this blushing woman with the dour strict ballet mistress who ruled with a fist of iron covered by a glove made of steel.

That day was one of the last happy days Meg would have for quite some time. Her problems escalated with each passing month without any permanent offers of employment. She had no wish to disrupt her mother's life. Christine was newly married as she had reminded Meg during that last day they saw each other for many months.

A few months after they had all met in Paris for lunch Meg received a letter from Christine. She had written begging Meg if asked to say their visit went well. She was to tell Raoul if he should meet her or visit her that Christine had spent a wonderful visit with her.

The change in Christine from loving wife to a stranger he barely knew was gradual. It began with small things. Many trips to visit Meg. Over night stays. They made love less frequently. When they did he felt Christine was not entirely willing. He knew for damn sure she was not responsive. Still blinded Raoul thought perhaps it was her failure to become pregnant that made her melancholy. When her excuses began to sound like what they were, excuses, he stopped asking her to his bedroom. She stopped coming to share his bed altogether barely a year after their marriage. He felt he must have done something. Trying to mend things he was as loving as ever. He would give her time. Physical love was important but not paramount to a relationship. Still he lived in his world where he wore blinders.

The rumors started shortly after that. No one said anything to his face but he overheard enough hushed conversations. He turned a deaf ear to what others said. In his misery he gave in one night to a woman who he had been close to years ago. She made him feel like a man. Not some weak willed person who was only around to pay the accounts when they came due. His guilt ended that affair quickly. Alchoholic bliss looked more inviting with each wound inflicted by a gentle denial of sharing anything more than the same house with increasingly cold indifference.

He had continued on hoping their marriage could be salvaged. He thought that whatever problems Christine had would work themselves out, returning her to the adoring loving woman she had been when he first married her. All marriages went through trials. If he continued to show her he loved her one day she would return to him. His loving wife.

That dream shattered like dropped glass upon a stone floor. In the light of truth he could no longer delude himself. The level of his gullibility astounded him even as it shamed him. he knowledge came to him over time. Not by any great moment of insight but by stealth of the detective he had hired. One recommended by his lawyer who was also a close friend. He was bound by honor of friendship as well as legal restraints to keep what he knew to himself.

Almost two years had passed since the disaster at the opera house. In all that time Raoul had felt the Phantom was truly gone. Christine had not mentioned him since the first days after the disaster. Even in his darkest lonely hours without Christine he did not connect his troubled marriage to that man who had occupied the lower level of The Paris Opera House. He had begun to breath easier over the passing months even as his marriage deteriorated. He lost his fear the Phantom would come to abduct his wife right from their own home. Nothing had happened. No word was forthcoming out of Paris concerning the masked man from the bowels of The Paris Opera House. In that respect he felt safe. Foolish, pathetic fool that he was.

Raoul de Chagny sat slumped in a leather chair sitting in front of a blazing fire in his study. It was spring but the nights were still chilly. The chill in the air was only matched by the chill spreading throughout Raoul and his home. The air frosted over when Christine was in the same room as her loving husband. For months he had not wanted to believe all the evidence presented to him. His mind could not comprehend such a betrayal by Christine, the fragile innocent young girl he had rescued from the clutches of that damn Phantom. The God damn man plagued them even now after almost two years. He was a blight. A devastating cancer eating away at his marriage.

In retrospection he could see that the problems began a few months after his marrige. Perhaps even before. Christine had not wanted to marry so hastily. He had argued if they were to salvage her reputation they msut get married as soon as possible. He had used the possibility she could well be with child. Later he would remember the look of horror followed by guilt that flashed so briefly across her face.

The late nights supposedly visiting with Meg became more frequent. The rush to get the mail then quickly read the letter then toss it into the fire happened too many times not to be noticed even by a man blinded by love. The sound of another's name on her lips when sleeping killed his last hope. The name of his close friend as well as that of the angel in hell underneath the opera house had crossed her lips as she slept. He had taken to watching her as she slept for that was the only closeness he was allowed even if it was without her knowledge.

Those betrayals he dismissed in his naiveté. Dreams. They were only dreams. However now he had solid evidence. They had just thrown Michael a surprise birthday party at Christine's suggestion. The gossip traveling throughout the evening eventually came to Raoul's ears. Still he stubbornly refused to give credence to gossipers. That was not the worst.

The thing that was killing Raoul was she called for her Angel during a most intimate moment the night of Michael's party. Christine had drank heavily throughout the night. Raoul had indulged somewhat but all his faculties were fully functional. They had been making love or at least he had been apparently Christine had just been satisfying a lustful urge. Having reached his climax her words cried out in passion seeped into his alcoholic dulled mind. Michael his best friend. Impossible. Unthinkable.

