"The door you open to giving love is the very one one through which love arrives."
-Alan Cohen
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As you know by now, I am the "queen" of long chapters. Now that school is back in session and I am being pulled six ways from Sunday, I have decided to cut my chapters up into smaller offerings so I can get them out a little faster. This also helps me keep the creative juices flowing while my brain is inundated with all things academe...(LOL just saw the final word count!)
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ooOoo
"Marta, sweetheart. Will you be a good girl for me and stay here in the car with your doll? I want you to promise me you won't leave the car until I call you or come and get you! I need to go and help your father."
Maria squinted through the misty raindrops on the windshield. As the drizzle sprinkled down onto the car, the rivulets running across the glass changed the form of the Captain into something like a reflection in a fun house mirror.
Marta nodded and hugged her doll tightly. "Yes, Fraulein Maria. I promise."
Maria reached across the bench seat and hugged her shoulders, silently thanking her for being a good girl. She opened the car door and placed one foot onto the gravel, but before she had fully exited, Marta extended her arm and stopped her.
"Fraulein Maria, why is father so sad?" Marta looked up at Maria with a worried look on her face. "He had such a great morning with us yesterday when we went to Frau Heineman's for play clothes… and this morning when we went shopping. Is he alright?"
"Of course, sweetheart, I just think he's remembering your Mama right now and it's making him sad." Maria replied. "There are so many days when I remember my parents and I feel sad as well. He will be ok, he just needs some time and someone who understands".
"But, he's not mad at me for making him come here. Is he?" Marta asked quietly.
"Oh no, love, not at all! In fact, I had tried to talk him out of this the other day, and he would hear nothing about it. I think he is glad you asked." Maria tapped the end of Marta's nose and smiled at her. "He is trying so hard to live with the memories of your Mama. I feel that for so many years he just pretended that she wasn't gone."
Maria looked away from Marta's inquisitive face and outside towards the Captain; she could not help but be struck by an overwhelming sense of angst. She just could not leave him alone any longer.
"Now remember your promise, Marta." Maria said. "You will be able to see us the whole time."
Marta nodded and squeezed Maria's hand. Maria got out of the car and closed the door gently behind her. The drizzle was beginning to turn into full on rain, but she pushed on. For a moment she paused and wondered if this was the right thing to do. Perhaps she should stay in the car and give the Captain some space? She decided against being cautious, however, because since the day they had met she seemed to have an innate sense of when he needed help or when he needed a little push. Maria was certain he needed someone right now.
Maria opened the gate that led into the churchyard cemetery at St. Peter's. The Captain was crumpled in a pile at the foot of a grave. Despite the gloomy day, the yard was dotted with colourful wildflowers. The contrasting scene before her caused Maria to shiver a little; either that or it was the damp cold in the air this morning. Maria pulled up her collar against the gusty easterly wind, shielding her eyes from the rain; before reaching the Captain, she glanced back to the car and gave Marta a wave.
Maria came alongside the Captain and paused before kneeling beside him in the wet grass. She saw his eyes flick towards her for a short moment before darting away again. She saw so many emotions in his eyes during that fleeting second. Sadness, obviously, but she sensed embarrassment as well. Maria knew that the dissonance between the brave and knighted sea captain and the grieving widow routinely gnawed at his conscience. They had spoken enough about the late Baroness and her own parents' passing to have a good understanding of each other's feelings about grief.
Perhaps because they had come to know each other rather well through their shared grief, Maria wasn't sure what she could say in that moment to make things better. However, the awkward silence was deafening. She knew her proximity would be a comfort, but Maria didn't think it was enough.
Throwing caution to the wind, Maria moved herself as close to the Captain as possible and gently wrapped her arms around him as best she could. The Captain was stiff as a board and initially he flinched as if she had burned him. Maria couldn't help but realize how hard he was trying to stem the tide of his grief, struggling to be brave and stoic. Unphased, Maria hugged him a little tighter and whispered calming words, and eventually with her reassurances, he began to relax and he leaned his head into the space between her neck and shoulder. He soon let go, and his body was wracked with sobs. Maria straightened so she could get a better hold of him and the Captain immediately tucked his head under her chin like a small child. Maria rubbed his back with her hands, telling him over and over again that it was going to be alright, that she was here with him. She reminded him that his whole family loved him very much.
