Whilst the new-born scratches and bruises that covered Maria's face caused her a considerable amount of pain, it was nothing compared to the agonising melancholiness and fear that lived within her heart. She was unable to stop her cut hands from trembling as they were sat in her lap and it took what little strength she had left to hold back the furious tears that were stinging in her eyes as the Reverend Mother carefully pushed a fresh cup of tea towards her. 'Drink this, Maria.' She instructed softly as she looked into the young woman's eyes, her heart breaking as she saw nothing aside from pain, confusion and trepidation glistening in her crystal blue irises. 'It's well-sugared; it'll help with the shaking.' Maria only shook her head quietly in response before dropping the Mother Abbess's gaze and focusing upon her scraped hands as they wrung nervously together within her lap.

'I hope you don't find me impertinent, Mother, but I won't if you'll forgive me. I'm not really thirsty and I'd only spill it everywhere if I accepted.' She admitted, her trembling voice no higher than a whisper.

'Maria, I always want you to feel as though you have a family here as well as at your Villa.' The Reverend Mother told her as she settled back in her chair. 'I never want you to feel as though you're no longer welcome here or that I or any of the Sisters here won't welcome you with open arms. I know that you're afraid and I know that you're in pain, but I need you to understand that you can talk to me.' Maria lifted her tear-filled gaze to the Mother Abbess's love-filled one a short time later, her bottom lip - which had gotten split during her assault - beginning to quiver uncontrollably as she swallowed the violent tears that were clawing their way up her throat.

'I just-' Maria sighed tearfully as she gazed up at the ceiling. 'I feel as though the world's against me at the moment, Mother. I can't help feeling as though I'm constantly letting those I love down.'

'My child, why do you feel that way?' The elder woman asked.

'Three months ago, back when the Captain and I were in Paris on our honeymoon, I went to the doctor after a week of feeling under the weather and returned to the hotel that afternoon with the news that I was pregnant. When I told the Captain about the baby I committed the look on his face to memory because never - not even when he asked me to marry him, throughout our engagement or on our wedding day - had I seen such love in his eyes.' Maria sniffed, a slight smile appearing on her lips for a moment before vanishing instantly. 'We hadn't even discussed trying for a baby or expanding our family at that point and yet we were beside ourselves with joy at the thought of becoming parents.' Her voice broke quietly before she swallowed hard once more, the Reverend Mother feeling her eyes starting to sting with tears of their own as she knew exactly what was coming.

'It was two weeks later when I woke up to terrible abdominal cramps and Georg had to hold me close whilst I miscarried. I don't know which pain was worse, the physical or emotional, but I knew it was the worst I'd ever felt before.' A solitary tear trickled over the curve of the Mother Abbess's cheek then before she reached up to wipe it away, Maria sighing as she looked over at her. 'He just held me in his arms for hours afterwards whilst I cried and I kept apologising, and even though he was just as heartbroken as I was he just kept stroking my hair and reminding me that there was nothing that I could have done to cause or to prevent it from happening. Things slowly began to go back to normal after a few days and when we got home we tried to put it behind us and just focus on settling down with the children, but everything's just so different from the way it was before. I feel as though everyone - with the exception of Georg, maybe - expects me to live up to Baroness Schraeder's standards and be just like her: elegant and self-confident, but I'm not her, Mother, I'm not as strong as her.'

'Maria.' The Reverend Mother sighed as she stood from her chair and slowly made her way around to the nervous young woman who was the closest thing she had to a biological daughter, Maria meeting her gaze once she had pulled up a chair beside her and had taken her bruised hand in her own. 'You are just as strong as Baroness Schraeder. You are beautiful,' She whispered as she brought her hand up to cup Maria's bruised cheek softly in her palm, stroking her thumb against the warm skin there. 'You have a heart of pure gold and I can see as well as anyone that you love your husband and your seven beautiful children and that they love you so deeply.' A single tear danced down Maria's cheek then, a tearful sigh escaping the ex-postulant as she nuzzled into the elder woman's hand and allowed her eyes to flutter closed of their own accord. 'You are a wonderful Baroness and the only opinions that should matter are the opinions of your husband and your children, darling.' The Mother Abbess couldn't help but sigh as she watched Maria's split lip begin to bleed once more. 'Would you like me to telephone the Captain and tell him what's happened?' Maria's crystal blue eyes snapped open then, a flash of fear crossing them as she pulled away from the Reverend Mother's tender caresses with a shake of her head.

