She took him to the wardrobe and property–rooms, took him all over her empire, which was artificial, but immense, covering seventeen stories from the ground–floor to the roof and inhabited by an army of subjects. She moved among them like a popular queen, encouraging them in their labors, sitting down in the workshops, giving words of advice to the workmen whose hands hesitated to cut into the rich stuffs that were to clothe heroes. There were inhabitants of that country who practised every trade. There were cobblers, there were goldsmiths. All had learned to know her and to love her, for she always interested herself in all their troubles and all their little hobbies.
She knew unsuspected corners that were secretly occupied by little old couples. She knocked at their door and introduced Raoul to them as a Prince Charming who had asked for her hand; and the two of them, sitting on some worm–eaten "property," would listen to the legends of the Opera, even as, in their childhood, they had listened to the old Breton tales. Those old people remembered nothing outside the Opera. They had lived there for years without number. Past managements had forgotten them; palace revolutions had taken no notice of them; the history of France had run its course unknown to them; and nobody recollected their existence.
The precious days sped in this way; and Raoul and Christine, by affecting excessive interest in outside matters, strove awkwardly to hide from each other the one thought of their hearts. One fact was certain, that Christine, who until then had shown herself the stronger of the two, became suddenly inexpressibly nervous. When on their expeditions, she would start running without reason or else suddenly stop; and her hand, turning ice–cold in a moment, would hold the young man back. Sometimes her eyes seemed to pursue imaginary shadows. She cried, "This way," and "This way," and "This way," laughing a breathless laugh that often ended in tears. Then Raoul tried to speak, to question her, in spite of his promises. But, even before he had worded his question, she answered feverishly:
"Nothing… I swear it is nothing."
Once, when they were passing before an open trapdoor on the stage, Raoul stopped over the dark cavity.
"You have shown me over the upper part of your empire, Christine, but there are strange stories told of the lower part. Shall we go down?"
She caught him in her arms, as though she feared to see him disappear down the black hole, and, in a trembling voice, whispered:
"Never!… I will not have you go there!… Besides, it’s not mine … EVERYTHING THAT IS UNDERGROUND BELONGS TO HIM!"
Raoul looked her in the eyes and said roughly:
"So he lives down there, does he?"
"I never said so… Who told you a thing like that? Come away! I sometimes wonder if you are quite sane, Raoul… You always take things in such an impossible way… Come along! Come!"
And she literally dragged him away, for he was obstinate and wanted to remain by the trap–door; that hole attracted him.
Suddenly, the trap–door was closed and so quickly that they did not even see the hand that worked it; and they remained quite dazed.
"Perhaps HE was there," Raoul said, at last.
She shrugged her shoulders, but did not seem easy.
"No, no, it was the 'trap–door–shutters.' They must do something, you know… They open and shut the trap–doors without any particular reason… It’s like the 'door–shutters:' they must spend their time somehow."
"But suppose it were HE, Christine?"
"No, no! He has shut himself up, he is working."
"Oh, really! He’s working, is he?"
"Yes, he can’t open and shut the trap–doors and work at the same time." She shivered.
"What is he working at?"
"Oh, something terrible!… But it’s all the better for us… When he’s working at that, he sees nothing; he does not eat, drink, or breathe for days and nights at a time… he becomes a living dead man and has no time to amuse himself with the trap–doors." She shivered again. She was still holding him in her arms. Then she sighed and said, in her turn:
"Suppose it were HE!"
"Are you afraid of him?"
"No, no, of course not," she said.
