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A New Beginning	By : Lum Category: M through R > The Phantom of the Opera > Het Views: 5783 -:- 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
- 25
- 26
- 27
Disclaimer: Please see the prologue

A New Beginning

Chapter 25

Rumors

Not Censored

Madison stretched lazily as she awoke in her rented bed at the Oakwood Inn, eyes fluttering open as sunlight streamed in a narrow line into her room from a crack in the thick curtains.

She rolled over to place a hand on the side of the bed that Erik had slept on, which was now empty. Only the rumpled sheets and warmth indicated that he had truly been there at all, that last night had actually happened and was not simply another tormenting dream.

A pretty blush stained her cheeks as she remembered the events, the way that his eyes had devoured her lush figure, his hands had caressed her body, and the way that she had received and given pleasure. Her hands fluttered to her lips as she bit one corner and thought back to the brazen, unladylike thing that she had done.

She smiled, her face showing no hint of remorse, and pushed the covers aside to spring from the bed and get ready for the busy day ahead of them. Dressing quickly she exchanged her silk nightshift for a fresh cotton one and rang for her maid Sarah, who answered at once and proceeded to help her dress in a simple yet refined dark green velvet walking dress with soft brown kid gloves and a matching brown and green satin bonnet.

Madison sat at the vanity while Sarah kept her mind busy with the latest city gossip and pulled her hair up into an elegant twist with silver pins. Her hand drifted to finger one corner of the puzzle box that Erik had left for her.

“That’s a pretty box, miss, what’s in it?” Sarah asked her.

She looked up into the maid’s reflection in the little oval mirror and replied, “hmm? Oh, I do not know. It was a gift.”

The maid tucked one last pin painfully into place and craned her head to look at the box in question more thoroughly, “You say you don’t know… It opens, doesn’t it?”

Madison nodded and picked up the infuriating little wooden box that Erik had left for her, fingers tracing the delicate carvings. “Yes,” she answered, “Erik gave it to me yesterday but would not tell me how to open it. Some difficult trick or mechanism, I assume, since I can find no hinge or normal means to open it.”

The pretty, dark-skinned maid smiled sympathetically and smoothed the last of Madison’s fine hairs into place and pronounced the up-do complete.

She replaced the puzzle box carefully on the vanity table and rose to gather her reticule, and together the two women made their way to breakfast.

Erik was already seated at the grand dining table, one hand stirring the spoon in his tea cup as he leaned lazily into the back of his chair. When Madison seated herself opposite him, he straightened in his chair a bit and cast a furtive look her way.

Head bowed Madison busied herself by spooning blackberry jam onto a piece of toast, and warm eggs onto her plate from the covered platters in the middle of the table. She looked up through her lashes at him and smiled.

Suddenly Erik became very absorbed in his tea as he lowered his gaze to watch the cooling liquid dissolve the sugar cube in the bottom of the cup.

Her smile widened even as a slight blush painted her cheeks. The man who had boldly undressed, touched, and pleasured her last night, was sitting across from her embarrassed. It felt wonderful, for all of the times that he had angered or inflamed her on purpose only to leave her irritated or aroused, to be on the other end of the teasing.

She made a show of eating her jam slathered bread, licking her fingers suggestively when a bit of the blackberry preserves had smeared onto her fingers.

Erik sat ramrod still, the tea cup forgotten as he schooled his face into a neutral expression. The only thing that betrayed his carefully bottled emotions was the flaring of his nostrils.

Her smirk faded as the other guests of the inn joined them for breakfast, a middle aged couple, and a well dressed young man.

Erik’s eyes met hers across the table, promising payback. Madison grinned and took a bite of her eggs, chewing thoughtfully.

The meal was a pleasant affair as the elderly couple pulled the bachelor into polite conversation as they talked about the fair weather, it was cold with a slight wind but at least the sun was out, and the beauty of the inn’s gardens, the roses are truly lovely and weren’t there primroses as well mixed in, but neither Erik nor Madison cared much for the elderly woman’s chatter, so they spent the meal sitting quietly from one another and stealing sly glances between bites of egg and toast and sips of tea.

Once breakfast was eaten and servants came to take the plates away Erik stood from his chair and came around the table slowly, extending one arm to help Madison rise, and as she looped her arm through his they walked outside, Sarah following one step behind, to hail a cab.