'No!' She breathed. 'No, please don't. Promise me that you won't say a word to him about any of this, Mother!'

'My child, you are in no fit state to walk home. It's getting close to midnight now, do you want him to go out of his mind with worry for you?' The Mother Abbess asked gently.

'Do you want me to be made a widow just seven months after my wedding day?' Maria replied tearfully. 'I know my husband, Mother, I know that he wouldn't hesitate to kill a man if he found out that he had lay a finger on me. One of the Barons at a party that the Captain and I held a few weeks ago caressed my cheek without my permission and before I knew it the Captain's arm was around me and he was giving the man an earful. If he loses his temper over a man putting his hand on me with the intention of showing me affection can you imagine what he'd do to a man who put his hand on me with the intention of causing me harm?' She whispered.

'Maria, your husband loves you with his entire heart and soul, I saw that on your wedding day.' The Reverend Mother told her. 'You must tell him about what has happened to you; the truth will come out sooner or later.'

'And when I do tell him,' Maria sniffed. 'Will you come with me to the prison when my husband is hanged for murdering a man in order to defend my honour?'

The Mother Abbess couldn't stifle the deep sigh that escaped her as she took the young woman's hand slowly in her own and ran her thumb across her knuckles. 'Who did this to you?' She asked, tears coating her voice.

'I can't tell you.' Maria whimpered. 'I re-live what he did to me every time I think of his face or hear his voice in my head, Mother, but I need you to support me. I need you to respect my decision not to tell the Captain.'

'Very well.' The Mother Abbess sighed, leaning forwards to press a warm kiss onto her forehead. 'But I wish you would tell him and allow him to help you out of this veil of shadows.'

'I would rather hide this from him and be able to wake up with his arms wrapped around me every morning than tell him the truth and have him torn away from me and our children forever.' Maria's voice cracked gently then before she broke down into heart-wrenching sobs and covered her face with her scraped and bruised hands, the Reverend Mother feeling her heart shatter into thousands of tiny pieces before she wrapped her arms around the terrified young woman before her and brought her close, cradling the back of her head tenderly in her palm as Maria's grip upon her habit was vice-like as she sobbed loudly into the side of her neck. 'I was so scared, Mother!' She choked out as the elder woman stroked her short strawberry-blonde hair comfortingly. 'I only intended to go out for a short walk to clear my head after our fight but the next thing I knew it'd gotten dark and then - and then I-'

'Oh, my sweet girl.' The Reverend Mother whimpered softly into her hair as she turned her head to press a slow kiss to the side of her own. 'Maria, listen to me.' She instructed lovingly as she brought Maria carefully out of her arms in order to meet her gaze, a gentle sigh escaping her as she brought her hands up to wipe away the tears that had become caught upon the young woman's skin. 'I know where there is some powder that we can use to cover up these bruises. You will have to re-apply it in the morning because it will fade overnight but I will apply enough now in order for it to last until you and the Captain turn in for the night. As for your lip,' She spoke gently as she brushed her thumb delicately against the small slice in Maria's lip, wincing when a sharp hiss came from the ex-postulant in response. 'You will have to think of an excuse that you can give to the Captain so that he doesn't become suspicious, but that shouldn't be too difficult.' Maria nodded weakly. 'I just - I can't believe that anyone could willingly do this to you.' She admitted as she cupped her injured face.

'I'm not the first woman to be attacked whilst out walking at night, Mother, and I won't be the last.' Maria reminded her as she reached up to cover one of her soft hands with her own.

'More's the pity.' The Reverend Mother sighed as she brushed her thumbs lightly against her cheekbones. 'Now, I want you to finish your tea now that you're not shaking so terribly whilst I go and find the powder. Then I will ask the caretaker to drive you home to the Villa, alright?' Maria nodded once again in response before leaning forward to bring the teacup into her hands and taking a slow sip of the warm liquid, a hum of satisfaction escaping her as it was terribly soothing to her sore throat. She watched the Reverend Mother stand from the chair beside her then before the elder woman made her way across the room towards the door. The Reverend Mother turned back to her after reaching out to grasp the doorknob, a gentle sigh escaping her lips as there was nothing but love in her eyes. 'Maria?' She spoke softly.

