Latest / The Gaston Leroux Library / The Phantom of the Opera Chapter XIII - A Master Stroke of the Trap-Door Lover

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The Phantom of the Opera Chapter XIII - A Master Stroke of the Trap-Door Lover · The Gaston Leroux Library

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  Speaker 1: Chapter thirteen of The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leue,
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  Speaker 1: translated by Alexander Tazera Demattos. This LibriVox recording is in
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  Speaker 1: the public domain. Chapter thirteen a master stroke of the
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  Speaker 1: trap door lover. Raoul and Christine ran eager to escape
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  Speaker 1: from the roof and the blazing eyes that showed only
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  Speaker 1: in the dark, and they did not stop before they
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  Speaker 1: came to the eighth floor. On the way down, there
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  Speaker 1: was no performance at the opera that night, and the
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  Speaker 1: passages were empty. Suddenly, a queer looking form stood before
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  Speaker 1: them and blocked the road. No, not this way, and
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  Speaker 1: the form pointed to another passage by which they were
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  Speaker 1: to reach the wings. Raoul wanted to stop and ask
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  Speaker 1: for an explanation, but the form, which wore a sort
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  Speaker 1: of long frock coat and a pointed cap, said quick,
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  Speaker 1: go away. Quickly. Christine was already dragging Raoul, compelling him
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  Speaker 1: to start running again. But who is he? Who is
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  Speaker 1: that man? He asked. Christine replied, it's the Persian. What's
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  Speaker 1: he doing here? Nobody knows he is always in the opera.
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  Speaker 1: You are making me run away for the first time
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  Speaker 1: in my life. If we really saw Eric What I
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  Speaker 1: ought to have done was to nail him to Apollo's lyre,
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  Speaker 1: just as we nailed the owls to the walls of
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  Speaker 1: our Breton farms, and there would have been no more
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  Speaker 1: question of him. My dear Raoul, you would first have
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  Speaker 1: had to climb up to Apollo's lyre. That is no
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  Speaker 1: easy matter. The blazing eyes were there. Oh, you are
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  Speaker 1: getting like me now seeing him everywhere. What I took
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  Speaker 1: for blazing eyes was probably a couple of stars shining
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  Speaker 1: through the strings of the lyre. And Christine went down
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  Speaker 1: another floor, with Raoul following her. As you have quite
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  Speaker 1: made up your mind to go, Christine, I assure you
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  Speaker 1: it would be better to go at once. Why wait
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  Speaker 1: for tomorrow. He may have heard us to night. No, no,
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  Speaker 1: he is working, I tell you, at his don one,
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  Speaker 1: triumphant and not thinking of us. You're so sure of that,
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  Speaker 1: you keep on looking behind you come to my dressing room.
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  Speaker 1: Hadn't we better meet outside the opera? Never till we
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  Speaker 1: go away for good? It would bring us bad luck
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  Speaker 1: if I did not keep my word. I promised him
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  Speaker 1: to see you only here. It's a good thing for
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  Speaker 1: me that he allowed you even that, do you know
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  Speaker 1: said Raoul bitterly, that it was very plucky of you
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  Speaker 1: to let us play at being engaged. Why, my dear,
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  Speaker 1: he knows all about it, he said, I trust you, Christine.
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  Speaker 1: Monsieur de Chenie is in love with you and is
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  Speaker 1: going abroad. Before he goes, I want him to be
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  Speaker 1: as happy as I am. Are people so unhappy when
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  Speaker 1: they love? Yes, Christine, when they love and are not
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  Speaker 1: sure of being loved. They came to Christine's dressing room.
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  Speaker 1: Why do you think that you're safer in this room
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  Speaker 1: than on the stage, asked Raoul. You heard him through
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  Speaker 1: the walls here, therefore he can certainly hear us. No,
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  Speaker 1: he gave me his word not to be behind the
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  Speaker 1: walls of my dressing room again, And I believe Eric's word.
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  Speaker 1: This room and my bedroom on the lake are for
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  Speaker 1: me exclusively, and not to be approached by him. How
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  Speaker 1: can you have gone from this room into that dark passage, Christine?
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  Speaker 1: Suppose we try to repeat your movements, shall we? It
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  Speaker 1: is dangerous, dear, for the glass might carry me off again.
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  Speaker 1: And instead of running away, I should be obliged to
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  Speaker 1: go to the end of the secret passage to the lake,
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  Speaker 1: and there call Eric would he hear you, Eric, will
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  Speaker 1: hear me wherever I call him? He told me so.