Their first destination was a cobbler which resulted in a new pair of shiny black ankle boots, and three pairs of evening shoes with small heels in gold, dark blue, and silver. Each had extensive detailing with lace and glass crystals in different, unique patterns. Erik stood patiently at her side as she chose her selections, and an hour later they were tucked back into the cab, the boxes holding her purchases put discretely under the seat, and they were off to the other end of the shops to the milliner.

Two hours and two satin bonnets later they sent Sarah with the packages and cab back to the inn, and arm in arm began the short walk to a little café near the inn.

Passing men and women cast curious glances their way, whether to catch a glimpse of the masked man or the scandalous woman, Madison did not know. But as they entered the charming restaurant and were shown to their table all eyes turned to them and conversations lulled.

Erik pulled the chair out for her, pushing her to the table, and then took his own across from her. As the waiter brought their menus and filled their water glasses the interrupted conversations were replaced with low whispers and a few rude giggles. They ignored the obviously gossiping luncheoners to peruse the menu.

Madison caught Erik’s gaze after they had ordered, roast quail with seasoned potatoes and asparagus for him, and cedar plank salmon with buttered vegetables for her, and noticed the uneasy way he sat in his chair as he surveyed the room and the people around them.

“Ignore them Erik, showing discomfort will only entice them more, rather like an antelope faltering in front of hungry lions.”

He returned his gaze to her and smiled slightly, the unease still evident on his face. “Did you just compare your peers to savage beasts?” he asked her comically. Madison grinned unladylike, her laugh tinkling with unabashed pleasure, “yes, the analogy is rather fitting, is it not?”

He smiled and uncurled his fists to lay flat against the table top. She placed a comforting hand upon his and ignored the sudden increase in chatter around them. “Thank you,” she murmured sincerely, “I know that their speculation must make you very uncomfortable. And the only way that I can stand to sit here, listening to them, is because you are sitting here, with me.”

He nodded dumbly, pulling his hands back as the waiter carried a large silver tray to their table, pulling the cover off and depositing their plates before them. He poured a bottle of the finest white wine into their glasses and discretely left them to their meal.

Snatched of hushed conversation drifted their way while Erik and Madison dined, “…there a ring?”, “…can’t see much…”, “…makes you wonder what happened…”, “…yes, always with that mask from what I hear from…”, “…with the gypsies.”, “Terribly improper do you not agree…”, “her poor father…”, “I wonder how far along she is…”
The last comment proved to be too terrible as Erik sought out the owner, a mousy woman in a dress that was in the height of fashion but an awful shade of mauve, and narrowed his startling gold eyes in silent threat. She squeaked in surprise, a harsh blush staining her cheeks, and looked away.

In between bites of salmon and carrot Madison smiled at his angry face and patted his hand reassuringly. She had expected as much from the towns people, but just the same, watching his desire to leap to her defense sent butterflies fluttering in her stomach.

As she watched him glare at the others in the restaurant, stifling their rude comments, Madison realized that she was falling head over heels in love with this strange, wonderful man.

The rest of the meal was eaten in comfortable silence as topic around the room turned to more mundane things, the novelty of Madison and Erik wearing thin.

Once the meal had been paid for they rose from their chairs and left the restaurant to walk the short three blocks to the inn.

She leaned her arm into his as they walked, heels clacking sharply against the cobblestones, as carriages passed and people milled about from shop to shop. A young woman pushed a lacy, white baby carriage ahead of her, dipping her head to Madison and Erik as she passed.

She looked back at the woman, who seemed to radiate happiness as she stopped the carriage to adjust the blankets protecting her infant from the weather, and paused in mid-step. Would she and Erik have children, she wondered, and suddenly found the prospect a little less terrifying than before.

He looked down at her in silent question and she shook her head to get rid of the wool that was suddenly gathering as she was lost in thought.

A moment later they were arrived at the inn and Madison was whisked to her room by Sarah, while Erik watched them go, then climbed the stairs behind them and made his way to his own room.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Dinner that night was a curious affair. While Madison was talking amicably with the elderly woman from breakfast, she would on occasion catch Erik’s gaze. His eyes were smoldering pools of gold, catching the candlelight as he regarded her thoughtfully.

The way that he was watching her made her pause, unease filling her as she wondered what secret he had planned, and was obviously gloating over. She quirked her brow in question, but he shook his head no and mouthed the word ‘later’ from across the table.

She turned her attention back to Mrs. Turner who was regaling her with stories of her youth, and smiled and nodded at the appropriate intervals in the conversation.