'Yes, Mother?' Maria replied as she turned slightly in her seat.

'I - I love you.' She told her. 'I know I probably shouldn't say it, but I do.'

'I love you too.' Maria reassured her as she ran the pad of her thumb slowly around the rim of her teacup. 'Just as deeply as I would love you if you were my real mother.'

Then, with a loving nod of her head in response, the Reverend Mother made her way through the door before going in search of the powder.

As she entered the Villa just a short while after midnight, the first thing that she observed was the thick, eerie silence that lived within the walls, and for the first time that day Maria was able to breathe a slight sigh of relief. It seemed that her wish had been granted: everyone was asleep. She took a few moments to survey the place that she called her home and although she was still shaking in result to all that she'd endured at the hands of...him... - and at the thought of facing her husband - her heart swelled slightly with a pang of safety. Whilst she was terrified of facing her husband, she knew that nothing bad would ever happen to her within these four walls. With tentative steps she began to make her way up the stairs - hoping with all her being that no-one in the Villa would stir and discover her; but as she reached her desired floor, it seemed as though her wish would not be granted as the door to the bedroom that she owned alongside Georg was practically thrown open and she caught a glimpse of the man himself. 'Just act natural.' She told herself. 'Just act natural.'

'Maria.' He breathed in relief as he approached her with determined strides, Maria unable to even open her mouth to speak before his deliciously warm lips were upon hers and his strong hands were upon her hips as she was pressed up against the wall. Her split lip stung awfully with each long and firm kiss that her husband left upon her mouth but she couldn't find it within herself to care as she clung to the lapels of his jacket, her head spinning slightly when he allowed one hand to leave her hip in order to cup the side of her neck in its palm as he slowly deepened their kiss. Their kisses soon took on much more of a languid nature as the initial shock of her late return began to wear off, every caress of their lips against the other's slow and soft as he brushed the thumb of one hand against the jut of her hip through her skirt and the thumb of the other along her jawline. 'Oh my darling, where on earth have you been?' He breathed once they had parted and he pressed his forehead warmly against her own, their warm and heavy breathing mingling as she held tightly to his jacket's lapels.

'I told you,' She replied softly as she gazed into his stormy blue eyes. 'I went for a walk to give us both time to calm down.'

'Yes, but neither of us needed four hours to calm down, Maria.' He growled gently. 'Do you have any idea of how worried I've been? How many times I've considered telephoning the police tonight?' He removed his warm hand from the side of her neck in order to cup the smooth curve of her cheek lovingly in its palm, Maria's heart aching at the slight tears of genuine fear that were sparkling in his eyes. 'Anything could have happened to you when you were alone out there tonight and if the police had shown up here without me telephoning them - if they'd shown up to tell me that something had happened to you - I don't know what I would have done. I was completely out of line for the way that I spoke to you this afternoon and I hate myself for some of the things that I said to you, but even if we argue, that does not mean that you can just go disappearing for hours.'

'I know.' She whimpered softly with gentle tears sparkling in her own eyes as they allowed the tips of their noses to graze. 'I'm so sorry, Georg, I never meant to scare you.'

'I know you didn't, darling, it's okay.' He soothed with a lingering kiss to her forehead. 'But next time, you-' He cut himself off then before taking his wife's chin carefully upon his index finger. 'What on earth happened to your lip?' His brow furrowed as he inspected it carefully for a moment, brushing his thumb softly against the dry blood that remained upon her bottom lip. 'Maria, you didn't have this cut when you stormed out earlier on. Did something happen when you were out walking? Did someone hurt you?' His once gentle voice had suddenly grown dark with concern and slight fury at the thought of anyone daring to lay a single hand upon his wife.

