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The Phantom of the Opera Chapter XI - Above the Trap-Doors · The Gaston Leroux Library

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  Speaker 1: Chapter eleven of The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroue,
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  Speaker 1: translated by Alexander tizera Dematus. This LibriVox recording is in
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  Speaker 1: the public domain, chapter eleven above the trap doors. The
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  Speaker 1: next day he saw her at the opera. She was
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  Speaker 1: still wearing the plain gold ring. She was gentle and
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  Speaker 1: kind to him. She talked to him of the plans
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  Speaker 1: which he was forming, of his future, of his career.
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  Speaker 1: He told her that the date of the polar expedition
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  Speaker 1: had been put forward, and that he would leave France
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  Speaker 1: in three weeks or a month at latest. She suggested,
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  Speaker 1: almost gaily, that he must look upon the voyage with
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  Speaker 1: delight as a stage toward his coming fame, And when
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  Speaker 1: he replied that fame without love was no attraction in
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  Speaker 1: his eyes, she treated him as a child whose sorrows
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  Speaker 1: were only short lived. How can you speak so lightly
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  Speaker 1: of such serious things, he asked, Perhaps we shall I'll
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  Speaker 1: never see each other again. I may die during that expedition,
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  Speaker 1: or I she said simply. She no longer smiled or jested.
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  Speaker 1: She seemed to be thinking of some new thing that
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  Speaker 1: had entered her mind for the first time. Her eyes
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  Speaker 1: were all aglow with it. What are you thinking of, Christine?
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  Speaker 1: I am thinking that we shall not see each other again?
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  Speaker 1: And does that make you so radiant? And that in
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  Speaker 1: a month we shall have to say good bye forever,
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  Speaker 1: unless Christine, we pledge our faith and wait for each
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  Speaker 1: other forever. She put her hand on his mouth. Hush, Raoul,
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  Speaker 1: you know there is no question of that, and we
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  Speaker 1: shall never be married. That is understood. She seemed, suddenly
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  Speaker 1: almost unable to contain an overpowering gaiety. She clapped her
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  Speaker 1: hands with childish glee. Raoul stared at her in amazement,
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  Speaker 1: but she continued holding out her two hands to Raoul,
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  Speaker 1: or rather giving them to him, as though she had
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  Speaker 1: suddenly resolved to make him a present of them. But
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  Speaker 1: if we cannot be married, we can be engaged. Nobody
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  Speaker 1: will know but ourselves, Raoul. There have been plenty of
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  Speaker 1: secret marriages. Why not a secret engagement. We are engaged, dear,
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  Speaker 1: for a month. In a month, you will go away,
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  Speaker 1: and I can be happy at the thought of that
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  Speaker 1: month all my life long. She was enchanted with her inspiration.
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  Speaker 1: Then she became serious again. This, she said, is a
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  Speaker 1: happiness that will harm no one. Raoul jumped at the idea,
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  Speaker 1: he bowed to Christine and said, ma'amselle, I have the
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  Speaker 1: honor to ask for your hand. Why you have both
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  Speaker 1: of them already, my dear betrothed, Oh Raoul, how happy
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  Speaker 1: we shall be. We must play at being engaged all
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  Speaker 1: day long. It was the prettiest game in the world,
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  Speaker 1: and they enjoyed it like the children that they were.
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  Speaker 1: Oh the wonderful speeches they made to each other, and
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  Speaker 1: the eternal bows they exchanged. They played at hearts as
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  Speaker 1: other children might play at ball, only as it was
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  Speaker 1: really their two hearts that they flung to and fro,
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  Speaker 1: they had to be very, very handy to catch them
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  Speaker 1: each time without hurting them. One day, about a week
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  Speaker 1: after the game began, Raoul's heart was badly hurt, and
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  Speaker 1: he stopped playing and uttered these wild words, I shan't
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  Speaker 1: go to the north pole. Christine, who in her innocence
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  Speaker 1: had not dreamed of such a possibility, suddenly discovered the
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  Speaker 1: danger of the game and reproached herself bitterly. She did
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  Speaker 1: not say a word in reply to Raoul's remark and
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  Speaker 1: went straight home. This happened in the afternoon in the
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  Speaker 1: singer's dressing room where they met every day, and where
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  Speaker 1: they amused themselves by dining on three biscuits, two glasses
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  Speaker 1: of port, and a bunch of violets. In the evening,
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  Speaker 1: she did not sing, and he did not receive his
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  Speaker 1: usual letter, though they had arranged to write to each
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  Speaker 1: other daily during that month. The next morning he ran
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  Speaker 1: off to Mamma Valarius, who told him that Christine had
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  Speaker 1: gone away for two days. She had left at five
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  Speaker 1: o'clock the day before. Raoul was distracted. He hated Mamma
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  Speaker 1: Villarius for giving him such news as that with such
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  Speaker 1: stupefying calmness. He tried to sound her, but the old
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  Speaker 1: lady obviously knew nothing. Christine returned on the following day.