Once desert had been finished and Mr. and Mrs. Turner rose to excuse themselves, Erik and Madison were left alone at the table. She smiled and furrowed her brow and asked, “what?” She wasn’t sure she wanted an answer.

He shook his head no again and rose, the legs of the chair scraping against the wooden floor as he walked around the table and took her hand in his, helping her from her chair.

Erik stood a little too closely once she had risen from the table, but when Madison made to step away when he would not, he grasped her elbow and halted her progress. “What is it?” she asked a little more loudly.

He smiled and leaned forward until his face brushed against her neck, his warm breath tickling the fine hairs, “you’re perfume,” he murmured, “it has been enchanting me all evening. It is new isn’t it?”

She nodded dumbly as her body suddenly became aware of how close they were standing. The butterflies once again began to flutter in her stomach. “You noticed…” she muttered, “I did not think you would.”

His grasp on her elbow loosened as his other hand rose to trace her jaw line, “I notice everything about you Madison.” But as he craned his head down to capture her parted lips in a kiss servants bustled into the room to clear the table, starling them.

He pulled back with a sigh, “meet me in the garden, in a few moments, and bring the box I gave you.” She nodded and watched him stalk away from the dining room, and as her heart pounded in her chest she thought to herself, ‘oh yes, I am most definitely falling in love with him.’

She hurried up to her room where Sarah was waiting to help her change from her dress to her night clothes. “I have decided to tour the inn’s gardens with my fiancé,” she told the maid as she grabbed her warm shawl and the box from the vanity table.

Madison walked briskly, Sarah in tow, down the stairs and out the back to the faintly lit garden. Gas lanterns hung on posts around the walkway, lighting the gravel path through the carefully pruned rose bushes and trees until she made her way to the wooden gazebo in the back.

He was standing in the shadow fingering a yellow rose from a climbing rose vine that had wrapped itself around a wooden post, hanging on through sheer willpower and sharp thorns. Erik turned to watch the maid busy herself with some knitting on the stone bench that was in range of the gazebo and the couple, but far enough away to afford them some privacy.

Madison climbed the three short steps until she stood next to him inside the structure. She sighed contentedly and sat with him, their knees bumping. The nearby lantern cast a soft glow against him, softening the white mask until it seemed to blend into his skin.

She held the wooden box, forgotten, against her leg and reached to grasp his hand in hers, turning into him and cocking her head, “now will you tell me what all of this oddness is about?”

“The box?” he asked, and pulled his hand from hers to nervously pull at his clothing, and then to receive the beautiful little puzzle box which she handed to him. “Here is how you open it,” he explained, and held it out to catch the light, pressing on one panel of wood until it slid ever so slightly to the right, then another, and two more until he placed his palm against the top panel and slid the whole thing off.

She exclaimed in delight at the intricate uniqueness of the design, clasping her hands in front of her, and as he slid the top panel off and reached inside he pulled out another box, a small black velvet one, which he handed to her.

Her breathing became erratic as she swallowed hard past the lump now lodged in her throat and nervously fingered the soft fabric. “Open it,” he begged her, even as he set the puzzle box down and turned to face her.

And when seconds passed which seemed more like hours she finally lifted the lid of the box to see the most beautiful ring that she had ever seen. A large, deep blue round sapphire sat surrounded by a square of little diamonds that caught the meager light and shone brilliantly in their white gold setting.

Erik paused, watching her carefully as she pulled the ring from the box and blinked heavily. He mistook her silence for displeasure, “if… if you do not like it we can exchange it for a different one,” he began but was cut off as she turned to him.

“Don’t you dare take it back. Will you help me put it on?”

He nodded and carefully took the ring from her hand, and grasping her left hand he slid it past the knuckle to sit at the base of her fourth finger.

She stared at it a moment, mesmerized, before noticing that he was watching her in relieved amusement.

“Oh, Erik.” She exclaimed as she tilted her head back to kiss him fully on the mouth, despite the protestations and sudden coughing fit of her chaperone. “I love it, it’s beautiful,” she told him as he splayed his hand against the side of her face and stroked one finger along her jaw.

She smiled impishly and leaned in for another kiss, paying no attention to Sarah’s fit.

Madison ached to tell him of the new revelation of her feelings for him, felt the words bubbling up and about to spill over into the real world, but before she could do more than begin to part her lips he began to speak.

“I filed the necessary papers yesterday, we can be married three weeks from today.”

