Destiny Takes Time
Resignation
Chapter 18 – Resignation
After a few days of hardly coming out of her room at Raoul’s house in the country, Christine decided that she might as well talk to him about why she could no longer stay at the place she had called her home for nine years. She told him about Erik, explaining how he had been her Angel of Music and only in recent months had finally revealed himself to her. He listened intently, giving no indication that he was already familiar with a good deal of what she had to say. When she spoke of Erik’s deformity, however, it came as a genuine surprise. Raoul had briefly seen the man and wondered why he wore a mask, but it had not occurred to him that he might have suffered from a serious birth defect. The way that she described him, he must certainly look like a monster, and yet Christine didn’t appear to be repulsed as she talked about him. Oh well, he thought, he had rescued her from a dark fate with a creature that would have made her miserable if she had continued to be near him. She left out the detail that Erik had been her lover, only telling Raoul that they had become close in the time they had spent in each other’s company and that she’d believed he had cared for her.
“I just couldn’t believe it when I saw his note saying that he didn’t want to see me anymore,” she said in a shaky voice.
“I’m sorry, Christine. He didn’t deserve you,” Raoul said sympathetically and took her hand as they sat together on the sofa.
He really didn’t get any pleasure from seeing her suffer, but he was certain he’d done the right thing. In time, she would get over Erik and see that he was the better choice.
“Thank you for letting me stay with you.”
“You’re most welcome, and you will feel better, you’ll see.”
She only nodded.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Erik had been in a deep depression ever since he’d found out Christine was gone. He kept turning it over in his mind, and the only conclusion he could come up with was that she must have left him for the young vicomte. The display of affection that he witnessed the last time he’d seen them together must have meant something after all. The idea was torture for Erik, and he had readily turned to drink to attempt to alter his reality. He barely ate and tried to compose to distract himself, but it was no use. Everything reminded him of her.