'Oh, my darling, no!' She forbade her voice to crack and give her away as she strived to sound as reassuring as possible, her soft hand slipping around to the back of his neck before she drew him into a warm kiss. She hummed softly in contentment against his lips when his strong hands found the curves of her waist and he drew her further into him, one of her hands coming to settle upon his strong chest through his shirt as she stroked the slightly-graying hairs at the nape of his neck before lingering just for a moment as she brushed a final slow and soft kiss against his lower lip, their gazes meeting once more before she pulled away with a loving smile. 'Is it okay if I take a bath before I come to bed? I know it's late but I'm still a little cold from my walk and I think having a bath will help me warm up and relax a little.' Georg smiled affectionately down at her before bringing her closer by the waist and allowing her to wrap her arms slowly around his middle before she snuggled against his chest with a gentle sigh.

'You don't have to ask for my permission to have a bath, Maria.' He murmured softly into her strawberry-blonde hair before pressing a tender kiss to her head. 'But you do have to answer my question on how you cut your lip. You say that no-one hurt you and I hope that's true, but one way or another you've been hurt and I want to know how this happened.' She lifted her head from his chest then, her arms remaining around his waist as she gazed up at him.

'I had a small fall when I was out walking. I lost my footing and that's how I've cut my hands and lip, but I'm fine. I just need to wash the cut with salt-water for a few days so it doesn't get infected and then it should start healing.' She told him with a quiet sigh, her lips pursing slightly as she tore her gaze away from his own momentarily in order to cast it down to the deep red carpet beneath her feet. She could feel her heart pounding sickeningly against her ribs once more. She just prayed he couldn't hear it.

Georg wasn't convinced. If he knew his wife - and he did - he knew that she detested the thought of burdening he or anyone else with her problems, no matter how large or how serious the issue was. She had been raised by an Uncle who had forbidden her to voice her fears or concerns when she had lived under his roof as a young girl and when she had joined the Abbey she had been forbidden to draw attention to herself and so she'd simply kept herself to herself. He knew that she was lying in order to cover up what had really happened out on those streets earlier that evening and even though his fury was raging deep within him at another human being laying so much as a finger on his sweet, innocent wife, he knew that the last thing she needed at that given moment was to have questions thrown at her. She was scared, he could see it in her eyes no matter how hard she attempted to disguise it. Something much more serious than a simple fall had happened to her that evening, but at that moment Georg knew that there was only one thing that he could do. Support her.

'Come here.' He told her gently, reaching up to cup her jaw warmly in his palm before he tilted back her head and dipped his own in order to brush a soft and chaste kiss against her injured lip. 'I love you.' He murmured as he rested his forehead against her own, pressing a light kiss to the tip of her pointed nose.

'I love you too.' She whispered, brushing her thumb against his lower back through his jacket. 'Desperately.'

'Go on.' He stroked her face. 'Go and get into the bath and then you can come and have a snuggle with me. I missed holding you in my arms on the settee in my study after the children went to bed this evening.'

'I missed being in your arms this evening.' She admitted, a radiant smile upon her lips. 'But I'm back now and I am more than willing to accept your offer of snuggling after I've had my bath.'

The two of them shared a soft chuckle together then before indulging in a final long and slow kiss, Georg taking his wife's hand warmly in his own before he led her into their bedroom.

'The children are going to be pleased to see you back safe when we go down to breakfast in the morning.' Georg hummed softly against the warm skin of his wife's shoulder a short time later as the two of them lay together in the safety of their bed, the one source of light being the small lamp upon Maria's bedside table as she lay securely in her husband's arms and he was curled around her. 'I told you I was worried about you - and I was - but the children were all in pieces when I told them that it was time to go to bed when it turned 11:00. All of the children are sleeping in the same room because they wanted one another close by since you weren't here.' Maria smiled sleepily at the thought of her seven children, brushing her thumb against her husband's wrist.

'I'm sorry that I worried you all so much.' She sighed gently as she rolled onto her back a few moments later and Georg shifted slightly so that he was laying beside her whilst propped up on his elbow, stroking his fingertips delicately along the sharpness of his wife's jaw. 'I planned to go for a walk through the park and back again but I guess I lost track of the time. When I saw it getting dark I started making my way home and that's when I fell, but I hurt my foot a little and so it took a little longer than I first thought.' She sighed deeply as she dropped her husband's gaze momentarily. 'Can I ask you something, Georg?' She asked softly when she finally cast her gaze up towards him once again, Georg nodding gently as he lay down slowly beside her with a sigh.

