A/N: The story is set in that pleasant interlude between "Edelweiss" and "The Ländler". It takes place after "Underneath her wimple", and it begins about one week before the ball.
Well, what can I say, I could not resist. I am posting the two final chapters at once today. I am specially fond of the last chapter. Please let me know what you think!
Disclaimer: I absolutely do not own "The Sound of Music".
And have you never known the pleasure and triumph of a lucky guess?
Jane Austen
The treasure hunt had ended.
It took some time for the players to assemble at the gazebo - Baroness Schraeder, Baron and Baroness Eberfeld, Professor Schweiger, The Ambassador and his wife and Max Detweiler. They came from all directions, all wondering who had managed to solve all of the Captain's riddles, and how that feat had been accomplished. The Captain waited until they were all there. The guests could not believe their eyes when they saw that seven children had out-smarted them.
Max Detweiler came to stand next to Elsa, with a mischievous look on his face.
"Well, well, well," he began.
"Max, please. Not now."
"Baroness Machiavelli has fallen into her own trap. Oh, I even love the pun in that. Deceived by the deceiver." He turned, smirking at her
Elsa attempted to straighten Max's tie as she admonished him. "Darling, you know I never make the same mistake twice. Yet, I must admit, I did everything wrong from the beginning."
"You mean this is not what you had in mind?" asked Max, sarcastically gesturing towards the children, who were being greeted by Baroness Eberfeld. "You are loosing your touch, my darling. What is happening?"
"Oh Max. Help me!" She pleaded. "Things were looking so well this afternoon, I thought I had made some progress. Another ten minutes and he would have proposed to me. But then she was there."
"Who? Gretl?" Max asked, feigning innocence.
"You know very well who, you fiend. I don't know what to do now. I must think…"
"The ceremony is about to begin. You are going to hate me for this, but I wouldn't miss it for the world!"
"Here is your treasure," said the Captain, presenting a small navy blue plush case to his children. "Now remember, since you all won it, it will be your decision to whom it shall be given." He said that more for the guests than for his children. Slowly, he opened the case, as the guests gathered closer to see what the coveted prize was. Inside, on a bed of cream-colored satin, lay the diamond studded anchor pin. The light streaming through the glass walls made the tiny stones flash furiously in a rainbow of colors.
Maria had forgotten how lovely it was, she had forgotten the reason why she had chosen it until that moment.
"Diamonds," the Ambassador's wife exclaimed. "If I had known the prize had anything to do with diamonds, I might have tried harder. Why didn't you warn us, Georg?"
"All the von Trapp treasure hunts are for diamonds, my dear Clarissa. Didn't you know that? It is part of the tradition." The Baroness said, coming to stand next to the Captain to look at the prize in his hands. "How quaint, darling. Lovely!" Then she turned to Maria. "Didn't I tell you every woman knew something about diamonds and men, dear? And you dared to doubt me!"
"Forgive me, Baroness, but being in the convent…"
Elsa ignored her and turned towards Georg. "Didn't Agathe own a little thing like that, Georg?" He cast a warning glance. "I remember, she wore it all the time."
"I remember, father," said Liesl. "You gave it to her when Brigitta was born."
"Yes, but hers had blue stones, not diamonds."
"They were sapphires, Louisa," Liesl informed knowingly.
"You would be surprised by the things I am actually able to bear," he had said earlier, his midnight blue eyes gazing deeply into hers. Now she fully understood the meaning of his words. How could I have been so senseless? Maria closed her eyes for a moment.
First she had played a crucial part in convincing him to allow the treasure hunt, a diversion that was irrevocably linked to the children's mother. After that first blow, she had reluctantly accompanied him to town to pick the prize. Of all the trinkets and baubles available in Hans and Peggy's antique shop, she had to choose the only one which reminded him of his wife. Of course she had no way of knowing, but she could not help but blame herself. No wonder he was so exasperated with her ever since!
"All right, children, I am waiting for your orders. Who should I give this to?"
The seven von Trapp children did not even blink.
"Fraülein Maria," they said together. The small crowd instantly parted, leaving Maria, who was standing by the gazebo entrance, to face the Captain and Baroness, who stood in its center.
The Captain did not question their decision. In fact, as if afraid that someone would raise any objections, he did not wait for her to come to him. Instead, he gently took Elsa's arm from being entwined with his and walked towards Maria.
Say something, her conscience warned. You must refuse. You cannot accept this. What will they think? What will the Reverend Mother and Sister Berthe think? What will he think?
"Your wish is my command." The Captain said to his children on his approach. "Fräulein," he said, ceremoniously handling her prize. Her fingers tremble as she reached for it. All she wanted to do was to run from so many prying eyes and to be alone.
"Thank you..." Maria murmured, still in awe. "I had not thought."