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  Speaker 1: He is a very curious genius. You must not think, Raoul,
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  Speaker 1: that he is simply a man who amuses himself by
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  Speaker 1: living underground. He does things that no other man could do.
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  Speaker 1: He knows things which nobody in the world knows. Take care, Christine,
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  Speaker 1: you are making a ghost of him again. No, he
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  Speaker 1: is not a ghost. He is a man of heaven
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  Speaker 1: and earth. That is all, a man of heaven and earth.
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  Speaker 1: That is all a nice way to speak of him.
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  Speaker 1: And are you still resolved to run away from him? Yes?
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  Speaker 1: Tomorrow tomorrow you will have no resolve left. Then, Raoul,
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  Speaker 1: you must run away with me in spite of myself.
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  Speaker 1: Is that understood? I shall be here at twelve tomorrow night.
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  Speaker 1: I shall keep my promise. Whatever happens. You say that
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  Speaker 1: after listening to the performance, he is to wait for
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  Speaker 1: you in the dining room on the lake. Yes, And
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  Speaker 1: how are you to reach him if you don't know
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  Speaker 1: how to go out by the glass? Why by going
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  Speaker 1: straight to the edge of the lake. Christine opened a box,
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  Speaker 1: took out an enormous key, and showed it to Raoul.
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  Speaker 1: What's that he asked the key of the gate to
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  Speaker 1: the underground passage in the rue scribe. I understand, Christine.
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  Speaker 1: It leads straight to the lake. Give it to me, Christine,
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  Speaker 1: will you never? She said, that would be treacherous. Suddenly
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  Speaker 1: Christine changed color, A mortal pallor overspread her features. Oh heavens,
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  Speaker 1: she cried, Eric, Eric, have pity on me. Hold your tongue,
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  Speaker 1: said Raoul, You told me he could hear you. But
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  Speaker 1: the singer's attitude became more and more inexplicable. She wrung
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  Speaker 1: her fingers, repeating with a distraught air. Oh heaven, oh heaven.
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  Speaker 1: But what is it? What is it? Raoul implored? The ring,
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  Speaker 1: the gold ring he gave me. Oh so, Eric gave
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  Speaker 1: you that ring. You know he did, Raoul. But what
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  Speaker 1: you don't know is that when he gave it to me,
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  Speaker 1: he said, I give you back your liberty, Christine, on
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  Speaker 1: condition that this ring is always on your finger. As
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  Speaker 1: long as you keep it, you will be protected against
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  Speaker 1: all danger, and Eric will remain your friend. But woe
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  Speaker 1: to you if you ever part with it, for Eric
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  Speaker 1: will have his revenge. My dear, the ring is gone.
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  Speaker 1: Woe to us. Both they both looked for the ring,
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  Speaker 1: but could not find it. Christine refused to be pacified.
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  Speaker 1: It was while I gave you that kiss up above
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  Speaker 1: under Apollo's lyre, She said, the ring must have slipped
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  Speaker 1: from my finger and dropped into the street. We can
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  Speaker 1: never find it, and what misfortunes are in store for us? Now,
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  Speaker 1: Oh to run away? Let us run away at once,
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  Speaker 1: Raoul insisted. Once more, she hesitated. He thought that she
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  Speaker 1: was going to say yes. Then her bright pupils became dimmed,
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  Speaker 1: and she said no to morrow. And she left him hurriedly,
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  Speaker 1: still ringing and rubbing her fingers as though she hoped
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  Speaker 1: to bring the ring back Like that. Raoul went home
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  Speaker 1: greatly perturbed at all that he had heard. If I
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  Speaker 1: don't save her from the hands of that humbug, he
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  Speaker 1: said aloud as he went to bed, she is lost,
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  Speaker 1: but I shall save her. He put out his lamp
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  Speaker 1: and felt a need to insult Eric in the dark.
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  Speaker 1: Thrice over he shouted, hum bug, hum bug, hum bug.
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  Speaker 1: But suddenly he raised himself on his elbow. A cold
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  Speaker 1: sweat poured from his temples. Two eyes, like blazing coals
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  Speaker 1: had appeared at the foot of his bed. They stared
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  Speaker 1: at him fixedly terribly in the darkness of the night.
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  Speaker 1: Raoul was no coward, and yet he trembled. He put
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  Speaker 1: out a groping, hesitating hand toward the table by his bedside.
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  Speaker 1: He found the matches and lit his candle. The eyes disappeared.
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  Speaker 1: Still uneasy in his mind, he thought to himself, she
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  Speaker 1: told me that his eyes only showed in the dark.
