Christine pulled back the lace curtain to see a tall figure coming up the walk. Erik? It couldn’t be, this man had a normal face. But those hands… Oh! She scampered down the stairs and out into the garden. How would it look if he knew she had been daydreaming of him all morning? Flustered she picked a small sprig of lavender and inhaled the scent. She was so preoccupied she didn’t hear Mamma get the door.
Mamma Valérius came out into the garden properly walking on Erik’s arm. She was already taken with him, and chattering away endlessly. “How good of you to come and see us Erik. I knew Christine must have a handsome suitor when I saw that ring, but she wouldn’t say a word, the coy thing!” Erik looked ready to die if Christine could judge by his eyes. So this must be the new mask he promised her. He was handsome now, but not more so than without a mask, she scolded herself.
She smiled happily at Mamma. “Yes, he is a fine and handsome suitor, isn’t he Mama? I knew I’d be with him forever the moment I met him.” Christine went to Erik and laid her head on his chest. “Oh, isn’t he just perfect, Mamma? “ She smiled and closed her eyes, allowing Erik to embrace her.
“Perfect indeed!” Erik grumbled once Mamma had gone. “Goodness knows what she’d do if she saw what I really look like. But I couldn’t keep away my dearest Christine. I had to see you in sunlight, just once. To prove to you I can face daylight like any other man.” He held her closer, ruffled her hair. She could still change her mind; he knew that.
“Erik, when we get married I want only one thing.” Christine felt him tense. “I want a house in the country with tall walls and high hedges, so you can be in the sun with me. Without this.” The last was barely a whisper as she caressed his mask. Erik lost in the rapture of the idea, kissed her.
They spent the entire day together, and then Erik stayed to dinner. Christine and Erik left together the next day after a quiet wedding by an indifferent village priest. They lived out theirs lives in happiness and bliss in a cottage far from man where Erik needed no mask.
Nightcat's Phantom Fiction
Site Map
