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No Easy Way	By : secretlysecretly Category: M through R > The Phantom of the Opera > Het Views: 7568 -:- 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.

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Chapter 03

Marianne was livid! She couldn’t believe the nerve of that man! He had been so sarcastic towards her; nobody had ever spoken to her in such a manner.

Yet, she couldn’t help but feel a little pang of guilt growing deep within her gut. After all, he had only tried to help her when she was in need. She could easily have been killed as her horse had been running out of control during what had started as a casual ride in her gardens. He had merely responded to her agonized scream by helping her and what had she done? Screamed at him, lectured him, she had even hit him in a mad fit!

And what had he done? He had been condescending to her, treating her like the petulant child she was… She had even had the nerve to insult him by labeling him a freak and calling attention to the mask he wore over the right side of his face. Still, what normal person would wear a mask on a summer afternoon while he was riding in his estate? It didn’t make any sense…

He certainly gave off an air of eccentricity. The mask on one hand, his manners on the other, he truly seemed to be a strange breed. He didn’t seem to be similar to any of the gentlemen she had ever encountered. Of course a man that would tell a strange woman that she was “no lady” could hardly carry the title of a “gentleman”, but she had to admit that, as he had pointed out, she hadn’t behaved as a lady during their brief encounter either.

It was an undeniable fact that she could have easily crashed into a tree during her wild ride on her stallion, and all that had finally stood between her and death or severe injuries was him. Instead of thanking him however, she had attacked him, scolding him for acting like an arrogant brute. Perhaps it was her that was the arrogant one. Blinded by her need to be accepted as an equal from men, she had proven unworthy of the help she had been offered by a stranger at one of her direst times.

He must think her to be crazy; calling him a trespasser, instead of doing her best to show her gratitude to her new neighbor for her rescue. He had been right. She was the one trespassing in his property...

“What was I thinking?” she muttered to herself.

She thought that perhaps it was time for her to get properly acquainted with her new neighbor. After all it was simply unacceptable that she hadn’t gotten to know him for the long time he had been there. Normally she kept as much as she could to herself, and as it was summer and she had spent quite a long while visiting with one of her aunts that lived nearby, it had been even harder to keep track of social gossip. Otherwise, she certainly would have been made aware of the fact that the estate next to hers had been occupied by a new tenant.

Although she normally would hold no real interest regarding the new resident of the impressive manor neighboring her own, she couldn’t help but be intrigued by the mystery that seemed to surround him. The mask, the way he had rushed to help her at her hour of need, the way he had defied her openly as no real noble ever would. Finally, his calm reserve as he mounted his horse and despite her unladylike manners, the way he had bowed his head to her in such an elegant style. She couldn’t help but admit that he had been the gracious one during the entire time they had spent together.

In actuality, she knew nothing with regards to her new neighbor. However, she knew her own self, or at least so she thought. Her schooling, everything that her parents had taught her, led her to always pay respect to human beings, regardless of their race, sex or status in society.

“I’m crazy!” she whispered under her breath.

Oh dear, now she was talking to herself… ‘It’s so out of character for me to conduct myself in such a manner without apparent cause.’

She had to make up for her indescribable behavior. She should do something in order to show him the real nature of her character; something that would prove to him that she wasn’t a spoilt little girl, but rather a mature woman. She would have to visit him the soonest possible, in order to ask for his forgiveness.

She was lost in thought as she entered her house through the veranda. Suddenly she felt a hand touch her shoulder and she was harshly brought back to reality. She whirled around immediately, only to find a young handsome man smiling back at her. Baron Olivier Dervaux’s smile however turned to a worried look as he noticed how wobbly she was.

“What happened to you Marianne? Why are you so pale?” he asked in his warm voice.

“I’m just tired Olivier, that’s all.” She responded as evenly as she could muster.

“May I ask what brought on this fatigue? Have you been exaggerating on your riding exercises again?” he inquired, raising his brows.

“I was simply strolling in my gardens Olivier, I hardly think that’s cause for alarm.” she said, somewhat annoyed by his condescending manner.

“Don’t get all worked up Marianne, I’m simply looking after your best interests, as it seems that you are unable to do so yourself.”

“Excuse me! What do you think…” she was cut short by the Baron’s hand on her shoulder.

“Marianne, I know that you feel your independence is the most important thing to you, but you simply have to let somebody take care of you once in a while. It’s not in the female nature to be so self-sufficient. As difficult as it might be for you to admit it, you will have to accept at some point, that you need a man in your life. You need me in your life.”

“What are you talking about Olivier?” she retorted indignantly. “This cannot be happening to me twice in the same day” she mumbled under her breath.

“What do you mean by that Marianne? What is happening twice in the same day? Pray tell.” he asked her with curiosity burning in his eyes.

“Nothing of consequence.” she answered him.

She couldn’t stand lecturing Olivier the same way she had done less than an hour ago with her masked savior.

“Are you finally going to confide in me and explain to me the reason for your fatigue?” he asked her gently.

He knew all about her extreme perceptions regarding women in society. ‘When we’re finally married, all this is going to change’ he thought to himself. ‘No wife of mine can conduct herself in this irrational manner’.