With his new knowledge he had to believe. Now the rumors of her affair with his best friend were circulating throughout their circle of friends. A man he had known since he was a young student at Oxford was said to have bedded his wife. The man he had met at school when he went to Oxford in England and befriended feeling an instant kindred spirit. He had renewed his friendship when Michael had moved to France a year and a half ago. A man he would have trusted with his life stabbed him in the back as a cowardly assassin would. Raoul would have gladly given his life to defend Michael. It had been proven he could not trust him with his wife.

To prove to himself he had to be wrong he had followed Christine one night. Another overnight visit to Meg's she said. Raoul gave her time to hand her overnight bag to the coachman. He watched through the living room window as the coach left. When it reached the end of the drive he had gotten his previously saddled horse and followed the coach. Raoul hid in the trees in the small park across from Michael's house. Christine was assisted from the coach by her driver Joseph. He would be firing that disloyal coachman immediately. The solid front door opened and out stepped the man Raoul considered almost as a brother. Hell he had loved Michael more than Phillip his own flesh and blood brother.

Michael had been there to console Raoul when he lost his mother then his brother. When he had despaired during the whole opera house incident Michael had given him courage to go forward. He stood by him when his family rejected Christine as a proper wife for a de Chagny. He had even stood beside Raoul in that little chapel as Raoul had exchanged vows with Christine.

Seeing the two people he loved most in the world kiss passionately out in the open for all the world to see killed the innocent part of him. Trust, fidelity, respect, love. All useless meaningless words. A dagger to his heart would have been more merciful. Tears had fallen down in a seemingly endless flow for the first few hours. Then the murderous rage set in. That lasted until he reached home. Numbness eased the pain until he entered the house with all the reminders of Christine in every corner.

Then the need for a stiff mind numbing drink took precedence over everything else. That lead him to this moment seeking answers in the bottom of a glass of liquor. The only result of the drink was to add to his morose feeling and a splitting headache blinding him with pain. The damn bottle of liquor held no answers only paved the way to more pain.
Raoul stood and went to the tray holding the liquor decanter. This was his fourth trip to fill his glass. He added more ice and poured half a glass. What the hell. If his pain was not worthy of a full glass what was? He filled the glass. On further consideration he decided to take the whole damn thing with him. Before returning to his chair he picked up the decanter of brandy bringing it with him back to his chair. The way he felt now one or two more glasses would not suffice. He wanted to drink until he could not remember his own name. He would drink until his memory faded of Christine's betrayal.

If he had the courage and he thought it would help he would poke out his own eyes rather than to have seen his wife with his best friend intimately entwined. He had never thought he would feel this kind of loss. Perhaps if he were blinded he would not have to see his misery reflected in the glass of mirrors as he dressed and shaved each morning. His world felt as if the axis had tilted throwing him off balance causing everything to crash down on him crushing him under the heavy weight of his knowledge of Christine's infidelity. He returned to his chair determination in each step of his strong, if a bit unstable, stride.

His body dropped heavily into the chair. A man who usually showed grace and poise cared for neither at this moment. His shoulders slumped in defeat. His head flopped backward onto the high back of the chair. His leg muscles were strained and cramping because of the long grueling ride he had taken early this morning hoping to outrun his thoughts on the back of his favorite stallion Adonis. He imagined his prized horse felt much worse than he did. He remembered he had tried to make amends to Adonis before leaving him the hands of the stable boy Armand.

Raoul had left word with the stable boy to give him an extra long rub down and the special mixture of sweet grains he liked. Before leaving the stable Raoul had put his hand on Adonis' muzzle and rubbed his free hand down from the top of his head to the bottom of his soft playfully nuzzling lips. He had personally trained this beautiful animal. He had planned to use him to sire a mount for Christine. Bending down and putting his hand into the barrel beside Adonis' stall door he took out an apple and let him softly nibble the apple from his hand. One last pat and Raoul had left taking all the worries and heartaches with him. You can forget for a while but you can not lose them by running from them. Sooner or later they outran you. Facing them and dealing with your troubles was the only solution.

Raoul stretched out his legs. He looked into the glass as if it could solve his problems as if it were a great oracle about to depart some great piece of wisdom. Finding no answer he tipped the glass draining the contents. The liquid burned all the way down his throat and on into his stomach creating a false sense of warmth. He refilled the glass and drained it with one quick swallow. The idea briefly flitted into his mind that at this rate he should just tip the carafe up and do away with the snifter altogether. He refilled it yet again. Raising the hand holding the snifter he ran the cold glass over his aching head.

