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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 31

The following day found Erik edgy as he waited for Marianne to join him for lunch at his estate. As soon as he saw her approaching on foot from his seat by the window, Erik stood up and ran to her, gathering her in his arms and leaning in for a kiss. When he felt her hands on his chest pushing him away, he raised his head puzzled, a crooked smile on his face. However, when he caught a glimpse of her eyes, his smile froze and his heart clenched in agony.

Her eyes were dark and full of pain as she tried to avert her gaze. Suddenly, sick with worry, he took her chin between his fingers and raised her head so that she would look at him.

Unnerved by his genuine concern, Marianne leaned into his touch for a few seconds before mentally shaking herself and setting her jaw, knowing full well that what she was about to do next would be the hardest thing she’d ever had to do in her life.

“Erik, we need to talk.” she said matter-of-factly, disentangling herself from his embrace and taking a step back.

“What is it my love? You seem troubled. Did your cousin…”

“This has nothing to do with Raoul.” she interrupted him.

He raised his brow in question and tried to take her in his arms again but was cut short when she raised a hand at his direction shaking her head.

“Erik, we cannot keep doing this.” she said in a small voice.

He felt as if she had driven a knife through his heart but he tried to keep his voice level as he spoke. “What do you mean?” he questioned her in a controlled manner, as if he were asking her about the weather.

Confused by the lack of emotion in his voice, Marianne spoke bluntly. “This… us. We cannot go on like this” she trailed off.

Suddenly, hopeful that he had misunderstood her words, Erik tried to console what he hoped was only a heavy conscience. “My love, we have already discussed this. It is only a matter of days before we will announce our engagement to the world and then we will not have to hide any longer.” He smiled at her reassuringly and moved in to take her in his arms again but Marianne moved away as if his touch would burn her, keeping the distance between them intact.

“Erik, you don’t understand. We can do nothing of the sort. We cannot get married!” she cried in agony, no longer able to keep her emotions in check.

Realization finally dawned on him at her words, his body becoming rigid. This had to be the work of Raoul de Chagny. That coward had probably chosen Marianne as an easy target and threatened her into breaking off her relationship with him. If the monster was no good for that slut of a wife of his, how could he ever be worthy of his angelic cousin? Hatred penetrated his mind, and his first instinct was to march right over to that insolent boy and wring his neck until the life would be drained from his body.

However, he knew that were he to harm Raoul in any way, Marianne would be devastated. No; he had to find some way to soothe her worried mind, to convince her that it mattered not what anyone thought about the two of them. They had their love; they could conquer the world if need be.

Once again he approached her and tried to keep his voice level as he spoke. “My darling, why should it matter what anyone thinks? Don’t mind Raoul; he has good reason to be hostile against me but once he sees we are in love, he will give his blessing to our union. I am sure of it.” he said hopefully.

“Erik, why won’t you listen to me? Raoul has nothing to do with my decision.”

“Decision?” he erupted. “Is that it then? You march in here, tell me we can no longer be together and I’m supposed to nod my head and simply bid you farewell?” he approached her in two strides and put his hands on her shoulders, painfully gripping her flesh.

For a split second Marianne felt fear wash over her and then she looked into his eyes, losing herself in the determination she saw reflected there. Suddenly she realized that Erik would never give her up as long as he believed she still loved him. She would have to hurt him to keep him safe from Olivier and if that meant she would manage to break her own heart in the process, then so be it.

She knew that losing Erik would mark the death of her own spirit but she couldn’t risk his life to keep him close to her. She had already surrendered her dreams of happiness when Olivier had threatened to turn Erik over to the authorities if she didn’t abide by his ludicrous demand to marry him, and she couldn’t turn her back on what she knew was the right choice.

She would have to convince her lover that she didn’t care for him to set him free. Her mind made up, she looked into his eyes sternly and spoke in as calm a voice as she could muster.

“Erik, please try to understand. I have told you already this has nothing to do with Raoul. The only fault you can blame on him is the fact that he snapped me out of the lovesick spell I’ve been under all this time. I finally realized that you and I have nothing in common.” Sensing his confusion, she paused, looking straight into his eyes with what she hoped was an icy stare.

“Nothing in common?” he whispered brokenly, not believing his ears. “Marianne, what are you talking about? This is me; Erik! I love you, you love me! You said so yourself!” he cried in agony.

“Love… such a foolish notion Erik. What we have isn’t love, it’s merely lust. The physical expression of mutual attraction. That’s all we share Erik.” she said nonchalantly.