"You should thank my children, not I." He smiled, and bowed slightly, before he walked away from her.
"We would not have done it without Fräulein Maria, father," said Marta.
The Baroness approached Maria to admire the broach inside the open box, her long white fingers touching it lightly. She looked to the gathered crowd and addressed Marta's statement. "Naturally. Our resident nun is a very clever girl." She looked to the young woman next to her, and her voice dropped to a tone of pure irony. "Very, very clever."
Not realizing the Baroness's insinuation, Maria replied quickly. "Oh, no," it was the children, I… I was only doing my duty as a governess..."
"And that is something you would always do, isn't it dear?" She laughed and went to stand by the Captain, hooking her arm to his, again ignoring his warning glance.
Captain von Trapp paced restlessly in his study, waiting for the children's governess. She was late, as usual – the treasure hunt had ended nearly one hour ago, and so far she had not come to see him. He had specifically told her to do that as soon as the game was over.
She's probably showing Gretl the correct way to climb a tree, he thought irritably. He opened the door, and gazed outside. Franz was walking down the hall, and he called him.
"Franz, have someone bring Fraülein Maria here immediately," he ordered, closing the door at the butler's face.
He resumed his pacing.
This is not how I planned it, he thought. Fraülein Maria winning the ridiculous game had not been part of his strategy. Not because he thought she lacked the skill to do it, on the contrary – while writing the riddles, her image constantly came to his mind so that he instinctively knew that, if anyone was able to decipher them all, it would be her. No matter how far beyond her public school education some of the questions might have been, he knew she would know where to find the next clue not because she could find the answer, but because she knew him somehow. The little tomboy had the most disturbing talent for mind reading. But not any mind -his mind.
Ever since he allowed himself to be convinced to allow that afternoon's spectacle, he began to devise a plan of action. He had to fight hard to make things his own way, and firmly refusing that the event should be like the grand, lavish treasure hunts like the ones Agathe loved to organized – he remembered having as many as 30 players searching the grounds one year. Elsa had finally settled on a small list of guests, carefully chosen among their closest friends. And he had done that because he had a purpose in mind, which would be much easier to be carried out in such circumstances. Fate worked on his side, because, in the last minute, three of the people who were invited were forced to decline the invitation.
That afternoon, he was going to make a wedding proposal. He would leave the grand, official announcement for the ball, but he had decided to surprise Elsa that day, in the presence of some of their dearest friends. It was the only thing to do, the right thing to do. And the easiest his mind screamed.
His dark sense of humor also liked the fact that he would make her swallow her own words, for when she called him unromantic. Grimly, he remembered how his wife frequently accused him of being just the opposite. He had rehearsed a nice speech for the ceremonial presentation of the prize to the winner, and then he would take the engagement ring from his coat pocket, give it to her, and say, "I believe this one rightfully belongs to you, darling." That was the only reason why he had wracked his brain trying to find a riddle for which the answer was a wedding ring. Even the decision of having his own ring as an answer had been carefully planned, just for the very likely possibility that Elsa won the game – another reason for the restricted number of guests. Would you like to replace it? He would ask her, and then propose.
Afterwards, he would give her that outrageously expensive dragon locket as an engagement present.
Tactics. Strategy. Advanced planning – that is how his mind usually worked. And if there was something that was able to throw him out of balance, to drive him mad, was when something did not go according to his plans. Such occasions were rare, since, when planning anything, he accounted for every possibility. Had any of the players, even any of the children, succeeded, he would have no difficulty in carrying out his strategy. Had Elsa succeeded, things would be even easier.
But she was the one to guess the final answer. The only one. She had changed it all. The moment he noticed her staring at his right hand and was certain that she had read his thoughts again – at that moment, all his certainties of the past few days became doubts again.
Something broke inside him. For the first time in his life, he did not know what to do. It was a feeling previously unknown to him. He had faced innumerous life threatening situations at sea, and he had always known exactly what to do, even in the direst situations, and even if that meant contradicting the opinions of everyone around him, even his superior officers. All this because of his carefully designed strategies, accounting for every kind of possibility. That was what he was known for, that was the reasons he was awarded the highest honor given to an officer of the Imperial Navy. And then, when he made up his mind to marry Agathe Whitehead, he knew exactly what to do, when and how. Even when she died, besides the never ending pain and heartache, he also knew what to do. And once he had decided that marrying Elsa was the best thing for him and for his children, he knew what course of action to take.
However, the moment that little Fraülein touched his right hand, touched his wedding band, everything crumbled like a sand castle. He did not know anymore. And what he did know was so extraordinary his rational mind was still struggling to admit it as a possibility.
I must find out, he thought. I must.
A/N: A huge thanks to maxisback for comments about this and all my other stories. And, as usual, to my beta for her patient work, correcting my grammar and spelling. Please, keep sending me your feedback!