I really didn't mean for the next update to be so slow, but I got busy at work and whenever that happens my muse abandons me. As a result I'm not 100% happy with this chapter. Thank you for all your reviews.
Regarding me sometimes jumping between tenses, I'm really sorry about that. I normally write in past tense but recently wrote a story in present tense and it's been more difficult than I realise to switch back. Please feel free to point out when I do it and then I can go back and edit it.
Ingrid Schmidt caught sight of Herr Detweiler rather inelegantly assist Fraulein Maria towards the sitting room as she stepped out from the corridor leading to the back stairs. The Governess's soft voice was protesting, "I'm sure I can make it up to my room from here," as she hobbled through the front hall with none of her usual litheness. She made another attempt to take more of her weight and Ingrid winced for her as her ankle buckled again.
Herr Detweiler gave a short laugh. "That I very much doubt Fraulein, and I am sure it will be easier for Frau Schmidt if your injury is dealt with down here."
"It's just a sprained ankle, it only needs some ice," she returned feebly.
Ingrid strode past them, an ice pack and a small first aid kit clasped in her arms as she remarked firmly, "I shall be the judge of that. If there is any swelling, then a compression bandage might just do you the world of good."
Out of the corner of her eyes, she caught sight of Herr Detweiler waggling his eyebrows at Maria, and as she bustled into the sitting room to await them, she heard him warn her, "I think you should do as you are told, I've met far less fearsome naval officers than her when she is on a task."
Ingrid stuck her head back through the doorway, "I can hear you, Herr Detweiler." But despite the censure she injected into her tone, her lips tilted, and she forced herself to purse them in an attempt to hide her smile. The household staff, with perhaps the exception of Franz, were all very fond of the impresario, he had often brought some much-needed levity into the home over the last few years and his visits had often been the only faint bright spot in a house that had been otherwise wrought in darkness.
He eased Maria into a chair, nudging a foot stool towards her with his shin before he inclined his head back towards Ingrid. "I would apologise," he teased. "But surely when you think about it, my comments are a badge of honour." He gave a bow in her direction. "And I for one am at your service."
She rolled her eyes at him, flicking the cloth in her hands towards him. "Oh, away with you," she told him. "If you want to make yourself useful then you can go the kitchen and ask them to send up some sweet tea, it is good for the shock."
"I simply tripped," Maria cut in again. "You don't need to run around after me." Her skin was turning pink with embarrassment. "It was my own fault, I was rushing and not looking where I was going…" she tailed off miserably.
Ingrid saw Herr Detweiler's mouth twitch, an odd look momentarily flickering across his face and she wondered if he suspected the same as she did, that perhaps the young woman's attention had been caught by the Captain's state of undress. She could never ask him of course, and the look faded as quickly as it had appeared, his customary genial smile back in place as he replied mildly, "We can all be guilty of that." He dipped his head towards them both. "I shall set myself to my task and allow Frau Schmidt to see to you."
His footsteps faded into an echo on the tiles as he left the room, and Ingrid set herself to her own work, tutting as she observed how swollen the left ankle was in comparison to the right. "Oh dear," she murmured. "Are you able to move it?"
Maria nodded. "The Captain looked at it briefly, he thought it was just a sprain."
"Ah yes." Ingrid's eyes flickered back at up at to Maria's face and saw her skin flush an even deeper shade of pink, and no wonder, it had been the height of inappropriateness. Although she suspected that was not why the young woman was flushing in such a way, rather that she was flustered and charmed by the attention.
Ingrid had worked for Captain von Trapp for almost twenty years, and she had never thought him to be a man who would lust after a young woman in his employ. Only yesterday she had even scolded the laundry and kitchen maid for their gossiping after the Baroness's abrupt departure. They had giggled about scandals and forbidden romance, their eyes bright and shining as they speculated. She had chided them, sent them back to work with a flea in their ears, but now she feared they were not so far from the mark after all.
She had always prided herself on being unflappable, but even she had to admit to having been shocked by watching the Captain rush from the water, sliding his hands around the Governess's waist to help her to her feet, and then running them down over her bare leg. From the distance she had been unable to see his expression, but she suspected that his concern over the fall had went far beyond that of an employer.
Fraulein Maria was obviously discomfited by the extended silence that had fallen between them, shifting in her seat, she remarked awkwardly, "He was very kind." She shook her head, muttering again, "I really should be more careful."