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  Speaker 1: She returned in triumph. She renewed her extraordinary success of
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  Speaker 1: the gala performance. Since the Adventure of the Toad, Carlotta
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  Speaker 1: had not been able to appear on the stage. The
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  Speaker 1: terror of a fresh koak filled her heart and deprived
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  Speaker 1: her of all her power of singing, and the theater
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  Speaker 1: that had witnessed her incomprehensible disgrace had become odious to her.
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  Speaker 1: She contrived to cancel her contract day was offered the
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  Speaker 1: vacant place for the time she received thunders of applause
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  Speaker 1: in the dewy. The Viscount, who of course was present,
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  Speaker 1: was the only one to suffer on hearing the thousand
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  Speaker 1: echoes of this fresh triumph. For Christine still wore her
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  Speaker 1: plain gold ring. A distant voice whispered in the young
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  Speaker 1: man's ear. She is wearing the ring again to night,
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  Speaker 1: and you did not give it to her. She gave
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  Speaker 1: her soul again to night and did not give it
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  Speaker 1: to you. If she will not tell you what she
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  Speaker 1: has been doing the past two days, you must go
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  Speaker 1: and ask Eric. He ran behind the scenes and placed
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  Speaker 1: himself in her way. She saw him, for her eyes
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  Speaker 1: were looking for him. She said, quick, quick, come, and
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  Speaker 1: she dragged him to her dressing room. Raoul at once
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  Speaker 1: threw himself on his knees before her. He swore to
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  Speaker 1: her that he would go, and he entreated her never
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  Speaker 1: again to withhold a single hour of the ideal happiness
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  Speaker 1: which she had promised him. She let her tears flow.
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  Speaker 1: They kissed like a despairing brother and sister who had
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  Speaker 1: been smitten with a common loss, and who meet to
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  Speaker 1: mourn a dead parent. Suddenly, she snatched herself from the
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  Speaker 1: young man's soft and timid embrace, seemed to listen to something,
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  Speaker 1: and with a quick gesture, pointed to the door. When
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  Speaker 1: he was on the threshold, she said in so low
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  Speaker 1: a voice that the Viscount guessed rather than heard her words, tomorrow,
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  Speaker 1: I dear besoth and be happy, Raoul, I sang for
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  Speaker 1: you to night. He returned the next day, but those
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  Speaker 1: two days of absence had broken the charm of their
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  Speaker 1: delightful mate. Believe they looked at each other in the
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  Speaker 1: dressing room with their sad eyes without exchanging a word.
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  Speaker 1: Raoul had to restrain himself not to cry out, I
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  Speaker 1: am jealous, I am jealous. I am jealous. But she
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  Speaker 1: heard him all the same. Then she said, come for
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  Speaker 1: a walk, dear. The air will do you good. Raoul
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  Speaker 1: thought that she would propose a stroll in the country,
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  Speaker 1: far from that building, which he detested as a prison
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  Speaker 1: whose jailer he could feel walking within the walls the
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  Speaker 1: jailer eric, But she took him to the stage and
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  Speaker 1: made him sit on the wooden curb of a well
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  Speaker 1: in the doubtful peace and coolness of a first scene
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  Speaker 1: set for the evening's performance. On another day she wandered
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  Speaker 1: with him hand in hand along the deserted paths of
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  Speaker 1: a garden whose creepers had been cut out by a
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  Speaker 1: decorator's skillful hands. It was as though the real sky,
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  Speaker 1: the real flowers, the real earth were forbidden her for
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  Speaker 1: all time, and she condemned to breathe no other air
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  Speaker 1: than that of the theater. An occasional fireman passed watching
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  Speaker 1: over their melancholy idle from afar, and she would drag
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  Speaker 1: him above the clouds in the magnificent disorder of the grid,
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  Speaker 1: where she loved to make him giddy by running in
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  Speaker 1: front of him along the frail bridges, among the thousands
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  Speaker 1: of ropes fastened to the police, the windlasses, the rollers,
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  Speaker 1: in the midst of a regular forest of yards and masts.
