Chapter Two

"Maman, I won't go! I simply won't!" Adele cried, tearing the acceptance letter to bits. "I can't leave you and Papa! What if the baby is born while I'm away?"

Cosette sighed. Although Adele was shy among strangers, she never ceased to be strong-willed at home. "Don't shout Adele. You know ladies are never to speak louder than a whisper."

"I'll shout if I please! Mother, how could you?"

"Adele, when I was your age I would have jumped at the chance to go abroad. Now I'm too old to leave, at least until the baby was born. This is your chance to go for me. Your father agrees with me, so don't go begging him to change my mind. You are going to America." Adele opened her mouth to respond, but thought the better of it. Instead, she turned and ran to her room.

Cosette laid a hand on her stomach as the baby kicked her violently. She grimaced and lectured it softly, "Little on, if you are even a little bit as fiesty as your sister, you and I will not get along." She sighed. "But you know I love you anyway."

How could I have been so wrong? she wondered. I thought Adele would love to go away. She is seventeen, after all! She should be courting fine young gentlemen, getting betrothed to some sweetheart like my Marius.

But, her conscience argued, she still has many years ahead of her. She could easily wait two or three years before marrying. You don't want her to have your life, do you? Married at fifteen, a baby nine months later, then miscarriage after miscarriage until your husband refuses to touch you, he's so afraid you'll break?

"No," Cosette whispered. Tears flooded to her eyes, but she quickly brushed them away with a swollen hand. She began to stand, but dizziness overcame her and she had to lay down again. "Marius!" she called, hoping her husband was in the house. She called out again, but there was no reply. Finally she groaned and swung her legs over the bed. As she was overcome by nausea, she reached for a bedpost, but instead fell back upon the pillow. It was never this bad before, she thought as her head throbbed and her stomach churned. Eventually she managed to stand, the dancing butterflies turning to lead in her stomach. She grabbed her swollen belly, intense pain sending spasms throughout her body. She looked around desperately for a bowl or a pot, but by the time she found one, itwas too late. Everything she had eaten for breakfast was displayed on her nightgown.

"Oh! Now I have to change my clothing as well!" She pushed the unused pot back under the bed, and had just changed her clothing when Adele burst through the door.

"Maman! What are you doing out of bed?"

Cosette smiled feebly. "Coming to find you. I've decided you don't have to go to America if you don't want to go."

"But, Maman, I do want to go!"

"What do you mean? Don't go just because I would like you to, my child."

"I'm not. I'm going because I want to go. When do I leave?"

"Next week. You will take the 3 o'clock train to the city, where you will board the Saint-Christine. You will be in America by Monday next. Someone there will meet you and take you to the school.

I've arranged for you to stay with another French girl; her name is Sophie. She's the daughter of a wealthy vicomte, and she's only 3 years younger than you are." She sighed. "Are you sure you want to go?"

"Yes, Maman. As long as I can be home to help you with the baby...?" Her statement was left hanging, andshe feared that her mother would contradict her.

To her great relief, Cosette replied, "You will come home on break in December and stay until after the New Year. The baby isn't coming until Christmas." Adele smiled, as did her mother. "Now go pack."

Adele hugged her mother and walked away, a slight bounce in her step. Cosette sighed and ran her hand through her hair, then climbed back into bed. Thank you, Lord.

Prolouge

"Maman, what's a castle? And why is it on a cloud?" Little Adele Pontmercy asked, waving a piece of paper in her mother's face. Cosette took it from the three-year-old and stared at it for a minute, then sighed.

"A castle on a cloud is a happy place where no one can hurt you. It is a special place all your own, where nothing is ever sad."

"Maman, do we live in a castle?"

"I hope we do, Adele, I hope we do." She held out her arms and her daughter climbed into her lap, laying her head on Cosette's shoulder. Within minutes of her mother's gentle rocking, Adele was asleep.

Papa, papa, Cosette sighed, if only you were here. I have Marius and Adele, but I miss you so. Papa, you are my castle on a cloud!

She looked at the paper again. It was old, over fifteen years old, but the melody to the ditty was teasing her brain. "There is a castle on a cloud. I like to go there in my sleep..." Papa, dear Papa...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the other side of Paris, just outside the city...

"Focus, my darling, breathe!"

"Raoul Christian de Chagney!" Christine paused, fighting for breath as a contraction seized her. She squeezed her husband's hand, so fiercely that he nearly screamed out in pain more than his wife did. As it subsided, she groaned, "This is all your fault!" A voice in the back of her head whispered, No it's not, liar, but she shoved the taunting thought away.

"The head is crowning, Christine. The baby is almost here!" Madame Giry encouraged.

Christine moaned, but she was cut off by a pressure so intense that no sound issued from her pretty lips. The next thing she knew, she fell back on the pillow and a slippery infant was laid on her chest.

"Christine, we have a girl. A baby, Chrissy," Raoul murmered. Christine couldn't say anything. Her eyes welled with tears as she gazed at her tiny daughter. The baby's tiny wails grew louder as she nudged hungrily at her mother's breast. When she found Christine's nipple, she latched on hungrily, as tears bathed her tiny face.

"Sophie. She is Sophie Marguerite Anne de Chagney." Christine announced when she could speak again. Raoul nodded and kissed his wife, then left the room to alert Meg Giry of the baby's arrival... and check his emotions. Madame Giry bustled away to find clean towels, and Christine was left alone with her baby. Papa, how I wish you could see your granddaughter. She is beautiful, Papa. I know she would love you. Papa, please speak to me! Please...

Synopsis

Cosette and Marius Pontmercy's daughter Adele is sent away to the same boarding school in America that young Marguerite de Chagney is attending. Erik, who left France after the "Don Juan" incident is a recluse living in America giving voice and organ lessons. He discovers young Adele has a gift that she has hidden well, and Margeurite becomes extremely jealous. In her rage, she swears revenge by seducing Adele's lover. When the girls go home to their families at Christmas, it is Marguerite, not Adele, who introduces the very American Tony to her parents as her fiance. Adele, meanwhile, weeps in her mother's lap. She cries that she wishes to die and will never go back to school. When Erik learns that his favorite pupil isn't going to return, he sets out to find Marguerite, who he knows is behind Adele's absense. What happens when he finds her leads to a whirlwind of discoveries and secrets that everyone wishes had remained buried.

Dedication

Dedicated to Whitney Goddard the 1st person to introduce me to Les Mis. Love you always, Whit!