“You can’t mean that. You can’t possibly think that Marianne! What happened to you?” he cried, shaking her fiercely to make this frigid woman before him disappear. This was not the woman who had whispered words of love to him, who held him in her arms at night as they made dreams of raising a family together. This couldn’t be the woman who writhed in his arms when he ran his fingers over her alabaster skin. This woman wasn’t his Marianne. The Marianne he’d given himself to, body and soul, was a warm sensitive maiden, full of love for those around her and ready to take on the world to defend their love against anything or anyone that would dare come between them.

“Nothing happened to me, Erik. I have simply come to my senses. I realized lust isn’t love. I realized this infatuation is leading me nowhere and finally decided to do the right thing for a change.”

“What do you mean?” he asked her, dreading the words that would come out of her mouth.

“I have agreed to marry Olivier Dervaux.” she stated simply, her eyes meeting his coolly.

“This cannot be true!” he yelled in panic. “What are you playing at?” he screamed in her face, shaking her as if she were a rag doll.

“This is no game Erik. I have finally come to my senses. Marrying Olivier is the only logical thing to do.” she said, shrugging him off, breaking free of his grip as he stared at her dumbfounded. “Don’t you see how wrong we are for each other Erik?”

“How…wrong we are for each other?” he repeated her words as if he were hypnotized. “All I know is that I love you Marianne.” he replied miserably, like a lost child.

Shaken by his honesty, she turned her back to him and walked over to a window, gazing out to the horizon. She wanted nothing more than to stay in this room with her love, but knowing that somewhere out there was Olivier, ready to ruin Erik’s life gave her the strength to finish this.

Without turning to look at him she spoke coldly. “I do not wish to hurt you Erik, but you have to understand. I don’t love you. I never did. You have awoken a passion in me that was dormant all these years. Last week when you asked me to marry you I was fascinated with the idea of exploring this carnal desire even further and you gave me the perfect alibi to my conscience, offering to make our union official…” she hesitated for a few seconds trying to summon the courage to say the words she knew would turn his love for her into disgust.

“But?” he prodded, his voice gruff. She swallowed the lump in her throat and made a vague gesture with her hand in the air.

“But… I am getting bored Erik. I don’t know what it is. Perhaps it’s my fault, I don’t know. I won’t deny our encounters are…pleasurable, but that’s not all there is in life Erik. I am a Duchess and you… you are a commoner. No doubt to it, you lead a lavish life but your wealth cannot replace your lack of blue blood. I’m not a hopeless romantic such as my cousin Raoul, Erik. He may believe that love conquers all but see how well that turned out. His wife throws herself to his old adversary and Raoul is none the wiser of it.” At this, she turned to look at him again and Erik’s expression made her breath catch in her throat. His eyes were dark with rage and he looked like he was about to wring her neck.

“I don’t care about Raoul and Christine. They have nothing to do with us.” he growled.

“Oh but they have everything to do with us Erik. Don’t you see how failed their marriage has been? Just as those two have nothing in common, it is the same with us. This has been a very…entertaining interlude in my life, I won’t deny it, but it has to remain just that; an interlude. When I marry, the husband that I take has to be an equal to me in all respects, social status notwithstanding. You are a wealthy, well-educated man but all that cannot possibly make up for your lack of noble origin.”

“You can’t mean that Marianne. You yourself have told me numerous times that you were brought up by your parents to believe that your title doesn’t make you any better than common folk. You believe that all men are equal. You believe that racism in any shape or form is wrong. These are your words Marianne, not mine!” he desperately tried to reason with her.

“That is all well and fine with regards to socializing but you can’t possibly think it would apply to my union with another Erik.” she yelled the awful lie back at him.

“We’ve done more than socialize darling.” he snapped at her, the endearment suddenly nothing more than an insult from his lips.

“That was clearly a mistake.” she stated. “As a matter of fact I berate myself for not being able to control my urges with you and I can see now how you have come to misunderstood the situation. But Erik, I cannot unite my life with you over a few days of passion. After all, many women take on lovers out of wedlock; surely you don’t expect me to spend the rest of my life shunned by society because of an error in judgment”. she finished, disgusted at herself for uttering such lies.

He was before her in an instant. “An error in judgment? Is that what our lovemaking was to you Mademoiselle de Duchess?” he spat with venom taking hold of her shoulders again.

“Lovemaking? Don’t kid yourself Erik. All that happened between us was a release of some long pent-up sexual frustration.” she defended her stupid argument.

