Georg von Trapp looked in the mirror and straightened his tie. He shrugged on his jacket and ran his hand through his hair one last time to slick it back before he picked up his suitcase and left the room.
It was early, shortly after 6am. He did have a long drive ahead of him so he did want to get an early start, but more than that, he wanted to escape the villa quickly. Quietly he walked down the long hallway to the children's wing of the house. Putting down his suitcase, he softly opened the door and crept in. He was conscious of not waking the children as he couldn't bear the see the disappointed looks on their faces as he left again for Vienna, however he had never left them, not once without saying some sort of goodbye.
Looking in on each of the seven of them fast sleep, he smiled slightly to himself. Yes, he did love them, but it still pained him even to look at them sometimes. They were the living memory of their mother, each portraying some aspect or another of her: her smile, her hair, her eyes, her laughter, her sense of humor. No matter how hard he tried to hide it; the pain of losing her was still very raw beneath all the layers he hid her memory behind.
Content that he had said his goodbyes without waking them, he went down to the kitchen to quickly have a cup of coffee before starting his journey. He was nursing a slight hangover, something that was a bit of a habit these days: a few glasses of scotch to numb the pain each night of going up to the master suite alone. Yes, strong, black coffee would do the trick. He would refrain from having breakfast until he got to Vienna. No doubt that Elsa would have some decadent spread prepared for him for when he arrived.
After finishing his coffee, Georg stopped only briefly to speak to Frau Schmidt who had just entered the kitchen. He gave her a full list of instructions for while he was gone, including extremely detailed orders for the new governess outlining exactly the routine he wanted her to follow for the children. He noticed Frau Schmidt's eyebrows rose slightly as she glanced down the piece of paper he had handed her, but she made no comment.
As Georg strode purposefully out to the garage, he began to think about the whirlwind entrance of Frauline Maria. When he had approached the Mother Abbess, he had no idea that someone like the young Frauline would have been sent in response to his request for a governess. He wasn't sure whether he had quite expected an elderly, matronly type nun, but he did know that he never expected a feisty young lady. How young? He wasn't sure. Although she dressed like a schoolgirl, he did know she was much older, perhaps 24 or 25?
He shook his head, feeling slightly irritated when he thought back to her arrival the previous day. Not for a long time had he witnessed someone so clearly disobedient of the rules of the house. Firstly, not being able to remain where she was asked to and wandering into rooms of the house that were clearly not to be disturbed. Then her mock salute to him, followed by that slightly amused expression.
He shook his head again, feeling his irritation turning into mild anger. He placed his suitcase in the trunk of the car, slamming the lid shut, perhaps a little more violently than he had planned to.
Georg got in the car and started it up. Turning around to reverse the car, he glanced back up at the house. He could just see the window to the governess's room. It was dark. Huffing to himself, he knew she should already have been up in order to wake the children for the start of the day. Couldn't she even do that right?
Letting out a deep sigh, he contemplated whether he should go back into the house to make sure she was on schedule but looking at his watch, he realized he really needed to start off for Vienna or else he would never get there in time for brunch.
He drove out of the gate, wrapping his fingers in agitation on the steering wheel as he did. That Frauline! Oh, hadn't even been in the house for five hours and look at all the chaos she had already brought with her.
Not only her defiance of the rules when she had first arrived that infuriated him, but also her clear refusal to use his system of whistles. Combining that with the almost insult of him by saying that whistles were only for dogs and cats and other animals. Too humiliating? Who did she think she was questioning his system like that?
Georg was really starting to fume. The little innocent expression on her face as she asked after blowing his whistle: "Excuse me sir, I don't know your signal?" Oh Georg had been surprised at himself that he hadn't snapped back with anything worse other than "You may call me Captain." He had reprimanded many a junior officer during his time in the Navy for much less insubordination.
Shaking his head again, he thought back over the other events of the evening. Firstly she was late for dinner, then she sat on that ridiculous pinecone, then there was her insistence on saying grace, followed by her constant chatter over the dinner table… Was there anything she did that did not drive him crazy?
He turned on the radio to try and wash the thoughts of the young governess out of his head. The morning news was being announced. He listened for a few minutes, but quickly turned the knob to find another station, the latest political news of the impending German occupation of Austria too depressing for him.
The next station was playing light folk music. Subconsciously he started to hum along with the pleasant tune. But then further memories of the previous night flooded his mind. Frauline Maria dancing around her bedroom singing with his children in the middle of the night in that ridiculous tent of a nightgown. Did she not understand that bedtime was to be strictly observed? The nerve of her when she looked back at him, her clear blue eyes piercing daggers at him as she said that she had difficulty following the rules "only during thunderstorms." The last time someone was that bold to stand up to him and give him such cheek was Aga…
He stopped. It had been so long since he had even mentioned his late wife's name, even in thought. He wondered why he was suddenly thinking about her and not just thinking about her, but comparing her to Frauline Maria?
Rapidly he switched the radio off. He smashed his fist against the steering wheel as he drove. Enough of this! He thought. Georg tried to direct his thoughts over to Elsa. Yes Elsa. He had been seeing her for the better part of a year. Somehow she had managed to pull him out of his dark world of depression, to distract him from his sorrow and misery. While in a way she was his savior, she was much more than that. Lovely, charming, witty, graceful, the perfect hostess… but what else? He knew she had been hinting at marriage for some time and he had been reluctant. Why? He knew she would be society's perfect match for him. He was clearly quite fond of her and enjoyed being in her company, yet something still made him feel uneasy about finally making that commitment to her.
He hoped that this trip to Vienna would clear some of that up. He had asked her to return to Salzburg with his following his visit but until he had received the telegram the night before, he did not know whether she was ready to accept his invitation to meet his children. Georg knew the children needed a mother, but would Elsa be the mother they needed? He hoped so. He had been miserable for so long that he needed something or someone to being some joy back into his and the children's lives.
As he turned onto the road leading away from Salzburg towards Vienna, he offered a silent prayer for everything to work out for the best.