zellephantom | Phantom Thoughts pt. 23

{"Madame ... where is Christine?"

And the old lady replied calmly:

"She is with her good genius!"

"What good genius?" exclaimed poor Raoul.

"Why, the Angel of Music!"

The viscount dropped into a chair. Really? Christine was with the Angel of Music?}

Being with an angel does not necessarily mean one is dead, Raoul. But, yes, poor Raoul- I bet he's entirely fed up with imaginative people, who don't say what they mean and believe in fairytales.

{He hardly knew what he was saying, for his ideas about Christine, already greatly confused, were becoming more and more entangled; and it seemed as if everything was beginning to turn around him, around the room, around that extraordinary good lady with the white hair and forget-me-not eyes.}

You seem dizzy- you should probably drink some water and lie down. That may be how intense confusion feels, but you still likely have low blood sugar or something.

{She is fond of me!" sighed the young man. He found a difficulty in collecting his thoughts and bringing them to bear on Mamma Valerius' "good genius," on the Angel of Music of whom Christine had spoken to him so strangely,}

And Raoul is immediately distracted from his missing, possibly dead crush because her mom just told him that Christine kind of likes him. (Oh, the utter distraction of a first crush!)

{He asked in a low voice: "What makes you think that Christine is fond of me, madame?"

"She used to speak of you every day."

"Really? ... And what did she tell you?"

"She told me that you had made her a proposal!"

And the good old lady began laughing wholeheartedly. Raoul sprang from his chair, flushing to the temples, suffering agonies.}

awww he's blushing!!! (Yeah, I'd be laughing too at that reaction.)

{"Is Christine engaged to be married?" the wretched Raoul asked, in a choking voice.

"Why no! Why no! ... You know as well as I do that Christine couldn't marry, even if she wanted to!"

"But I don't know anything about it! ... And why can't Christine marry?"

"Because of the Angel of Music, of course! ..."

"I don't follow ..."

"Yes, he forbids her to! ..."}

That moment when you're actually not sure if your crush has a boyfriend or not.

{"Oh, he forbids her ... without forbidding her. It's like this: he tells her that, if she got married, she would never hear him again. That's all! ... And that he would go away for ever! ... So, you understand, she can't let the Angel of Music go. It's quite natural."

"Yes, yes," echoed Raoul submissively, "it's quite natural."}

No, it's not 'quite natural'- it's M A N I P U L A T I O N. Which is not okay even if he is in love with Christine!

{Raoul de Chagny rose and, with a very authoritative air, pronounced these peremptory words:

"Madame, you will have the goodness to tell me where that genius lives."

The old lady did not seem surprised at this indiscreet command. She raised her eyes and said:

"In Heaven!"

Such simplicity baffled him.}

Mme. Valerius, you're not exactly helping him get over the 'was Christine murdered?!?' theory.

{He walked home to his brother's house in a pitiful state. He could have struck himself, banged his head against the walls! To think that he had believed in her innocence, in her purity! The Angel of Music! He knew him now! He saw him! It was beyond a doubt some unspeakable tenor, a good-looking jackanapes, who mouthed and simpered as he sang! He thought himself as absurd and as wretched as could be. Oh, what a miserable, little, insignificant, silly young man was M. le Vicomte de Chagny! thought Raoul, furiously. And she, what a bold and ... sly creature!}

Raoul, you are a tenor and good-looking. You have absolutely no room to talk. Also, isn't mouthing the words required to sing?? WHy is he upset about that???

You are silly, yes, and young. But earnest and big-hearted and absolutely well-meaning and sweet! If Christine really is as sly as you currently think, then you really deserve better than to make yourself miserable pursuing her.

Phantom Thoughts pt. 23

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