A warning sat on the edge of Ingrid's tongue, but she swallowed it back, unsure if it was her place, unsure if the girl even realised the situation she was falling into. Surely not, she was a postulant after all, an innocent, and one who not long after she had arrived, had clapped her hands in joy at the thought of the Captain marrying another woman, of the children having a new mother.
The Captain must have some awareness though, she was not deaf, she was aware of his reputation prior to his marriage and that the love of the late Baroness had changed him from a Naval hero but a dissolute rake into an entirely honourable man. At least she had thought it had, now she felt unsure. She hoped that this was an infatuation that he would not act upon. For when she looked into Maria's blue eyes, she saw no calculation, she did not believe that this was a deliberate seduction on her part.
Ingrid slowly and carefully flexed Maria's foot back and forth, watching her face for any sign of pain, she gave a small wince but allowed the movement. "Well, I would concur with his diagnosis, it is a sprain, a nasty one but nothing worse." She rested a towel between the furniture and ankle and picked up the bag of ice and placed it on top of the swollen flesh. "Now, let me have a look at your arm."
"It's just a graze," came the protest.
"Well then there is no harm in letting me look at it," she reasoned as she leaned forward to pry free the arm that Maria was holding cradled against her. "Oh dear," she tutted, as she observed the somewhat ragged gash. "That is a little more than a graze." She pulled out antiseptic. "This will sting," she warned. "But it will not need any stitches, a few steri strips should hold it together and let it heal."
There was a small hiss from the younger woman as the liquid touched her raw, torn skin. "You must be used to dealing with all the children's scrapes."
Ingrid smiled at the thought of the trouble that the children had gotten themselves into over the years. "Oh yes," she laughed. "They have had a few. I was a nurse in the Great War, so I have to admit that the results of their childish escapades have been much easier to manage."
Maria's eyes flickered. "Of course, I cannot imagine what sights you witnessed."
"Yes, well I imagine that no-one who served escaped entirely unscathed."
"We do rather talk about the glory of war and not the brutality and loss attached to it," she remarked softly. "Not that those who fought should be forgotten, or that their sacrifices should be unmarked but," she shook her head. "A whole generation of young men lost and still we look to throw ourselves back into the fray." Maria sighed, her eyes staring off into the distance as though she were lost in her own thoughts. "Although I suppose when tyranny is at our gates, we cannot simply bow to it."
Ingrid snuck a glance at her thoughtful face, suddenly seeing that perhaps the Captain's infatuation was the result of more than a young, pretty face. He made no secret of his dislike of current political events, no secret that he would not serve or bow to the men who scrambled to take hold of Austria, but he was very much in a minority. Perhaps in Maria he found someone who shared his beliefs and his hope that his country would not fall willingly to a dictatorship. "No, but there a few who see the Third Reich as tyranny at this time."
Maria's eyes glinted, her gaze curious as she asked, "Do you?"
"Well, I certainly do not see them as our saviours," Ingrid replied before inwardly cursing herself and reminding herself again to hold her tongue. "But it is safer not to speak of such things in current times."
"The fear to speak freely is most certainly a mark of tyranny," Maria replied wryly. "But I do take your point." Her nose wrinkled and she winced again as Ingrid plucked out a piece of gravel from her arm with a set of steel tweezers.
"Almost done," she reassured her. "I think a bandage for a day or two would be wise, let the strips do their work, and you will need to keep it dry."
Maria nodded and Ingrid saw the way her eyes flickered, and she chewed her bottom lip as though considering her next words, clearly her curiosity won out, as the words rushed out of her, "Did you meet the Captain during the course of the war?"
Ingrid's gaze returned to her task and she shook her head. "I did not, I worked in a field hospital."
"Oh, I just wondered…" she tailed off before gathering herself and attempting to explain her questioning. "The Reverend Mother said that the Captain was a brave man, and obviously he won so many medals during the war, he must be. I suppose I am…curious to what he was like."
This time Ingrid did look up into the younger woman's face, if she had been one of the housemaids, she would have given her a rather a stern warning, but the Governesses had never fallen under her purview. "Yes…well I am afraid I cannot comment as to what he was like as a Naval Captain, but even at his worst, he was a fair employer. One can only imagine he was the same as a commander." Her eyes narrowed speculatively; she was still unsure as to how Maria managed to break through the shell that the Captain had built around himself. "However, I certainly do not miss that whistle."
Maria laughed, "No, I don't imagine anyone was sorry to see it go." She shuddered. "I could never have answered to it."
"Oh, you would have become accustomed to it."
She shook her head. "No, I told him that it wasn't for me, that it was humiliating."
