A/N: Due to interest, I have written this short epilogue as a peek into Gia and Erik's married life. Although I have no plans to expand on their life together, I thought many of you would enjoy this. I thank you all for the encouragement to continue writing, and thanks to you all, I am seriously considering trying my hand at original fiction. This has been a wonderful experience for me, and if you have enjoyed my little story, please do not hesitate to let me know. I am always eager to read your reviews and thoughts.

Despite the very favorable notices in L'Epoque and Le Monde cheeringGianna Burnside in Giselle, Gia did not return to Metropolitan following her marriage to Erik. The opera house was sorry to see her go, and Monsieur Dupoix was even willing to promise her the designation of lead mezzo soprano to encourage her to stay, but Gia chose to decline the offer.

Two weeks after the wedding, Gia and Erik boarded a passenger train from Paris to Vienna, Austria. It did not take long for him to find moderate success through the publication of assorted concertos and sonatas. Erik was reticent at first to appear in public often, but the Viennese were enchanted by the talented composer and very little was made of his facial deformity. They were far more interested in his music.

Within two months of their arrival, Erik completed his new opera, Benedick e Beatrice, which was based upon William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. It was difficult at first to convince the opera manager and patrons to mount the production, particularly when they saw that the part of Beatrice was written for a mezzo rather than soprano voice. However, following an impromptu demonstration by the composer's charming young wife, an agreement was quickly reached. The production proved a huge financial success, and soon there was demand for it to be performed throughout Europe.

As a result, Gia and Erik spent a great deal of the first years of their marriage traveling around the musical capitals of the continent. It was only four years and two children into their marriage that they finally purchased a home in the French countryside, not far from the ancestral seat of the de Chagnys. Although the ladies always got on well, observers often noted that the two gentlemen only seemed to tolerate the other's presence for the sake of their wives and children.

It was perhaps inevitable that many years later Philippe de Chagny, heir to the title of viscomte, would fall in love with Cecelia Marie Giry, Gia and Erik's oldest daughter. Both fathers were initially opposed to the match, but when their wives made certain threats of an intimate nature, they relented rather quickly. Many declared there was never a handsomer couple than Philippe with his dark blonde hair and dark brown eyes and the green eyed, russet haired Cecelia.

When someone remarked casually that the marriage must certainly put to bed any of the old ghosts that clearly lay between the couple's fathers, Cecelia replied with her musical laugh, "You have no idea."