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  Speaker 1: If he hesitated, she said, with an adorable pout of
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  Speaker 1: her lips, you a satyr. And then they returned to
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  Speaker 1: Terra firma, that is to say, to some passage that
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  Speaker 1: led them to the Little Girls Dancing School, where brats
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  Speaker 1: between six and ten were practicing their steps in the
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  Speaker 1: hope of becoming great dancers one day, covered with diamonds. Meanwhile,
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  Speaker 1: Christine gave them sweets Instead, she took him to the
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  Speaker 1: wardrobe and property rooms, took him all over her empire,
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  Speaker 1: which was artificial but immense, covering seventeen stories from the
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  Speaker 1: ground floor to the roof, and inhabited by an army
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  Speaker 1: of subjects. She moved among them like a popular queen,
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  Speaker 1: encouraging them in their labors, sitting down in the workshops,
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  Speaker 1: giving words of advice to the workmen whose hands hesitated
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  Speaker 1: to cut into the rich stuffs that were to clothe heroes.
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  Speaker 1: There were inhabitants of that country who practiced every trade.
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  Speaker 1: There were cobblers, there were goldsmiths. All had learned to
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  Speaker 1: know her and to love her, for she always interested
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  Speaker 1: herself in all their troubles and all their little hobbies.
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  Speaker 1: She knew unsuspected corners that were secretly occupied by little
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  Speaker 1: old couples. She knocked at their door and introduced Raoul
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  Speaker 1: to them as a prince charming who had asked for
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  Speaker 1: her hand, And the two of them, sitting on some
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  Speaker 1: worm eaten property, would listen to the legends of the opera,
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  Speaker 1: even as in their childhood they had listened to the
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  Speaker 1: old Breton tales. Those old people remembered nothing outside the opera.
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  Speaker 1: They had lived there for years without number. Past managements
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  Speaker 1: had forgotten, the palace revolutions had taken no notice of them.
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  Speaker 1: The history of France had run its course unknown to them,
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  Speaker 1: and nobody recollected their existence. The precious days sped in
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  Speaker 1: this way, and Raoul and Christine, by affecting excessive interest
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  Speaker 1: in outside matters, strove awkwardly to hide from each other
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  Speaker 1: the one thought of their hearts. One fact was certain
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  Speaker 1: that Christine, who until then had shown herself the stronger
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  Speaker 1: of the two, became suddenly inexpressibly nervous. When on their expeditions,
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  Speaker 1: she would start running without reason or else suddenly stop,
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  Speaker 1: and her hand, turning ice cold in a moment, would
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  Speaker 1: hold the young man back. Sometimes her eyes seemed to
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  Speaker 1: pursue imaginary shadows. She cried this way, and this way
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  Speaker 1: and this way, laughing a breathless laugh that often ended
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  Speaker 1: in tears. Then Raoul tried to speak to question her
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  Speaker 1: in spite of his promises, But even before he had
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  Speaker 1: worded his question, she answered feverishly nothing, I swear it
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  Speaker 1: is nothing. Once, when they were passing before an open
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  Speaker 1: trap door on the stage, Raoul stopped over the dark
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  Speaker 1: cavity you have shown me over the upper part of
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  Speaker 1: your empire, Christine, but there are strange stories told of
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  Speaker 1: the lower part. Shall we go down? She caught him
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  Speaker 1: in her arms, as though she feared to see him,
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  Speaker 1: disappeared down the black hole, and in a trembling voice, whispered, never,
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  Speaker 1: I will not have you go there. Besides, it's not mine.
