ur presence in
his house, for otherwise he would certainly have managed not to let us
hear him. He would only have had to close the little invisible window
through which the torture-lovers look down into the torture-chamber.
Besides, I was certain that, if he had known of our presence, the
tortures would have begun at once.

The important thing was not to let him know; and I dreaded nothing so
much as the impulsiveness of the Vicomte de Chagny, who wanted to rush
through the walls to Christine Daae, whose moans we continued to hear
at intervals.

"The requiem mass is not at all gay," Erik's voice resumed, "whereas
the wedding mass--you can take my word for it--is magnificent! You
must take a resolution and know your own mind! I can't go on living
like this, like a mole in a burrow! Don Juan Triumphant is finished;
and now I want to live like everybody else. I want to have a wife like
everybody else and to take her out on Sundays. I have invented a mask
that makes me look like anybody. People will not even turn round in
the streets. You will be the happiest of women. And we will sing, all
by ourselves, till we swoon away with delight. You are crying! You
are afraid of me! And yet I am not really wicked. Love me and you
shall see! All I wanted was to be loved for myself. If you loved me I
should be as gentle as a lamb; and you could do anything with me that
you pleased."

Soon the moans that accompanied this sort of love's litany increased
and increased. I have never heard anything more despairing; and M. de
Chagny and I recognized that this terrible lamentation came from Erik
himself. Christine seemed to be standing dumb with horror, without the
strength to cry out, while the monster was on his knees before her.

Three times over, Erik fiercely bewailed his fate:

"You don't love me! You don't love me! You don't love me!"

And then, more gently:

"Why do you cry? You know it gives me pain to see you cry!"

A silence.

Each silence gave us fresh hope. We said to ourselves:

"Perhaps he has left Christine behind the wall."

And we thought only of the possibility of warning Christine Daae of our
presence, unknown to the monster. We were unable to leave the
torture-chamber now, unless Christine opened the door to us; and it was
only on this condition that we could hope to help her, for we did not
even know where the door might be.

Suddenly, the silence in the next room was disturbed by t