Why do I suddenly feel so old? I am only twenty -five and yet I feel like an old man. I feel a heavy weight tugging at my shoulders. God if only I could go back a few months. Would I really do anything differently? Do I really want to live that time over? No. I would not want to go back to that blissful ignorance. God I still love the woman. Why? Why would she do this? How could she betray our vows? I gave her everything. I risked everything for her. When my friends and family told me to take her as a mistress but never give her my name I had been insulted on her behalf and cut them from my life. Michael had stood firmly by my side. I willingly gave up my social standing for her. I was the one who fought tooth and nail to make them except her in the end. Gradually I had won approval and that extended to Christine. She had been a glorious hostess.

Everyone had come to love her. They even in the end encouraged her to return to the stage. Her voice was so wondrous everyone agreed it should be shared and not hidden behind being a wife and mother. How proud I was to see her win them over. Her first night back on the stage I suppose is when the problems really started. I should have known the vacant stares and humming those damnable songs of his were signs of discontent. I was so secure in my belief we were happy that I ignored all the signs until the evidence hit me in the face forcing me to see what I had wanted to keep buried. She loved him still. Yearned for him.

Raoul had lived in blissful ignorance for the first twelve months of his marriage. The following twelve months had brought slowly dawning reality to light. At first he had refused to believe the things he had heard being said about Christine. Little things had started to add up until he could not blind himself to what was going on in his marriage.
Thoughts tumbled over one another in his head. In his drunken stupor he had an epiphany. The Phantom's unmasked face swam behind Raoul's closed lids. The face of his friend overshadowed the Phantom's. Raoul bolted upright. Why had he not seen it before? If Christine's Angel had not been deformed he would bare a striking resemblance to Michael. Michael was younger by about ten years but the resemblance could not be dismissed. Same dark hair. Same green eyes. They were of similar height. It was not the comfort of Michael's arms she sought. It was her Phantom lover she wanted.

It would seem I was not the only one to be cuckolded. Raoul raised his glass in silent salute to his fellow fool. He would soon have company in his misery as Michael would no doubt soon learn of her treachery.

Coming to the end of the brandy, Raoul tried to decide if it was worth getting up for more. There were several bottles in the bottom of the cabinet. Making the decision that he had drank enough he closed his eyes. What to do now was the question rattling around inside him. Flashes of his life with Christine passed behind his closed lids. Lies. It had all been lies. Each and every declaration of love, every intimate moment shared, nothing but lies. Perhaps in the beginning she had really loved him but he concluded her love for the man who lived in the dark drew her back in the end. He would rather she killed him outright than little by little. Raoul was certain she knew of men from the theatre who would slit his throat for a small fee. Not only would she be free to find her "Angel" but she would be an extremely rich widow.

He could not divorce her yet. The scandal would devastate his family. The gossip was just beginning to die down from the incident at the opera. Ironically Christine had begun to find favor within his social circle as her career blossomed. The thing they reviled her for before now found favor in their eyes. Her voice had opened many doors that might have remained firmly closed to her. God, he could not go through all that speculation and whispered conversations again. They had secluded themselves for a couple of months after the opera house fire. It had been hell walking on the edge of draw swords wondering if the Phantom would come and kill him as he slept and carry off Christine to his dark hole in the ground. For months he slept with one eye open waiting for a dark shadow to come with another rope to strangle him while he slept. If he had known the truth he would have been hurt but he would have let her return if she had only said one word. Instead she had professed her love and continued living with him as a wife would then finally married him. At one point Raoul had even asked her if she still felt the same as she had been withdrawn and melancholy in the days before the wedding. She had protested giving bridal jitters as the reason for her nerves. God he felt like such a fool.

As he sat half asleep a conversation returned to him that he and Christine had at the end of last year before his blinders were ripped from him. A time when his ignorance had still clouded his vison. They had been sitting at the table after breakfast enjoying one last cup of tea while reading their mail. Christine had addressed him while holding a three page letter in her hand.

Flashback

"Raoul I have been offered a position in England. They want me to sign on as the house diva. They have even sent along a contract for me and my legal representative to peruse. I enjoy singing at the Majestic although I have been thinking it would be good for us to get away from Paris for a while. Get away from all the gossip. You keep saying you would like to visit London again. Why not do it now and stay for a while? A year or two in England could be good for us. We could start over. Consider it a honeymoon. Perhaps we could even think about having the child you want. We would be away from all that business in Paris. You would have no need to worry about him coming to take me away. I need to give them my answer by the end of the month. Please think about it. It would please me very much."