Ingrid chewed on the inside of her cheek for a moment, although the Captain listened to his staff and allowed them to air any grievances, he had never tolerated insubordination, until her. Ingrid had watched with mounting incredibility as Maria won over all seven of the children in quick succession, had clothed them in the drapes and led them merrily around Salzburg. It had brought her great joy to see the children so happy, but she had expected that to be short-lived, expected that Maria would find herself dismissed when the Captain had returned. Yet she was still here. She had shouted at him, Klaus the gardener had told them all in a whisper over dinner the night the Captain had returned. Ingrid had scoffed and chided him, it had seemed such a ridiculous notion at the time, now not so much. "Well," she finally replied, "I do not think we shall have to worry about its return."
That drew a smile from Maria. "No, thankfully not. It is so wonderful to see how close the family are."
"Yes, I imagine that will continue to bring you great joy even once you have returned to Nonnberg in September."
Her smile wavered and Ingrid saw her swallow heavily, her eyes losing a little of their customary sparkle. "Of course, I will miss them of course…the children I mean." Her words faltered and she fell quiet, her gaze dropping.
Securing the bandage, Ingrid was considering her next words, when Herr Detweiler returned with a tea trolley, entering the room in a cacophony of clattering. "Wonderful news my dear Fraulein, I have persuaded the cook to be parted with some of the biscuits she cooked earlier today."
Ingrid noted that Maria still looked rather lost, as she got to her feet, straightening her long skirts. "Perfect timing Herr Detweiler," she remarked calmly. "The sugar will do her some good." She patted Maria's shoulder. "Keep that ice on for the next half an hour, I shall come back to check it and bandage it if required."
"Thank you, Frau Schmidt. I really do appreciate it."
Ingrid gave a nod. "Well until then I shall leave you in Herr Detweiler's…capable hands." She left the room, her lips thinned as she pondered over what on earth was happening in this house.
Max settled himself into the armchair across from the young Fraulein, carefully balancing his saucer as he dunked his biscuit into his tea. "Well, you certainly look less pale," he remarked before taking a bite of his biscuit.
Maria pressed a hand briefly against her cheek. "I think I just gave myself a bit of a fright," she muttered before staring back down into her own cup.
Max chewed thoughtfully and swallowed the mouthful down with a scalding sip of tea before he remarked, "Yes, underneath that blush of yours, you looked quite peaky Fraulein."
She didn't look up, but he saw a frown flutter across her face, her voice lacking its usual certainty as she replied, "I was embarrassed, this was all so preventable, if I had just been looking where I was going."
"Yes, you have mentioned that." Max was unsure why he felt the need to needle the girl as he was, but he supposed he wanted to know more about just how deep this flirtation ran and Georg certainly was not about to give up any information. "Whatever had your attention?" He enquired.
"I was just rushing, I had forgotten Gretl's doll you see."
"How unfortunate. Still, you were lucky, on those stone steps, it could have been much worse." He took another sip of his tea, keeping his expression bland, impassive as he added, "Georg was certainly concerned."
He knew that he had not imagined the twitch of her eyelid and the shake of her hand at his name, but it was admirable how she kept her cool. Her head lifted and her gaze met his, a small, sincere smile on her lips as she told him, "The Captain is a very thoughtful employer. I am sure all the staff would agree."
"Yes, I imagine they would." Although his thoughtfulness towards them extended more around the issues of fair and safe employment. Max very much doubted that if Franz had slipped on those steps that Georg would have been stroking his leg and caressing his face. Although he had to admit that that would have made for an amusing sight. It was clear however, that Maria was not about to give up her thoughts easily and Max was considering how best to pursue the matter when Brigitta's face peered around the door, her brown eyes wide.
"Fraulein Maria, we just wanted to check that you were ok."
Maria's face broke into a warm smile and she gestured for the girl to come into the room. Brigitta perched herself on the arm of the chair and Maria's hand rested on her shoulder as she replied, "I assume by the we that you have been elected as an emissary by your brothers and sisters."
"Yes, we didn't want to bother you all at once and Liesl is trying to fix Gretl's hair." Brigitta pulled a face. "It is not going well, Gretl says she isn't doing it the way she likes it, the way that you do it."
Maria sighed and placed her tea on the side table, leaning forward to pluck the bag of ice from her ankle, "I should go up to see her."
"As amusing as I would find it to watch you hop up all those stairs Fraulein, I think it would be best if on this occasion you stayed right where you are," Max remarked.
"But it is my job."
