Just then, Carlotta made her entrance in a box facing the stage, a
sensational entrance. Poor Christine raised her eyes upon this fresh
subject of excitement. She recognized her rival. She thought she saw
a sneer on her lips. That saved her. She forgot everything, in order
to triumph once more.
From that moment the prima donna sang with all her heart and soul. She
tried to surpass all that she had done till then; and she succeeded.
In the last act when she began the invocation to the angels, she made
all the members of the audience feel as though they too had wings.
In the center of the amphitheater a man stood up and remained standing,
facing the singer. It was Raoul.
"Holy angel, in Heaven blessed ..."
And Christine, her arms outstretched, her throat filled with music, the
glory of her hair falling over her bare shoulders, uttered the divine
cry: "My spirit longs with thee to rest!"
It was at that moment that the stage was suddenly plunged in darkness.
It happened so quickly that the spectators hardly had time to utter a
sound of stupefaction, for the gas at once lit up the stage again. But
Christine Daae was no longer there!
What had become of her? What was that miracle? All exchanged glances
without understanding, and the excitement at once reached its height.
Nor was the tension any less great on the stage itself. Men rushed
from the wings to the spot where Christine had been singing that very
instant. The performance was interrupted amid the greatest disorder.
Where had Christine gone? What witchcraft had snatched her, away
before the eyes of thousands of enthusiastic onlookers and from the
arms of Carolus Fonta himself? It was as though the angels had really
carried her up "to rest."
Raoul, still standing up in the amphitheater, had uttered a cry. Count
Philippe had sprung to his feet in his box. People looked at the
stage, at the count, at Raoul, and wondered if this curious event was
connected in any way with the paragraph in that morning's paper. But
Raoul hurriedly left his seat, the count disappeared from his box and,
while the curtain was lowered, the subscribers rushed to the door that
led behind the scenes. The rest of the audience waited amid an
indescribable hubbub. Every one spoke at once. Every one tried to
suggest an explanation of the extraordinary incident.
At last, the curtain rose slowly and Carolus Fonta stepped to the
conductor's desk and, in a sad and serious voice, said: "Ladies and gentlemen, an unprecedented event has taken place and
thrown us into a state of the greatest alarm. Our sister-artist,
Christine Daae, has disappeared before our eyes and nobody can tell us
how!"