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  Speaker 1: His eyes have disappeared in the light, but he may
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  Speaker 1: be there still. And he rose, huntered about, went round
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  Speaker 1: the room. He looked under his bed like a child.
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  Speaker 1: Then he thought himself absurd, got into bed again and
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  Speaker 1: blew out the candle. The eyes appeared. He sat up
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  Speaker 1: and stared back at them with all the courage he possessed.
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  Speaker 1: Then he cried, is that you? Eric man? Genius or ghost?
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  Speaker 1: Is it you? He reflected, If it's he, he's on
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  Speaker 1: the balcony. Then he ran to the chest of drawers
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  Speaker 1: and groped for his revolver. He opened the balcony window,
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  Speaker 1: looked out, saw nothing, and closed the window again. He
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  Speaker 1: went back to bed, shivering, for the night was cold,
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  Speaker 1: and put the revolver on the table within his reach.
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  Speaker 1: The eyes were still there. At the foot of the
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  Speaker 1: bed were they between the bed and the window pane,
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  Speaker 1: or behind the pane, that is to say, on the balcony.
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  Speaker 1: That was what Raoul wanted to know. He also wanted
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  Speaker 1: to know if those eyes belonged to a human being.
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  Speaker 1: He wanted to know everything. Then patiently, he seized his
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  Speaker 1: revolver and took aim. He aimed a little above the
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  Speaker 1: two eyes. Surely if they were eyes, and if above
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  Speaker 1: those two eyes there was a forehead, and if Raoul
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  Speaker 1: was not too clumsy, the shot made a terrible din
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  Speaker 1: amid the silence of the slumbering house, And while footsteps
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  Speaker 1: came hurrying along the passages, Raoul sat up with outstretched arm,
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  Speaker 1: ready to fire again if need be. This time, the
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  Speaker 1: two eyes had disappeared. Servants appeared carrying lights. Count Philippe
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  Speaker 1: terribly anxious. What is it I think I have been dreaming,
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  Speaker 1: replied the young man. I fired at two stars that
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  Speaker 1: kept me from sleeping. You're raving? Are you ill? For
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  Speaker 1: Heaven's sake, tell me Raoul what happened? And the Count
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  Speaker 1: seized hold of the revolver. No, no, I'm not raving. Besides,
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  Speaker 1: we shall soon see. He got out of bed, put
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  Speaker 1: on a dressing gown and slippers, took a light from
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  Speaker 1: the hands of a servant, and, opening the window, stepped
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  Speaker 1: out on the balcony. The count saw that the window
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  Speaker 1: had been pierced by a bullet at a man's height.
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  Speaker 1: Raoul was leaning over the balcony with his candle. Aha,
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  Speaker 1: he said, blood, blood, here, there more blood. That's a
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  Speaker 1: good thing. A ghost who bleeds is less dangerous, he grinned, Raoul, Raoul, Raoul.
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  Speaker 1: The Count was shaking him as though he were trying
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  Speaker 1: to waken a sleepwalker. But my dear brother, I'm not asleep,
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  Speaker 1: Raoul protested impatiently. You can see the blood for yourself.
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  Speaker 1: I thought I had been dreaming and firing at two stars.
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  Speaker 1: It was Eric's eyes, and here is his blood. After all,
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  Speaker 1: perhaps I was wrong to shoot, and Christine is quite
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  Speaker 1: capable of never forgiving me all. This would not have
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  Speaker 1: happened if I had drawn the curtains before going to bed. Raoul,
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  Speaker 1: have you suddenly gone mad? Wake up? What? Still? You
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  Speaker 1: would do better to help me find Eric, for after all,
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  Speaker 1: a ghost who bleeds can always be found. The count's
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  Speaker 1: valet said, that is so, sir. There is blood on
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  Speaker 1: the balcony. The other man servant brought a lamp, by
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  Speaker 1: the light of which they examined the balcony carefully. The
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  Speaker 1: marks of blood followed the rail till they reached a gutterspout.
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  Speaker 1: Then they went up the gutterspout. My dear fellow, said
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  Speaker 1: Count Philippe, you have fired at a cat. The misfortune
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  Speaker 1: is said Raoul, with a grin that it's quite possible.
