Elsa paced for a few moments, trying to decide what to do first. Talk to Georg? Pack her belongings? Ask Max for a ride to the train station? She continued to pace, her stiletto heels clicking on the marble floor. Finally, she decided she needed to talk to Georg first and make things as right as she could.
Max sat on the terrace, still eating and drinking, as well as puzzling over all he had witnessed in Georg's home in recent weeks. He still didn't think he would mention what he had noticed, but he would definitely back off from continuing to push Georg and Elsa together. He sat up as he heard Elsa's high heels approaching from inside the house.
"Max, do you know where Georg is?"
"Hmm. I would think he's somewhere in the house. The children are walking by the lake and I didn't see him go with them. Maybe check his study? What's up? Are you going to talk him into throwing another party?" Max was halfway kidding, but something about Elsa's expression made him sit up and take note.
Elsa drew a deep breath and shook her head. "Max, I really should talk to Georg first, before I tell you this, but….. oh, well. This just isn't right."
Max frowned. "What isn't right?"
"Georg and me. I finally see that we've been trying to force something that just isn't meant to be. I want a travel companion and someone to take me to parties and help me throw parties, and he hates all that. He's different here than he was in Vienna. He's so much more involved with his children, while I just can't relate to them, no matter how I try. So many people seem to think we're the perfect couple, but I've come to realize that we are very much mismatched in what we want out of life. He wants a mother for his children to complete his family; I want someone to travel with and give parties…." Elsa trailed off, realizing she was babbling.
Throwing his resolve to keep quiet aside, Max gave her a knowing look. "I wondered how long it would take one of you to figure it out."
"What? Max, you've been pushing us to get married from the beginning! What do you mean?"
Leaning back in his chair, Max chuckled. "Once in awhile I do know how to be quiet and watch. And what you just described is exactly what I've been seeing ever since we arrived here! Elsa, you are quite a lady, and a gracious one at that, as well as very intelligent. You're like a fish out of water here, as is Georg in Vienna. So, what's the plan now? Are you going to leave after you talk to him? Do you need a ride to the train station?"
"I haven't packed yet, but I will as soon as Georg and I talk. And if I'm not too late to catch the evening train to Vienna, I would very much appreciate a ride. Thank you."
Elsa turned on her heel and walked back into the house, finally feeling right about what she was doing for the first time in weeks.
Georg stood up and walked across his study to the bar, then changed his mind. He needed to keep a clear head while he talked with Elsa, something alcohol wouldn't give him. Opening the door to his study, he headed for the kitchen to get himself a glass of ice water.
Elsa found the door to Georg's study open, but no sign of Georg himself. Oh, well, she reasoned, she would go up to her room and begin packing, a project that was sure to take awhile. She really did want to catch the last train out to Vienna tonight, so she knew her time was limited.
Downing a glass of cold ice water, Georg tried to relax. In spite of how badly he needed to settle things with Elsa, he really wanted to go find Maria first. But he knew that was out of order. He needed to put things to rest with Elsa and send her home before he contacted Maria. Still, he was already trying to decide how best to reach her. Should he go to the abbey? He was reasonably sure that was where the children had been one day earlier in the week, though they had tried to convince him they were berry-picking. He wished they had felt safe to tell him the truth, but if his hunch was right and they had been to the abbey in search of Maria, he was pretty sure they would have told him if they'd been able to speak with her. He had let the matter go at the time, deciding there was no point in grilling them any further.
Georg put his empty water glass on the kitchen counter, then headed out to the terrace. He found Max sitting in his usual spot, eating, drinking, and reading, but he was alone.
"Max, have you seen Elsa?"
"She was just out here looking for you," Max responded nonchalantly, determined not to give anything away. "I told her I figured you were somewhere in the house and to try looking in your study."
Elsa was looking for him? Georg wondered what was up. No matter what Elsa came up with in an effort to convince him otherwise, he was determined to make a clean break with her now that he had had time to look at things objectively and think clearly. He forced himself to put thoughts of Maria aside and concentrate on doing right by Elsa as best he could.
Upstairs, Elsa snapped one of her suitcases shut. She always packed in an organized manner, making it fairly easy to pack to leave. She carefully looked around the room she had occupied during her stay at Georg's home, making sure not to miss anything. Surprisingly, she realized she didn't feel the least bit sad. It was more like a tremendous sense of relief. She wondered how long she had been trying to force things with Georg. At some point, their easy friendship had evolved into an attempt at a romantic relationship, and ever since that shift, things hadn't been right. They had supported each other through their shared grief over the losses of Helmut and Agathe, but that had been temporary. Elsa found that she was actually looking forward to getting back home to Vienna and reconnecting with her friends there, and of course, attending more parties.
Standing back and taking a look at her work, Elsa decided she had made a pretty good start. More than half her bags were packed and shut, meaning it shouldn't take her that long to finish, once she talked to Georg. She left her room and started down the stairs, in search of him once again.