He was startled when she pulled away from him, his hand slipping from her face as she stared up at him incredulously before giving a sharp laugh, “oh, Erik, we cannot be married so soon.” She smiled at his silliness and shook her head.

His brow furrowed and his eyes narrowed slightly. “What do you mean?” he asked, “I’ve filed all of the necessary paper work and paid the fee, we’re booked for December 6th.”

She stared at him in horror, backing away when he reached for her, “you cannot be serious Erik. That is only two weeks after the ball.”

He was getting angry, she could tell, but at this moment she could not have cared less. “I fail to see the problem,” he stated coolly while trying to rein in his emotions.

She scoffed, making an unladylike sound, “of course you do not,” she muttered cruelly.

He was angry now, which was evident by the way he did not make to reach for her again, instead letting his voice take a cruel, superior tone. “And just what does that mean?”

Madison crossed her arms and answered hotly, “it means that you don’t understand because the rumors are not about you. No, you are escaping this almost unscathed while the whole town wonders about me, speculating that right now I am with child.”

“What does that matter? You are not, as they will find out in a few months, and then the whole thing will blow over.”

Her mouth dropped open in shock and surprise, “blow over, you think that this thing will blow over if we hurry to get married? If we lived in the city, maybe, but I live hours away, in the country, and when I do not produce a child they will only assume that I lost it. It will never occur to them that I was never pregnant to begin with, Erik. And by then the family name will be completely tarnished. We could lose business, Erik, over something like this.”

“I think that you are blowing this out of proportion, Madison, surely they will forget the whole affair when some other tidbit of gossip occurs.”

“Blowing this out of proportion, am I? Being an irrational female?”

“There’s really no need to be so upset, dear.”

“Upset?” she asked, her eyebrows rising, “oh, I’ll give you upset! And what about asking me, hmmm? You didn’t even bother to consult with me on the matter, just ran off one day to do it all on your own.”

His eyes glinted dangerously, “calm down, Madison.”

But it was the wrong thing to say. She shot to her feet to glare down at him, the ring box falling to the floor. “Don’t you dare tell me to calm down. You may be my fiancé but you do not control me, Erik.”

His hands tightened into fists at his side as he sought the last bit of control in his reserve, “maybe if you listened to me, things such as this little predicament would not happen.”

She took a step back as if he had actually assaulted her, placing a hand on her stomach to quell the beginnings of nausea. “So that’s what this is about. All this time you’ve told me that it was not my fault, that I should not blame myself, but really you believed all along that I deserved to be punished for my foolishness, hmm?”

“I never…” he began to protest but was cut short.

“Don’t.” Her voice took on a dangerous, soft tone, no longer yelling. “Just, don’t. Did you ever stop to think that it was our argument that drove me to ride out that night? That I never planned to do it until you commanded me not to? No, I guess that never occurred to you, that you were just as much at fault as I was.”

He stared at her, unsure of what to do, of how to stop this argument before it ended poorly.

“Go back and change the date, Erik, before we leave tomorrow.” And as she turned to leave the gazebo he called out to her.

“Or else… what?”

She threw a glance over her shoulder, meeting his eyes, “stop,” she begged him, “don’t say anything that will make me want to prove you wrong. Because you know how much I love to win.”

He did, so he stayed silent, fuming in his anger and despair, as she and her maid traveled the short distance to the inn and disappeared inside.

Erik punched the wall of the gazebo, felt skin split and warmth on his hand as blood ran in thin rivulets down his fingers to drop of the wooden planks of the floor. The pain helped clear the anger from his soul, allowed him to think.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Madison raised her arms as Sarah pulled the dress and corset off of her, folding them neatly into her valise. As Sarah left the room, she exchanged her used shift for a clean one, pulling off stockings and garters and the
silver pins from her hair.

She felt numb as she moved through the motions of getting ready for bed. Only when she blew out the lamp and climbed under the covers did she allow the emotions of the day to wash over her.

The stinging beginnings of tears pricked her eyes as she wrapped her arms around herself and curled up on her side.

And when the sobs wracked her frame she covered her mouth to stifle any pitiful sounds.

Author’s Note: Yes, I know, sad ending. But as I’ve mentioned earlier, they’ll be stupid till the end. The lack of reviews on the last chapter has me a little worried that you guys didn’t like it, or where I am going with the story. Please, please drop me a line if something rubs you the wrong way, or if the chapter feels weird. Or if you loved it. Criticism lets me know what I need to work on, praise keeps me going. : )
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A New Beginning