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  Speaker 1: With Eric, you never know, Is it Eric, is it
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  Speaker 1: the cat? Is it the ghost? No? With Eric, you
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  Speaker 1: can't tell. Raoul went on making this strange sort of remarks,
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  Speaker 1: which corresponded so intimately and logically with the preoccupation of
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  Speaker 1: his brain, and which at the same time tended to
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  Speaker 1: persuade many people that his mind was unhinged. The Count
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  Speaker 1: himself was seized with this idea, and later the examining magistrate,
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  Speaker 1: on receiving the report of the Commissary of Police, came
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  Speaker 1: to the same conclusion. Who is Eric, asked the Count,
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  Speaker 1: pressing his brother's hand. He is my rival, and if
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  Speaker 1: he's not dead, it's a pity. He dismissed the servants
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  Speaker 1: with a wave of the hand, and the two changnies
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  Speaker 1: were left alone. But the men were not out of
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  Speaker 1: earshot before the count's valet heard Raoul say distinctly and emphatically,
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  Speaker 1: I shall carry off Christine Day to night. This phrase
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  Speaker 1: was afterward repeated to Monsieur fora the examining magistrate, but
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  Speaker 1: no one ever knew exactly what passed between the two
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  Speaker 1: brothers at this interview. The servants declared that this was
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  Speaker 1: not their first quarrel. Their voices penetrated the wall, and
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  Speaker 1: it was always an actress called Christine Day that was
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  Speaker 1: in question. At breakfast. The early morning breakfast which the
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  Speaker 1: Count took in his study, Philippe sent for his brother,
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  Speaker 1: Raoul arrived silent and gloomy. The scene was a very
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  Speaker 1: short one. Philippe handed his brother a copy of the
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  Speaker 1: Epoch and said, read that the Viscount read. The latest
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  Speaker 1: news in the Faubourg is that there is a promise
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  Speaker 1: of marriage between ma'amselle Christine Day, the opera singer, and
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  Speaker 1: Monsieur le Comte Raoul de Chonnie. If the gossips are
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  Speaker 1: to be credited, Count Philippe has sworn that, for the
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  Speaker 1: first time on record, Dechonnie shall not keep their promise,
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  Speaker 1: but his love is all powerful. At the opera as
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  Speaker 1: and even more than elsewhere. We wonder how Count Philippe
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  Speaker 1: intends to prevent the Viscount his brother from leading the
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  Speaker 1: new Marguerite to the altar. The two brothers are said
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  Speaker 1: to adore each other, but the Count is curiously mistaken
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  Speaker 1: if he imagines that brotherly love will triumph over love
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  Speaker 1: pure and simple. You see, Raoul, said the Count. You
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  Speaker 1: are making us ridiculous. That little girl has turned your
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  Speaker 1: head with her ghost stories. The Viscount had evidently repeated
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  Speaker 1: Christine's narrative to his brother during the night. All that
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  Speaker 1: he now said was good bye, Philippe. Have you quite
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  Speaker 1: made up your mind you are going to night with her?
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  Speaker 1: No reply? Shortly, you will not do anything so foolish.
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  Speaker 1: I shall know how to prevent you. Good Bye, Philippe,
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  Speaker 1: said the Viscount again, and left the room. This scene
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  Speaker 1: was described to the examining magistrate by the Count himself,
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  Speaker 1: who did not see Raoul again until that evening at
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  Speaker 1: the opera, a few minutes before Christine's disappearance. Raoul in
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  Speaker 1: fact devoted the whole day to his preparations for the flight.
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  Speaker 1: The horses, the carriage, the coachman, the provisions the luggage,
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  Speaker 1: the money required for the journey, the road to be taken.
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  Speaker 1: He had resolved not to go by train, so as
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: to throw the ghost off the scent. All this had
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: to be settled and provided for, and it occupied him
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  Speaker 1: until nine o'clock at night. At nine o'clock, a sort
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: of traveling barouche, with the curtains of its windows close down,
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: took its place in the brank on the rotunda side.
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: It was drawn by two powerful horses, driven by a
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  Speaker 1: coachman whose face was almost and sealed in the long
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  Speaker 1: folds of a muffler. In front of this traveling carriage
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: were three bruffems, belonging respectively to Carlotta, who had suddenly
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  Speaker 1: returned to Paris, to Sorelli, and at the head of
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  Speaker 1: the rank, to Comte Filippe Dechonni. No one left the bruche.
