Georg Part 2

Georg had been using the excuse of needing to get work done for almost a week now, preferring to stay in the hollows of his study for most of the day as opposed to the company of Elsa and Max and even the children. He found himself trying to avoid the inevitable of having to go shopping for a ring for Elsa and he still hadn't made it known to the children that they had decided to get married. He told himself that they needed time to adjust to not having Maria around first, but who was he kidding, he needed time for that adjustment as well.

Truth be told, he really wasn't swamped with work, he just wanted some time to himself. He was trying to make an effort to not slip back into the man he was with his children before Maria had arrived, but he was failing miserably at it and thought it best if he just kept to himself for awhile until he could get his thoughts and feelings under control.

As much as he tried to occupy his mind with other things, it was Maria who kept creeping back into his thoughts. He loved her, he knew that for certain now and he thought that she had similar feelings for him, but if that was the case then why did she run back to the abbey? If he had known the kind of affect dancing with her would have then he might have resisted the temptation to join her. He would have gladly avoided the dance in order to assure that she remained with them, but he couldn't go back and change that now.

He sat at his desk and buried his face in his hands trying to clear his head. How did all this happen, he thought to himself. Just at the beginning of summer it had been expected that he would marry Elsa before the summer ended. He had even brought her back to the villa to meet the children, but upon his return he was met with an awakening from his governess. Everything had changed from that moment on and he had found his thoughts being consumed by the young governess more and more even with Elsa close by.

He wondered how much Elsa was aware of his new found affections for Maria. He silently hoped that he hadn't given himself away to her, but he suspected that she had her suspicions after she caught them dancing together.

The dance, he thought. How lovely it had been to have that physical contact with her. He closed his eyes and thought back to the most wonderful memory he had of her. He had danced with her because of an agonizing desire to want to be closer to her and how mesmerizing it was to hold her delicate hands and twirl her around the terrace, her face smiling back at him with surprise and delight. The smell of her was intoxicating as they embraced more intimately gazing into each others deep blue eyes.

He opened his eyes and slammed his fist down on the desk in frustration. He had wanted to kiss her in that moment and he might have had she not moved away, but now he would never have the opportunity. He silently cursed himself for not having shared those feelings with her sooner. She didn't belong cloistered away behind the walls of the abbey, shutoff from the rest of the world. She was too vivaciously full of life to live in a manner that would leave her electrifying energy and beautiful spirit hidden forever behind those walls.

He stood up and sighed, taking a deep breath. He couldn't keep himself hidden away in his study forever. Perhaps some interaction with Elsa and Max would be a good idea, maybe it would help his mind to not be so occupied with thoughts of her.

He needed some fresh air, he suddenly felt too confined by the walls of his study. He made his way out the door and headed for the veranda. As he exited the house he froze in his steps as he heard the children singing. They sounded good as always, but there was something missing. It was as if they had the life sucked out of them. The happy sound that was normally there was gone and replaced with a more melancholy strain.

He noticed Brigita breakaway from the group unable to sing any longer. The others followed one by one dropping out. The children were unable to hide their pain from the loss of their favorite governess. He sighed, how can I help them when I can't even help myself? He tried to encourage them to no avail to keep singing, but it was no use and he couldn't blame them.

He sat down and stared at the pitcher sitting in front of him. He shuddered when he was offered some of the pink concoction. He didn't want any of it, he only wanted one thing and he knew that wasn't going to happen.

The children suddenly began bombarding him with questions about Maria, questions he didn't want to answer. That pink lemonade suddenly looked a lot better. He was trying to forget about her and the children were making it difficult for him. In frustration he slowly stood when Gretl asked about a new governess. It was at that moment he decided to tell them about his engagement to Elsa. Perhaps if he made it official to everyone it would help them all to move on.

"...and we're all going to be very happy." He wasn't sure if he was trying to convince the children or himself more. He watched as they one by one kissed her on the cheek ending with Kurt who lingered before being shooed away to go play.

Sitting back down he briefly stayed with Max and Elsa on the veranda trying hard to engage them in conversation, but he soon became bored with their company and excused himself back into the depths of his study with a promise to take Elsa shopping for a ring the next day.

He didn't realize how long he had been in his study until he looked up at the clock and saw the time. It was almost time for dinner and he frowned. He hadn't heard from the children all afternoon and he wondered where they possibly could have run off to. They were late and they were never late for dinner.

He walked outside and saw them all meandering towards the villa, their sad faces hanging down telling a story of defeat. He knew they had left the grounds without permission and he had an idea or two about where they had wandered off to, but the father in him decided to make them sit on edge with anxiety over it for a little while.

He couldn't help himself. It was the most fun he had all week watching them squirm and he had to stifle his amusement at Friedrich's little fib. Blue strawberries indeed, he chuckled to himself as the rest of the group rolled their eyes at the absurdity of his comment.

Fine then, he thought, if they won't confess to going to Nonnberg then I can play this little game as well. No dinner for them since they were so full of blue strawberries. He turned to look at their faces as he went up the steps into the house and he couldn't help but snicker a bit at their wild excuses. A part of him was proud of them for sticking together like they did and another wished they had been more truthful because he really wanted to know if they had actually seen her. A pang of jealousy swept through him at the thought of it. They must have been refused though or they wouldn't have looked so forlorn.

He went off to tell the cook to go ahead and prepare the dinner because the children were back. He really had become quite soft with them since Maria's revelation and he could no more keep dinner from his hungry brood then he could keep himself from thinking about Maria.

He had only been in the kitchen for about five minutes when he heard the very distinguishable sound of happy singing and laughter coming from outside along with a very distinct voice that he would recognize anywhere.

It can't be, he thought and he practically ran out onto the veranda to see what all the commotion was about. His breath caught in his throat at the sight of her and he couldn't keep his eyes off her fearing that maybe she was just an illusion.

He had caught the tail end of the children telling her about his and Elsa's engagement. He couldn't help but notice her look of shock. The smiles on her face drained in an instance and she seemed lost. The children finally spotted him and started shouting, but he hardly noticed them and continued to stare at her even as he told them that dinner would be served after all. He barely felt them whisk past him in their joyous state.

They were alone now and he had questions he wanted answered, that he needed answered. Why did she run away? He asked her, but he couldn't get a truthful straight forward response from her and her notably changed demeanor puzzled him. Could she possibly feel the same way he did?

Elsa came out and the mood was changed instantly and he was slightly frustrated for the interruption, hoping that he could drag more out of her, but it would have to wait for now. She congratulated them, but he could see she was working hard to put a smile on her face. As she brushed past them he had to know if she was going to stay. She turned and in that moment he could see that the pain in her eyes matched that of his by her answer. He stared after her before he realized that Elsa was still standing there and he turned to grab her hand and walk back inside.

He was confused about what to do and hurt by her response at staying, but he needed time to think it through. He knew it wouldn't be fair to any of them, Elsa, Maria, or himself to keep up the current facade and that in the long run he couldn't be married to someone he didn't love with all his being when their was someone else he was in love with and with whom he was almost sure returned that love. He had to figure out a way to get her to change her mind and stay at least for the children, if not for him.