Epilogue

1902

It was gray and rainy, as if the heavens were in despair, and a cool wind blew across the rigid figures of the tombstones in the cemetery until it was caught in the folds of black material that comprised a woman's dress. The wind rustled her dress around her ankles, but she didn't look up.

Though she could no longer be considered a young woman, her face was only beginning to bear the lines of age. Her figure, though a little wider in the hips and waist, was the same as it had been twelve years earlier, and she wrapped her arms around herself tightly in a mournful embrace.

"I know you wouldn't want me to cry," she said softly, tears welling up in her eyes. "You'd say that I had more important things to do right now, and that I have to be strong." A bunch of red roses was in her arms, clutched to her chest protectively. "I really don't know why I'm so upset, we both knew it was going to happen sooner or later. I suppose I was just hoping it would be later."

The block of black granite that sat before her was silent, motionless in the chill of winter. She hadn't expected it to speak to her, not really, but she had hoped a little bit that it would make her feel a bit less lonely.

Fighting back her tears, she reached down to place the roses on the foot of the grave. The meager light that snuck around the edges of the clouds caught the slim gold band on her left ring finger and made it sparkle for a brief moment before disappearing within the clasp of her hands.

"There's a house…right near here, actually…that I was looking at. It's really very pretty. I know you would have loved it." Wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, she knelt down to press her cheek to the cold, unyielding granite. Her slender fingers traced the lines of the name on the tombstone, all the time wondering what she would do now.

Near the entrance of the graveyard, a man waved to her. She was so wrapped up with touching the stone that she didn't even notice, and the man shook his head, the hair almost completely gray. The last thing he wanted to do was disturb her, but it looked like rain and he knew Erik would never forgive him if she became ill.

"Angelique," he said, coming up behind her. "Come along, dear, it looks like rain." Pulling herself up, Angelique turned to him with a sad smile. Her grief hadn't made her any less lovely, and she looked back at the gravestone.

"Thank you for bringing me here, Nadir." A distant look came into her eyes, and Nadir nodded. "I haven't been here since we…since he…" Unable to say the words, she simply looked back at the grave.

"Passed on," Nadir offered, sadly. "Yes, me either. It's rather hard to believe that he's actually gone. I suppose that some part of me always thought that he would live forever, although I knew it was impossible." Gradually, his rheumy green eyes traveled towards the stone. "He was a good friend."

"You were his only friend, you know." Smiling again, Angelique ran her hand over the top of the tombstone. "But he did love you, I think. He just had such odd ways of showing it." Nadir said something softly in his native tongue, and even though Angelique could barely hear it or even understand it, she nodded her assent.

"What will you do now? I mean, you can't possibly live down there forever. There are other things to consider now." Trying to hide the tears in his eyes, Nadir looked up at Angelique's face. She shook her head slowly.

"Yes, I know. He made provisions for this…he left me a considerable amount of money, and Raoul is going to continue paying me half of his former salary. He says Christine wants it that way." Reaching down to touch the ring on her finger sadly, she managed a little smile. "They're fine people." For lack of anything better to say, Nadir nodded his agreement.

"We'd best be going now, before it starts to rain. You can't afford to be sick now, and Rene will be missing you." Taking her arm gingerly, Nadir began leading her towards the brougham where Darius waited patiently. "Your son is truly exceptional, you know. Just the other day, he was playing me a bit of a song he was writing."

"Mm." Absently, she smiled. "He's taking it awfully well. Sometimes it frightens me that he's so bright. I mean, he's barely five and writing songs for his father and painting pictures of me…he's…so much like Erik."

"Then he will be a truly exceptional child." Remembering the stories he had heard of Erik's childhood, Nadir smiled. At least she would have her son to give her comfort. A fat drop of rain fell onto his olive skin, and he looked up with some annoyance. "I believe Allah is giving us the signal to go home." Opening the door of the brougham, Nadir offered a hand to Angelique to help her into the cab. Closing the door, he went over to his own side and climbed in just before the drops of rain became a full downpour.

Looking back at the grave before it became lost in the heavy sheets of rain, Angelique closed her eyes. He wasn't truly gone. As long as she loved him, he could never truly be gone. This knowledge made her feel a bit safer, and Angelique leaned back on the plush seats of the brougham. Tears finally began to stream down her cheeks as she whispered goodbye to her husband.

In the silent graveyard, drops of rain ran down the sides of the tombstone like tears, slipping into the cracks and outlining the words in shining silver.

Erik

1831~1902

"Fate links thee to me for ever and a day."