The Phantom of the Opera

by Gaston Leroux

“Your soul is a beautiful thing, child,” replied the grave man’s voice, “and I thank you. No emperor ever received so fair a gift. The angels wept tonight.”

“If any one was in my way, my friend,” Christine broke in coldly, “if any one was in my way, that evening, it was yourself, since I told you to leave the room!”

Queen

with words of love in his dead mouth

had a heart that could have held the empire of the world; and, in the end, he had to content himself with a cellar.