When his grip intensified at her words, she couldn’t help but yelp in pain. “Erik, you’re hurting me!”

Instead of letting go of her however, he pulled her body flush against his and growled in her ear. “You seemed to enjoy yourself if memory serves correctly.”

Her instinctive response was to run away from him. She couldn’t stand the revulsion she saw reflecting in his eyes, but she knew she had to see this through for Erik’s own good. Thus, instead of disentangling herself from him, Marianne raised her hand and run it through his hair, knowing the words she was about to utter would forever change the way he felt for her.

“But I did enjoy myself Erik. We both did; I can’t deny that. Actually, we can still have fun with each-other; my marriage to Olivier doesn’t have to change anything.”

His reaction was instant. He flew from her as if her touch had scorched his skin and walked over to the decanters of alcohol to pour himself a drink. He filled his glass and drank the brandy in one long gulp and then refilled it, all the while avoiding casting a glance her way. He drained the second serving of brandy and, pouring a third dose, turned his attention back to Marianne.

“I think you should leave Mademoiselle. I never was any good in sharing my toys and it seems that we don’t share the same views on the subject.”

His voice was cold and distant as he spoke and it made her skin crawl when she realized it was all over between them.

She turned to leave the parlor but something made her turn back to look at him before she stepped out of his life. His body was sagged on the sofa, his drink on the table before him, his head in his hands, looking… lost. Without thinking she took a step back towards him and spoke softly.

“Erik, I…” was all she mustered before he started yelling at the top of his lungs.

“Go away! I never want to set eyes on you again!” he yelled at her and when she stood there frozen into place, he threw the glass he had in his hand to crush into a million pieces against a wall.

“Get! Out!” he screamed as she stood there with a terrified look in her eyes and stopped only when she turned and ran out of the room as if demons were on her trail.

Marianne couldn’t recall how she returned back to her house. All she remembered was running until her legs gave out under her and falling into a heap by the lake that lay between the two estates, sobbing until the sun set, finally collecting herself from her pitiful state to return back to her manor.

When she entered her house, she found Raoul and Olivier sitting in the parlor, drinking a bottle of wine. As soon as she made her entrance, Raoul rushed to her side with a worried look in his eyes.

“Marianne, where have you been? What happened to you?” he fussed when he noticed her dress was covered in caked mud. She glanced over at Olivier and saw an icy glint of amusement in his eyes. The sick bastard was enjoying this! He knew where she had been and obviously, noticing her puffy eyes and weathered state guessed she had followed his instructions and broken off her engagement with Erik.

Setting her jaw to keep any dignity she had left, she turned her attention back to Raoul. “Don’t worry about me Raoul; I was out riding and I fell off my horse. It was foolish of me really…”

“I keep telling her she shouldn’t risk her safety like this but you know Marianne. She always was the spontaneous one.” Olivier supplied from where he was sitting.

“Oh Marianne, you should really be more careful.” Raoul said, offering her his handkerchief to clean herself some, and at that point noticed her puffy eyes.

“But my dear, you’ve been crying! Are you sure nothing else happened while you were out?”

For a second Marianne looked into her cousin’s eyes and wanted nothing more than to throw herself into his arms and tell him everything, but she knew it was impossible. Raoul had good reason to hate Erik and of course Olivier would make good on his promise and turn her lover in, the moment he saw her cave in to her feelings. So, she shook her head in the negative and didn’t speak when Olivier rose from his seat and came to stand next to them.

“All this is going to change once we’re married. I can’t keep worrying about her every time Marianne feels like jeopardizing her well-being like this. You should go rest my love.” he said, leaning in to give her a gentle peck on the cheek.

Marianne was ready to snap at him but was cut short once she turned to look into his eyes. His steely gaze was enough of a threat for her. She nodded her head miserably and whispered “Goodnight” under her breath to the two men, turning to leave.

She was halfway up the stairs when she heard Raoul’s boisterous voice call out to her. “Marianne, tomorrow I shall leave the house with Olivier very early in the morning so don’t worry if you wake and don’t find me here.”

“What’s the occasion?” she asked, turning back to look at them. “Are you two going to go hunting?” she inquired, puzzled.

“You could say that.” Olivier offered maliciously.

“Raoul is going to duel with Erik Destler at dawn and he asked me to stand as a witness for him.”

“What?” she asked, her world shuttering around her. “Whatever for?” she stuttered, searching Raoul’s eyes frantically with her own.

