"The Phantom of the Opera" Passage

“This scene was described to the examining-magistrate by the

count himself, who did not see Raoul again until that evening,

at the Opera, a few minutes before Christine's disappearance.

Raoul, in fact, devoted the whole day to his preparations for

the flight. The horses, the carriage, the coachman, the provisions,

the luggage, the money required for the journey, the road to be

taken (he had resolved not to go by train, so as to throw the ghost

off the scent): all this had to be settled and provided for;

and it occupied him until nine o'clock at night.

At nine o'clock, a sort of traveling-barouche with the curtains of its

windows close-down, took its place in the rank on the Rotunda side.

It was drawn by two powerful horses driven by a coachman whose

face was almost concealed in the long folds of a muffler.

In front of this traveling-carriage were three broughams,

belonging respectively to Carlotta, who had suddenly returned to Paris,

to Sorelli and, at the head of the rank, to Comte Philippe de Chagny.

No one left the barouche. The coachman remained on his box,

and the three other coachmen remained on theirs.

A shadow in a long black cloak and a soft black felt hat passed along

the pavement between the Rotunda and the carriages, examined the barouche

carefully, went up to the horses and the coachman and then moved away

without saying a word, The magistrate afterward believed that this

shadow was that of the Vicomte Raoul de Chagny; but I do not agree,

seeing that that evening, as every evening, the Vicomte de Chagny

was wearing a tall hat, which hat, besides, was subsequently found.

I am more inclined to think that the shadow was that of the ghost,

who knew all about the whole affair, as the reader will soon perceive.

They were giving FAUST, as it happened, before a splendid house.

The Faubourg was magnificently represented; and the paragraph

in that morning's EPOQUE had already produced its effect, for all

eyes were turned to the box in which Count Philippe sat alone,

apparently in a very indifferent and careless frame of mind.

The feminine element in the brilliant audience seemed curiously puzzled;

and the viscount's absence gave rise to any amount of whispering

behind the fans. Christine Daae met with a rather cold reception.

That special audience could not forgive her for aiming so high.

The singer noticed this unfavorable attitude of a portion

of the house and was confused by it.” (P. 149-150).