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  Speaker 1: The coachman remained on his box, and the three other
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  Speaker 1: coachmen remained on theirs. A shadow in a long black
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  Speaker 1: cloak and a soft black felt hat passed along the
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  Speaker 1: pavement between the rotunda and the carriages. Examined the barouche
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  Speaker 1: carefully went up to the horses and the coachman, and
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: then moved away without saying a word. The magistrate afterward
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  Speaker 1: believed that this shadow was that of the Vicomte Raoul
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  Speaker 1: de Chonni. But I do not agree, Seeing that that evening,
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  Speaker 1: as every evening, the Vicomte de Chaigni was wearing a
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  Speaker 1: tall hat, which hat, besides, was subsequently found, I am
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  Speaker 1: more inclined to think that the shadow was that of
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  Speaker 1: the ghost, who knew all about the whole affair. As
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: the reader will soon perceive, they were giving foust as
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: it happened before a splendid house. The faubour was magnificently represented,
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  Speaker 1: and the paragraph in that morning's epoch had already produced
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  Speaker 1: its effect, for all eyes were turned to the box
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  Speaker 1: in which Count Philippe sat alone, apparently in a very
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  Speaker 1: indifferent and careless frame of mind. The feminine element in
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: the brilliant audience seemed curiously puzzled, and the Viscount's absence
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: gave rise to any amount of whispering behind the fans.
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: Christine Day met with a rather cold reception that special
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: audience could not forgive her for aiming so high. The
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  Speaker 1: singer noticed this unfavorable attitude of a portion of the
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: house and was confused by it. The regular frequenters of
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: the opera, who pretended to know the truth about the
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: viscount's love story, exchanged significance smiles at certain passages in
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: Marguerita's part, and they made a show of turning and
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: looking at Felippe de Chagny's box, when Christine sang, I
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: wish I could but know was he that addressed me?
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  Speaker 1: If he was noble, or at least what his name is?
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: The Count sat with his chin on his hand and
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: seemed to pay no attention to these manifestations. He kept
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: his eyes fixed on the stage, but his thoughts appeared
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: to be far away. Christine lost her self assurance. More
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: and more she trembled. She felt on the verge of
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: a breakdown. Corollas Fonta wondered if she was ill, if
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: she could keep the stage until the end of the
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: Garden Act. In the front of the house, people remembered
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: the catastrophe that had befallen Carlotta at the end of
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: that act, and the historic quoi which had momentarily interrupted
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: her career in Paris. Just then, Carlotta made her entrance
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: in a box facing the stage, a sensational entrance. Poor
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: Christine raised her eyes upon this fresh subject of excitement.
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  Speaker 1: She recognized her rival. She thought she saw a sneer
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  Speaker 1: on her lips. That saved her. She forgot everything in
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  Speaker 1: order to triumph once more. From that moment, the prima
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: Donnas sang with all her heart and soul. She tried
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: to surpass all that she had done till then, and
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: she succeeded. In the last act, when she began the
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: invocation to the angels, she made all the members of
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: the audience feel as though they too had wings. In
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: the center of the amphitheater, a man stood up and
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: remained standing facing the singer. It was Raoul, Holy Angel
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  Speaker 1: in Heaven blessed, and Christine, her arms outstretched, her throat
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  Speaker 1: filled with music, the glory of her hair falling over
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  Speaker 1: her bare shoulders, uttered the divine cry, My spirit longs
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: with thee to rest. It was at that moment that
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: the stage was suddenly plunged in darkness. It happened so
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  Speaker 1: quickly that the spectators hardly had time to utter a
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  Speaker 1: sound of stupefaction, for the gas at once lit up
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  Speaker 1: the stage again. But Christine Day was no longer there.
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  Speaker 1: What had become of her? What was that miracle. All
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: exchanged glances without understanding, and the excitement at once reached
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  Speaker 1: its height. Nor was the tension any less great on
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: the stage itself. Men rushed from the wings to the
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: spot where Christine had been singing. That very instant, the
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: performance was interrupted amid the greatest disorder. Where had Christine gone?
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: What witchcraft had snatched her away? Before the eyes of
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: thousands of enthusiastic onlookers, and from the arms of Corollas
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: Fonta himself, it was as though the angels had really
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: carried her up to rest. Raoul, still standing up in
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: the amphitheater, had uttered a cry. Count Philippe had sprung
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: to his feet in his box. People looked at the stage,
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: at the Count, at Raoul, and wondered if this curious
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: event was connected in any way with the paragraph in
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: that morning's paper. But Raoul hurriedly left his seat, The
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: Count disappeared from his box, and while the curtain was lowered,
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: the subscribers rushed to the door that led behind the scenes.
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: The rest of the audience waited amid an indescribable hubbub.
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: Every one spoke at once, Everyone tried to suggest an explanation,
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: of the extraordinary incident. At last, the curtain rose slowly,
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: and Corollas Faunta stepped to the conductor's desk and in
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: a sad and serious voice, said, ladies and gentlemen, an
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: unprecedented event has taken place and thrown us into a
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: state of the greatest alarm our. Sister Artist Christine Day
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: has disappeared before our eyes, and nobody can tell us how.
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: End of Chapter thirteen.