"I don't see why we can not relocate. There is not much holding us here and England is just across the channel. Madame Giry and Meg can easily travel for visits. I would gladly pay the cost of their travel. I know how you miss them. We could make arrangements as soon as things are officially settled. Send a letter accepting the offer. I can work from London as well as Paris. I can use our London office as my base of operations. Father will be overjoyed to have me so close to him. Since all the trouble he has been a little frightened to return to France. Father has hinted he wished to retire soon. This would be the perfect opportunity to see how the English opperations differ from their French counterpart. Why should you give up your dream because you honored me by joining your life to mine? What makes you happy darling makes me happy as well." The thought of little de Chagny running around filled his heart with such warmth he felt he might burst with the love filling every pore of his body. The thought of Christine gracing his bed was no small inducement to his heartfelt agreement. He let hislustful desires rule his head and heart.

"Oh Raoul I am the luckiest woman in the world. Not many men in your social circle would be so generous or understanding. I know it is not accepted in your social standing for a woman to be on the stage but I have worked many years to get to this point where I am being sought out by other opera houses. Your family and friends seem to have gotten past the ideas of what they think theatre people are. To be invited to perform in London would be an honor but to actually be offered such a position is a dream realized."

Christine got up and went to wrap her arms around her husbands neck from behind. Raoul placed his hands on her arm giving her a loving caress. She kissed his cheek. She felt pangs of quilt but she pushed them aside. This was something she needed to do. All her life she had been told how to do everything. What to do. When to do it. Not once had a decision been made of her own free will. She always based her actions on what others thought she should do. This time she was doing what she wanted. She loved Raoul dearly but she had to know if the love she felt for her Angel was stronger and could sustain her doubts. She had made a vow that whatever she had to do she would do it in order to bring a resolution to her feelings. She hated living with a ghost in her marriage. Each lover she shared herself with had some quality of the man who haunted her derams. Her face blossomed with embarrassment as she thought of how she had visions of her Angel during intimacies with Raoul. At times she was unsure if she had actually called out his name. If she had Raoul had either not heard or wished to ignore her transgression. Her affair with Michael she was sure he would not forgive or forget if he found out. Her attraction to Michael was because he looked so much like the man who had been such a big part of her life and even now dominated her dreams and many hours spent daydreaming of his voice and his tender, rousing touch.

"I must go right this minute and write my letter. Thank you again my husband. I love you." Christine meant the words she spoke. She did love Raoul. She was just unsure if her love for him was stronger than what she felt for her Angel. Before they could go forward in the marriage she had to know.

Returning to the present with Christine's false words of love ringing in his ears he cursed her for dangling the carrot of a family in front of him. She knew how badly he wanted children, how important it was. Raoul started to plan what to do next. He must leave his emotions buried deep inside. He must treat this as he would any other business problem. Assess the damage and find a quick and easy solution to solve his dilemma. The first order of business was to waylay one of those damn letters and read the contents. Next find a discreet and trustworthy man to follow Christine and report her comings and goings.

The next few weeks were the most difficult in Raoul's life. He had to pretend his love was unchanged when he could barely tolerate being in the same room as Christine. She was quite a talented actress. As far as that went he was talented himself in that area. She could look him in the eye and profess her love and if he did not know the truth he would have believed every lie passing her lips. Her face still held the innocence of her childhood. It was only now that Raoul knew the truth he could look deeper and see the scheming and calculating woman Christine had become. Perhaps she had changed due to the loss of all she had known since childhood. The opera house was burned and would take years to renovate. Madame Giry and Meg no longer resided just down the hall. As much as it killed his soul to admit it she had to miss the man who had been her comfort and teacher for almost ten years. An attachment was bound to form even if at first she did not admit it or honestly realize the extent of it. None the less it had been there. Only now was he coming to terms with the fact it may have been more than daughterly affection she felt for her Angel. A caring relationship as a brother, uncle or father he could accept but not this destructive love she carried for her Angel of Music. For God's sake she did not even know the man's true name. How could she know a man for ten years and never once ask if he had a name especially after she found him to be not an angel but a man?

What other things might he uncover about his dear wife? Did he even want to know any more of her treachery? He supposed it was better to know the devil one must deal with so one can build a defense. God when had his life gotten so complicated and out of control?
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