'You can ask me anything.' He reassured her. 'And I hope you always will.' He drew her close then and rolled slowly onto his back in order to allow her to curl into his side, her head coming to settle upon his bare shoulder.

'Do you ever think about - about the baby I lost when we were in Paris? I mean, I would be almost eight months pregnant by now if I hadn't miscarried and we would have had the cot set up by now.' Her lips curled up into a slightly solemn smile.

'I think about our baby every single day.' He admitted as he gazed up at the ceiling and began to stroke his fingers through her hair. 'But I know why you're asking and no, I don't blame you for the loss of it.'

'I still remember you holding me in your arms that night, you know.' She whispered as she stroked the tips of her fingers against the long scar on his chest that he'd gained by serving in the Navy. 'The way that you promised me we'd get past it together.'

'And we did, didn't we?' He murmured softly against her hairline before smiling lovingly down at her when she tilted her head back against his shoulder.

'Yes,' She whispered as she traced the sharpness of his jaw with her fingertips. 'We did.'

'And soon,' He started as he allowed his hand to come to settle upon her lower abdomen through her nightgown. 'If you would like to, we could always start trying properly.'

'Really?' She breathed, the thought of bearing her husband's beautiful child making her heart soar despite the nauseating worry that she felt at the thought of her husband potentially finding the number of bruises that she had just discovered upon her body.

'Really.' He reassured her with a slow kiss to her lips. 'I want to watch your belly grow along with our baby and I want to be able to hold you in my arms every night, feeling our child kick from within you as my hand rests upon your stomach.'

'Oh, Georg, I want that too.' She whimpered as she cupped the side of his neck in her palm and accepted the several warm and lingering kisses that he left upon her lips. 'More than anything, my darling, more than anything.'

'Let's wait for a few weeks first and ask the children how they would feel if we were to have a baby, and then we can go from there, hmm?' He smiled as he stroked her slightly damp hair lovingly.

'I love you so much.' She sniffed, the tears in her eyes a mixture of both happiness at the thought of carrying her husband's child within her body, yet also heartbreak as she thought about the dark secret that she was concealing from him.

'I love you too, my beautiful Baroness.' He whispered before pressing his lips to her temple. 'Now, turn out the lamp and come and get some sleep. You look exhausted, my angel, and no wonder.' She nodded obediently then before extracting herself from his arms and shifting slightly in order to turn out the lamp upon her bedside table. When she shifted closer to her husband once again and he wrapped his arm tenderly around her waist before drawing her close, she released a gentle whimper of slight pain. The sound made him feel sick to his stomach as his eyes fell closed momentarily and he felt his heart begin to ache just slightly. A fall as minor as the one she had supposedly taken couldn't have left her in such discomfort, surely. 'Maria?' He whispered into the darkness, his wife humming softly in response as she draped her arm slowly over his stomach and anchored herself to him as he turned his head towards her to gaze into her eyes. 'Are you sure that you're alright?' The concern was evident in his eyes.

'I'm fine, I just ache a little from the amount of walking I did this evening.' She lied. 'I'll be fine in the morning after I take some aspirin.'

'If you're sure...' He replied, brushing his thumb soothingly against her hip through her nightgown.

'I am.' She told him gently, once again forcing herself to sound as convincing as possible as she snuggled slowly into his side. 'Goodnight, darling.' She whispered before nuzzling a soft kiss into the side of his neck.

'Goodnight, sweetheart.' He sighed into her hair, kissing her head warmly. 'Pleasant dreams.'

She scoffed inwardly to herself at that, a gentle sigh escaping her as she swallowed the tears that were clawing their way up her throat once again. 'Pleasant dreams...' She sighed to herself. 'If only he knew.'

Author's Note: Thank you all for reading the first chapter of this story and I hope you liked it a little - well as much as one can like a story like this -. Please leave me a review to let me know what you thought and I hope you'll follow to know when a new chapter is uploaded! Thank you to DeadlyFandoms for the amazing help you have given me with this chapter! x