She glanced back at him, trying to hide her annoyance behind a calm façade. “Don’t worry Olivier, it’s nothing that can’t be fixed with a good night’s sleep.” She preferred to appear sweet and condescending instead of putting up a fruitless fight with him. She knew after all, that this was the only way she could effectively avoid this conversation, as well as his advances.

They had known one another since they were children and it was common belief amongst their families that they would get married at some point. Her parents were now dead, and her aunt kept pressing Marianne to consider marrying Olivier Dervaux. After all, he had everything a woman of her stature could wish for. He was a handsome man, in his early thirties, a descendant of a wealthy and much-respected noble family – he carried the title of Baron. One day he would certainly become a good husband and father; but only if he stopped thinking like a primitive beast when it came to women.

On her part, Marianne Pinon carried the heavy title of Duchess on her shoulders, with an elderly aunt being her sole close relative. She was under tremendous pressure from her aunt and social circle to finally get married and settle down with a respectable gentleman such as Baron Olivier Dervaux. At the age of 24, she was already considered as being past her prime, a fact easily overlooked though due to her enormous inheritance and social status.

Olivier at last seemed to understand that she needed to be left alone. “Alright dearest, I will leave you to rest and impose on you no longer” he said, giving her a dashing smile and grasping her hand between his.

“Thank you Olivier, I promise that tomorrow when I’m well rested I will be able to offer more agreeable company.” she replied, glancing at her hand that was captive between his palms. There was something about this picture that made her shudder.

“Think nothing of it Marianne.” he said, smiling sweetly.

“And now, if you’ll excuse me, I will retire to my room with your permission.” She knew exactly what to say to him in order to achieve her goal, which at the present moment was to get as far away from Olivier as possible. She needed to calm down and rest.

“As you wish Marianne.” he grasped her hand in his again, and escorted her to the grand staircase. “I will pay a visit to you tomorrow in order to check on you. Have a pleasant evening.” he said.

“Goodnight Olivier” she said with a tight smile.

‘Check’ on her! As she made her way tiredly up to her room, she found that she wasn’t half as angry as she normally would have been at Olivier. Frankly, she didn’t have the energy for another fight in one evening regarding the same matter.

She started undoing her hair, letting the heavy curls fall upon her shoulders. Taking off her dress, she started the liberating process of loosening her tight corset revealing her ample curves. As she prepared for bed, all that her mind kept going back to was her tall brooding savior.

It was the first time in her life a man had caught her attention in such a way. She couldn’t help wondering about the reason that made him wear a mask over his spectacularly handsome face. She was determined to meet him the soonest possible, in order to apologize to him for her abhorrent manners.

The last conscious thought that crossed her mind before she drifted to sleep was the realization that she didn’t even know his name.

Erik galloped furiously towards his mansion. Reaching the stables, he dismounted his horse and handed the reins to the stable boy. Treading back to the house, he couldn’t help but envision the girl’s face before him. The way she had responded to his gallant rescue had been absolutely infuriating, but he was determined to stop his mind from wandering back to her.

Vincent opened the door for him and stepped aside as Erik entered the house.

“Master, should I serve dinner for you?”

“Not now!” Erik barked at him. “Perhaps later. Leave me alone. In case I need anything, I will call for you.”

Vincent stepped back, used to his master’s outbursts of anger, watching Erik as he ascended the stairs in a quick pace. Whatever could have affected his master’s disposition in such a short time?

As Erik reached the top floor, he contemplated for a moment stepping into his music room to let his anger pour out from his system through his music, but then decided against it and entered the library instead.

He sat on his chair and snatched “Great Expectations” from the table next to him, opening it at the page he had last read that morning. He had read a couple of lines before he realized that the words were dancing before his eyes. He couldn’t concentrate on the chapter and it was all because of that infuriating woman! The first person that he met outside of the staff that he employed at his mansion, and it had to be an arrogant, ill-tempered woman that had attacked him for saving her life.

‘How twisted is that?’ he thought angrily. ‘Here I am, a man that has always been scorned by mankind merely because of my appearance, and the moment that another person is in need, I leap to rescue them without even thinking twice. And when I finally rescued that woman, she didn’t even thank me. No, that’s not right. It’s not the fact that she didn’t thank me that disturbs me the most, it’s the fact that she snapped at me for saving her life. That’s not the way it should happen, is it? I bet that she wouldn’t react like that if a handsome man had come to her rescue.’

He stood abruptly from his seat, and paced the room for a while. Realizing that he had to calm down, he reached for the decanter of cognac and poured himself a drink. He took a swig from his glass but didn’t feel the much coveted-for numbness overtake him. He walked over to one of the windows that overlooked his property and let his eyes wonder over the landscape as night descended.

The woman’s face came back to him, as much as he tried to block her image from his mind. The words she had spoken were etched into his brain. ‘Freak’… Could he ever be more to another person than a freak bearing a mask?

“Enough!” he yelled into the empty room. ‘I will not spare any more thoughts on narrow-minded young ladies who can’t see past the surface. Even now when for the first time in my life I am trying to be a gentleman, people all around me either fear me or see me as nothing more than an ogre.’

His last thoughts as he left the solitude of his library to head for the dining room, were finding the only positive aspect to the whole incident; this was the first interesting occurrence since he had moved to the country.

His neighbor was certainly cute when she was angry.

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No Easy Way