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  Speaker 1: Everything that is underground belongs to him. Raoul looked her
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  Speaker 1: in the eyes and said, roughly, So he lives down there,
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  Speaker 1: does he? I never said so, who told you a
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  Speaker 1: thing like that? Come away? I sometimes wonder if you
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  Speaker 1: are quite sane, Raoul. You always take things in such
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  Speaker 1: an impossible way. Come along, Come, And she literally dragged
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  Speaker 1: him away, for he was obstinate and wanted to remain
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  Speaker 1: by the trap door. That hole attracted him. Suddenly the
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  Speaker 1: trap door was closed, and so quickly that they did
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  Speaker 1: not even see the hand that worked it had They
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  Speaker 1: remained quite dazed. Perhaps he was there, Raoul said. At last.
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  Speaker 1: She shrugged her shoulders, but did not seem easy. No, No,
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  Speaker 1: it was the trap door shutters. They must do something,
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  Speaker 1: you know. They opened and shut the trap doors without
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  Speaker 1: any particular reason. It's like the door shutters they must
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  Speaker 1: spend their time somehow. But suppose it were he, Christine, No, no,
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  Speaker 1: he has shut himself up. He is working. Oh, really,
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  Speaker 1: he's working, is he? Yes? He can't open and shut
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  Speaker 1: the trap doors and work at the same time. She shivered.
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  Speaker 1: What is he working at? Oh? Something terrible, But it's
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  Speaker 1: all the better for us. When he's working at that,
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  Speaker 1: he sees nothing. He does not eat, drink, or breathe
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  Speaker 1: for days and nights at a time. He becomes a
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  Speaker 1: living dead man and has no time to amuse himself
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  Speaker 1: with the trap doors. She shivered again. She was still
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  Speaker 1: holding him in her arms. Then she sighed and said,
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  Speaker 1: in her turn, suppose it were he. Are you afraid
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  Speaker 1: of him? No, no, of course not, she said, for
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  Speaker 1: all that on the next day. In the following days,
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  Speaker 1: Christine was careful to avoid the trap doors. Her agitation
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  Speaker 1: only increased as the hours passed. At last, one afternoon,
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  Speaker 1: she arrived very late, with her face so desperately pale
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  Speaker 1: and her eyes so desperately red, that Raoul resolved to
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  Speaker 1: go to all links, including that which he foreshadowed when
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  Speaker 1: he blurted out that he would not go on the
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  Speaker 1: North Pole expedition unless she first told him the secret
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  Speaker 1: of the man's voice. Hush, hush, in Heaven's name. Suppose
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  Speaker 1: he heard you. You unfortunate Raoul, and Christine's eyes stared
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  Speaker 1: wildly at everything around. I will remove you from his power, Christine,
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  Speaker 1: I swear it, and you shall not think of him
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  Speaker 1: any more. Is it possible? She allowed herself this doubt,
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  Speaker 1: which was an encouragement, while dragging the young man up
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  Speaker 1: to the topmost floor of the theater, far very far
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  Speaker 1: from the trap doors. I shall hide you in some
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  Speaker 1: unknown corner of the world where he cannot come to
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  Speaker 1: look for you. You will be safe, and then I shall
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  Speaker 1: go away, as you have sworn never to marry. Christine
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  Speaker 1: seized Raoul's hands and squeezed them with incredible rapture, but
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  Speaker 1: suddenly becoming alarmed again, she turned away her head. Higher
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  Speaker 1: was all she said. Higher still, and she dragged him
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  Speaker 1: up toward the summit. He had difficulty in following her.
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  Speaker 1: They were soon under the very roof, in the maze
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  Speaker 1: of timber work. They slipped through the buttresses, the rafters,
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  Speaker 1: the joys. They ran from beam to beam as they
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  Speaker 1: might have run from tree to tree in a forest,
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  Speaker 1: And despite the care which she took to look behind
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  Speaker 1: her at every moment. She failed to see a shadow
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  Speaker 1: which followed her, like her own shadow, which stopped when
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  Speaker 1: she stopped, which started again when she did, and which
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  Speaker 1: made no more noise than a well conducted shadow should.
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  Speaker 1: As for Raoul, he saw nothing either, for when he
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  Speaker 1: had Christine in front of him, nothing interested him that
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  Speaker 1: happened behind end of chapter eleven,