"Hmmm, yes I suppose it is, however I would think even Gretl would prefer you to rest awhile now and heal, rather than you make it worse and you end up on bedrest and off for even longer." Lord only knew what situation Georg would wind up in if the young woman was confined to her bedroom. Max's head tilted slightly, although it might allow him some time to have the children practice their singing without Georg's prying eyes.
"Oh, I suppose you are right," Maria sighed, dropping the ice back onto her ankle and sinking back into her seat with a rather resigned air.
Max felt a small pang of guilt, most unusual for him, he should not be thinking of encouraging his friend, of luring this innocent to her ruin. He took another bite of his biscuit, and if he did and Elsa found out, he would most certainly lose their bet.
"But to answer your question Brigitta, I am fine. I have a sprained ankle and a graze to my arm," Maria reassured her. "I should up and about soon. Although we may have to rearrange our next picnic. I think it will be at least a few days before I am able to manage any climbing."
"We could have it in the garden," Brigitta suggested brightly.
"That is a very good idea my darling," Maria beamed at her.
Max watched as Brigitta flushed in pleasure at the praise and he felt a small pang at how happy she was now; how happy all the children were. Georg was playing with fire, if he caused Maria to leave early then he would break his children's hearts.
"Father could join us as well, he could take a break from work, just like he did yesterday."
Max was sure that Maria often cursed how easily she blushed, because sure enough it was creeping across her cheeks again at the mention of Georg's company. Her voice was slightly strained as she replied, "Yes, I suppose he could if he is able to. But in the meantime, I need some distraction from this freezing cold ice, so how about you tell me what you are reading just now."
"Jane Eyre," Brigitta told her, and Max knew that he hadn't imagined the somewhat hawkish glint in her eyes, he'd seen it in her father's often enough.
"Oh, I haven't read that one," Maria sighed. "Although I have heard it is rather good."
"Apt is possibly how I would put it," Max muttered into his tea.
Brigitta shot him a speculative gaze before turning her attention back to her governess. "It is really good, this is the second time I've read it."
"And does it hold up to your scrutiny the second time around?" Maria asked cheerfully, blissfully unaware of the new undertone in the room.
"I think so. I will need to let you read it once I have finished. I think you'll really enjoy it."
Max gave a soft snort, that child was as smart as a whip, God help Georg when she was a teenager. "It is certainly an interesting choice for you Brigitta," he remarked easily. "I imagined it would be Liesl who was entranced by love stories."
"It isn't just about love, Uncle Max. It is about religion, family, social class and the importance of autonomy."
"Is it indeed, and here I thought it was just a romance about a man and his governess," he teased.
Maria's eyes widened and she lifted her cup of tea to her lips and Max wondered if for once she was lost for words. The situation became even more delicious when Georg appeared in the doorway, immaculately dressed in a suit, his hair still damp, but combed neatly into place. "Ah, Fraulein, I am glad to see that you were persuaded to rest."
Her teacup chittered against its saucer as her hand shook at the sound of his voice. "Oh, Captain I didn't think you'd be back anytime soon."
He inclined his head. "I'm afraid Marta was quite tearful and worried about you, I ended up cutting our lesson short. She is upstairs with Liesl, and I thought I should check on the invalid." He stepped into the room; his eyes fixed on her.
Max sighed, he supposed he should be relieved that he at least took the time to get dressed. He reached for another biscuit, amused at the scene in front of him and in particular by Brigitta's delighted wide eyes.
"I am fine," she assured him. "I feel a bit foolish but that is hardly a new sensation for me."
"It is easily done, we all get…um…distracted at times."
"Yes, Gretl's doll collection often drives me to distraction," Max chimed in innocently, stifling a chuckle at Georg's glare.
His friend chose to ignore him, remarking instead, "You shall of course take the rest of today off Fraulein, I will arrange dinner to be brought to you on a tray and if required you should rest for as long as necessary."
"Oh, I don't think-"
"I can make it an order if needed," he told her, a small smile curving his lips.
"Now when have I listened to those Captain," she replied, smiling back at him.
"Perhaps one of these days I will be able to find a way to persuade you."
Max coughed on his tea, good lord could Georg hear himself? He had heard the man be less obvious on shore leave when they had been after only one thing. At least the noise of him coughing up part of his lung had caught his attention. Max waved his hand. "Don't mind me," he spluttered. "Just went down the wrong way."
Georg however seemed to have caught control of himself again, he pressed his hand against Brigitta's shoulder. "I think we should let your Fraulein rest, come along now, we can check on your siblings." He dipped his head back at Maria before leaving the room.
Max lifted the china pot and proffering it forward he asked, "More tea?"