“It’s a matter of honor Marianne. It’s time that monster learns he cannot mess with me or my family any longer.”

“Raoul… he did nothing to offend” she started but was cut short by Olivier who interrupted her with a dangerous look in his eyes.

“My sweet Marianne, always worrying your pretty little head with matters which are none of your concern.” Olivier’s voice reached her ears.

“But Erik… Erik…”

“Trust me Marianne, that monster has had it coming to him for years. I will teach him tomorrow that my wife was, is and will be out of reach for him till the day he dies. Which hopefully won’t be too long now that I’ve tracked him down.” Raoul stated with determination.

She moved to descend the stairs to talk some sense into her cousin but Olivier stopped her short. “You should go rest Marianne.” he said blocking her path and Marianne had to abide by his words when she saw the venom shimmering in his eyes.

Afraid of what he might do, she made her way up the staircase again and shortly afterwards closed the door to her bedchamber behind her, kneeling as soon as she entered her room and weeping in anguish. It was all she could do not to start screaming as hers and Erik’s lives were turning upside down before her eyes in a matter of hours.

Just last night they had been in each other’s arms weaving dreams for the life they would share together, without a care in the world. Now, less than twenty-four hours later, she had found herself engaged to a hideous man she once thought to be her friend and Erik… Erik was facing mortal danger by her loved cousin’s hand. Raoul, who thought he was defending his wife’s honor by threatening to take Erik’s life the coming dawn…

She had to do something but she felt her hands were tied. Raoul thought Erik had propositioned Christine when his wife had last met Erik and he seemed determined to put an end to her lover’s life.

On the other hand there was Olivier who, in light of the information he had been given regarding Erik, was threatening to have him arrested by the authorities lest Marianne would agree to marry him in exchange for her loved one’s freedom.

And Erik… Erik must surely hate her after the way she had ended their relationship earlier. Even if she begged him not to risk his life by dueling with her cousin who was an excellent marksman and a keen swordsman, he would surely ignore her pleas and go into a fight with Raoul, certain that it was her cousin who had talked her into shrugging him off from her life so cruelly.

It would seem that there was no way she could stop the two men from dueling and Marianne was almost certain that Erik would be killed or seriously injured during the encounter, without her being able to do anything to rescue him. He would die in vain, believing she had betrayed him; believing she had never truly loved him, merely toying with his emotions when he had offered his heart on a platter at her feet. She spent the whole night crying for the man she loved and the injustice of being forced to witness his demise because of a woman she deemed faithless and cheap.

When the light of dawn cascaded into her room through the wide balcony doors, she felt the panic rise in her chest. If she didn’t find a way to defend Erik’s word against Christine’s, she was sure to see his blood shed in vain.

She heard the door to Raoul’s chamber open and close down the hall and held her breath when she heard his footsteps travel along the corridor and down the stairs. A few minutes later she heard the entrance door open and imagined Raoul walking to the stables to get his horse and meet Erik for the duel.

Just when it seemed to her that all hope was lost, she remembered the note that Christine had sent to Erik just before she left to go back to Paris. Erik had put it in her hands one afternoon when, during a casual conversation, she had enquired as to all that had transpired during his last meeting with her cousin’s wife. She remembered how he had been reluctant to show it to her at first but when she insisted, telling him that she knew Christine had sent him a message, Erik had caved in and handed the note to her to appease her curiosity on the matter. As it was, this was her last hope to keep the man she loved out of harm’s way. Although she knew it would break Raoul’s heart to know his wife had betrayed him by reclaiming the heart of the man who once was her mentor, she could not remain silent any longer. Even if she knew they could never be together, she couldn’t bear the thought of Erik being hurt in any way.

She could find a semblance of tranquility in her heart knowing that she had done all she could to keep the man she loved safe.

Quickly she divested herself of yesterday’s clothing and put on another dress to follow Raoul. Before she fled her room, she went to her dresser to retrieve Christine’s note, and then she was on her way. Running to the stables to pick up her horse, she caught a glimpse of Raoul galloping towards the small forest that separated her estate from Erik’s and cried out in frustration when she realized she had just missed him and wouldn’t be able to keep up with his pace.

She paced for a few minutes trying to figure out where they would be meeting, and then a thought crossed her mind. The only logical spot towards the direction where Raoul was headed would be the clearing by the ancient oak tree. She mounted her horse and galloped forth after Raoul, hoping she would make it in time.

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A/N: Please R&R!
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No Easy Way