At the mention of the word "family", Maria immediately thought of the six bright faces back home at the villa, and the child who was here today to celebrate her birthday. She turned back toward the car and saw Marta's little face in the window through the rain as it beat down on the windshield. She nodded her head and gave a slight wink, letting her know everything was ok.
ooOoo
Just a few moments earlier, the Captain had pulled up to the cemetery parking lot with Maria and Marta in tow. After he killed the engine, he looked straight ahead and took a deep breath, willing the strength from inside to get him through this moment. He had told Marta that he wanted to go and see her Mama first because he had not been for a while. He said he wanted to apologize to her for not being to visit lately. Marta nodded and said she understood. Maria had asked Georg if he wanted someone to come with him, but he declined, stating it was something he had to do for himself.
He exited the car and closed the door, clutching the bunch of red roses in his hands as if his life depended on it. Maria could see the tension in his body as he walked. He paused at the gate and turned, his eyes immediately finding Maria's. They stared at each other for what seemed to be an eternity; long enough that Maria could see the drizzle landing softly on the windshield, accumulating, then coalescing into drops that ran down the glass...as if it was shedding its own tears. After a few moments, the Captain nodded his head slightly and then turned to enter the church yard.
Maria saw him walk up to a grave in the middle of the yard, about two rows in from the perimeter where a wrought iron fence encircled the beautiful, treed lawn. The Captain stood at the foot of what Maria assumed was the Baroness' grave like a statue, his hands clenching the flowers tightly. He appeared to take a deep breath and then he knelt to set the roses down on the ground, soon standing tall once more. Maria noted how much his hands were trembling and he ran a shaky hand across his chin and down his neck. After standing like a soldier on watch for several minutes, his hands flew up to cover his face and he dropped like a stone onto his knees.
Back in the car, Maria and Marta immediately looked at each other in shock. Despite her young age, Marta was perhaps the most empathetic of all the Captain's children. She knew this was serious. They stared at each other, Marta's eyes imploring Maria to do something to help her father. That was the moment when Maria decided to act and asked Marta to wait in the car. She didn't want to make the Captain feel more uncomfortable with one of his children present, nor did she want to scare Marta any more than already was.
ooOoo
Holding him tightly, Maria had long ago stopped worrying about propriety and whether it was acceptable for her to be holding onto her employer like this in the rain. Thank goodness the Baroness was not here; Maria knew she would not approve. The longer Maria spent in the Baroness' company, the more she began to realize there wasn't much she could do to win the woman's favour, with the exception of keeping the children occupied and out of Georg's way. But now was not the time to worry about the Baroness. The Captain needed someone.
Maria's presence seemed to open a release valve, and all at once, the Captain's emotions let loose like a dam bursting its banks. He sobbed uncontrollably for a period of time, wiping his eyes and nose with his coat sleeve until Maria passed him her handkerchief. As she ran her hands across his shoulders, the tension began to leave his body and his tears began to slow. After a long moment of silence, the Captain blew his nose and looked up into her eyes. His eyes were red and bloodshot, still glossy from his tears. The tender skin around his eyes was all puffy and swollen. The love Maria saw in his eyes – the love he still had for his wife – moved her to tears as well, but she tried to be strong for him.
The Captain reached across his chest and grasped Maria's hand that was resting on his shoulder, holding it in his much larger one and squeezing it gently. He glanced over at the granite headstone and Maria's eyes followed his. There was an engraving of an angel below the letters "VON TRAPP". Agathe's name and date of birth and death were delicately chiselled into the stone. "Life is not forever, but love is..." was engraved in script font; Maria could not help but let a few tears escape down her cheek.
In almost a whisper, the Captain finally spoke.
"She was my world, Fraulein...and I was a damn fool for being away from her for so long. The children made her so happy and she always said if anything happened to me in the War, then she would have the children to remind her of me. Imagine, then, when I was the one left behind...", Georg said quietly as the rain and his tears ran down his face. "I was a coward...when I looked at the children and saw her in each and every one of them, I could not bear it."
"Captain, you were not a coward. Your life had been turned upside down, you had to have been devastated to lose her at such a young age," Maria replied.
The Captain nodded and looked skyward, appearing to notice that the rain was much heavier than when they arrived. Never letting go of her hand, he rose from his knees and then he brushed the grass off his pants with his free hand, and with the other, he pulled Maria to her feet. He looked at her for a good, long while, watching the rain drops running off her bangs and down her nose, picking up her stray tears as they travelled. Despite the fact that he was standing in the rain beside the grave of his late wife, he could not help but notice how beautiful Maria looked in that moment. Everything about her had a way of calming his soul. She always knew what to say to him. Eventually, he pulled her into an embrace, and he began to sob again, burying his eyes in Maria's shoulder.
After a few moments, he took a deep breath and pulled back to look at her. His hands ran down her arms to grasp her fingers.
"Fraulein," he said between sniffles. "I'm sorry...I don't know what has gotten into me..."
"Shhhhhh, Captain. It's ok. I understand, truly...and I'm glad I was able to be here to support you. I know how hard this is."