He walked back inside the house as Elsa descended the stairs. "There you are," they said to each other simultaneously.
Georg looked up and gave her a questioning look. "Max said you were looking for me?"
"Yes, Georg. Can we talk, please?"
Gesturing with his head toward his study down the hall, Georg followed Elsa, knowing he was finally doing what he should have done weeks ago, preferably before that blasted party that had turned into a disaster, between his altercation with Herr Zeller and Maria's departure, not to mention just dealing with all the high-society people he had been obligated to invite.
Once Elsa was seated on the sofa in his study, Georg leaned against the front edge of his desk, intending to make this as brief and painless as possible.
"Elsa, I've finally had to get painfully honest with myself, and with you as well," Georg began. "You and I are great friends, and have been for a very long time. It was truly a gift that we were able to help each other through losing our spouses, and I thank you for that. But we have both moved on from that now, and it's clear that we want different things from life."
Elsa felt relief, seeing where the conversation was going. "Georg, I'm ready to go home. I've been upstairs packing, and once I finish, I believe I should easily make it to the train station in time to catch the night train to Vienna. You have been a most gracious host, and I've enjoyed our time together, too, but now that I've seen you here, in your home, I also see that we are going in drastically different directions. You are truly a family man, and you are right that your children need a mother, but that job isn't for me. I want to go back to Vienna and go to parties, which I know you hate. Thank you so much for giving me the party I asked for last week, but I know that isn't your thing, and that you probably despised every minute of it."
Georg chuckled slightly, not needing to admit she was right. "Elsa, I was going to try to let you down gently, but you took the words right out of my mouth. We are good friends, and that's the way we should have stayed. I cannot consider marrying you, when I know you'll want to travel and attend parties and other social events, when I simply want to be at home with my family."
"I know. Like you, I finally had to be brutally honest with myself about where we were going, and I realized nothing was right. Truly, I am ready to go home. Max said he will take me to the train station once I finish packing."
Georg released the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "Thank you, Elsa, for being so gracious, and so honest. Are you really okay with this?"
Elsa nodded. "Completely. This is what's right for us, not trying to force something that would never be. I will go back upstairs and finish packing, and then be on my way home before night."
Standing, Elsa, gave Georg a light kiss on the cheek and a gentle hug before leaving the study. Once back upstairs in her room, she resumed packing with a renewed sense of relief.
Georg went back outside to find Max, who still sat on the terrace, eating, drinking and reading. Hearing Georg's footsteps, Max turned to him with a questioning look.
"Max, Elsa is going home. She and I are not going to pursue a relationship any further, other than remaining friends. I think the pressure is off both of us, now that we've been honest with ourselves and with each other. I believe she said you would take her to the train station shortly?"
Max nodded. "I wondered how long it was going to take one of you to figure it out," giving Georg the same line he had said to Elsa a short time ago.
Georg frowned at him. "Figure what out? Haven't you been after me to marry Elsa for ages?"
Max chuckled. "Yes," he admitted, "but as I told Elsa awhile ago, even I know how to sit back and watch once in awhile. What I've seen with you two since we got here has sure made it obvious that you're not a good match after all. I'm glad you both realized it."
Georg shook his head and chuckled slightly. It was beginning to look like everyone except himself and Elsa could see what was right in front of their noses.
"I suppose I'm going to need to be on my way soon, too, since you won't need a chaperone anymore," Max went on to say.
Georg stopped, not sure how to explain what he had in mind after Elsa left, about trying to bring Maria back. One thing at a time, he told himself. "Don't leave just yet," he said to Max.
Keeping his mouth shut, Max smiled to himself. Yes, it seemed that he had been on the right track all along. If he was right, and he would bet everything he owned that he was, Georg would soon need him as a chaperone again, if he could get Maria to come back to the villa.
Elsa was packed and on her way to the train station long before nightfall. Georg was more relieved than he had expected to be, so thankful to have ended that chapter before attempting to do anything about Maria.
Pacing in his study, Georg tried to decide what to do about Maria. Even if she didn't love him as he loved her, even if he couldn't convince her to come back, they still needed to talk. Georg wanted to know what had sent her running to the abbey the night of the party.
He thought about going to the abbey to see her, but was afraid that would put her on the spot and she wouldn't feel comfortable talking with him. Now that he had finally gotten honest with himself and Elsa, he needed to do the same with Maria. He had to find a way to communicate his feelings to her but somehow leave the next move up to her.
Finally, he thought he had decided on the best solution. He left his study long enough to instruct the cook to go ahead and prepare dinner for the children, adding that the baroness had left, and that Herr Detwiler would be returning late, and to save some dinner for him to eat once he was back. Georg then retired to his study, leaving instructions with the household staff that he was not to be disturbed.
Sitting at his desk, Georg took out pen and paper, deciding that his best option was to lay everything out in a letter to Maria.