He shook his head, trying to see if this woman before him was real. For so many years, his friends, colleagues, and even Elsa, had brushed off the passing of his wife, all of them quite willing to believe that a decorated naval captain could handle such tragedy.
"What is it about you – this uncanny ability you have to read emotions, to predict feelings, to know when to act, and to know what to do...? Thank you. I just couldn't…"
He paused, searching for the right words as he looked down at his wet shoes, but they evaded him.
At once he looked up, eyes blown wide.
"Oh my God, where's Marta!" He said, dropping her hands as he turned quickly toward the car. At that moment, Marta gave him a big wave and an even bigger smile.
"Captain, it's ok. She promised me she would stay put. We had a chat and she understood that you needed a grown up to come and help you. She gave me her blessing to come to you while she waited in the car. If you would rather not continue with the visit, I know Marta will understand. "
He smiled a watery smile and shook his head.
"No Fraulein. It's going to be ok. I just needed this," he said as he flicked his eyes skyward. "I don't think I've ever cried like this before. Not once. Well, when I was in Vienna a few weeks ago, I woke up from a dream and was overcome with emotion, and the other night, you know, with the whistle...but neither can be compared to today. I can't explain why this is happening now? Despite the overwhelming sadness, for so many years I never felt like I could not let her go..."
The Captain paused as if he was searching for answers again. Soon, he searched out Maria's eyes again, grasping her smaller hands in his once more.
"Fraulein, I've seen so much death in my time, why...?"
Maria squeezed the Captain's hands.
"Captain. You need to stop being so hard on yourself. Lord knows, there's no rulebook for grief. And surely, what you experienced in the Great War, well it just can't be the same – it can't be compared to the loss of your loved ones. I can't say for certain, but it seems that you never were able to grieve properly for reasons I don't completely understand. Trying to be brave for the children...trying to live up to your reputation as a national hero? It could be so many things, sir, and they are all normal reactions because grief is an individual experience. No matter when it happens, after the death of your soulmate, your dear wife, you just need closure."
Maria pushed her bangs out of her face and wiped the rain off her face before continuing.
"Today, right now...this is progress; honestly, Captain. It's your acknowledgement of your pain and your willingness to live with it. Now you can begin to move forward."
Georg nodded and he squeezed her hand in return and smiled. He dropped her hand and asked her to wait. He turned toward the car and began walking towards it.
Making eye contact with his daughter, he gave a little directional flick of his neck towards the place where Maria was still standing, and Marta opened the car door. She grabbed her rose from the dash and gripped it tightly. She looked up at the falling rain and gave her father a concerned look, making sure it was ok to be out in this nasty weather. He smiled widely, and as he neared the car, he squatted down and opened his arms. Marta immediately ran into them and hugged him tightly. Maria watched with a sad smile as they embraced for a long time, Marta rubbing her father's back with her tiny hand. They exchanged a few words, and then he scooped her up into his arms and they walked over to the church yard through the cemetery gate to where Maria was waiting.
Maria was overwhelmed by the scene before her: to witness a seven-year old girl comforting her father, grieving a woman she did not even remember. Right now, the similarities were too much for Maria to bear, but she had to be strong. She could tell the Captain was near tears again.
As was his style, the Captain soon found his composure in the presence of his daughter and they came up alongside Maria. He set Marta down on the ground and took her little hand in his. Marta immediately sought out Maria's hand and the three of them all stood beside each other as the rain fell down.
Marta squeezed her father's hand and searched out his eyes. "Father, I am sorry I made you sad."
"No, love...your Papa has been sad for almost four years. This is not your fault. Fraulein Maria just told me that this is the best way for us all to move forward as a family, even if it's a little bit hard now. It seems your Fraulein has magic powers to heal sad people and mend broken families, doesn't it?"
Marta smiled widely, grinning back and forth between Maria and the Captain. "Father, how old was Mama when she died?"
Georg looked at Maria, somehow gathering strength from her bright, blue eyes.
"Thirty-one, love."
"That is not very old, Father. I wish I could remember her. Fraulein Maria told me that she has a hard time remembering her parents, too, but that it is not our fault we can't remember - I was too little".
Georg ruffled her hair with his hand.
"No, love, you were still very tiny – just barely three years old, and no, it's definitely not your fault." He squatted down to her eye level and put his hand on her shoulder. "I do know that your Mama loved you so very much. Although you can't remember her, you should know that she is always here with us. We should never forget her. Always know she is with us in our heart and is watching over us all the time," he said with a tap over her chest.
"Oh, I know, Father. Gretl and I are sure that Mama sent Fraulein Maria to us to remind us of how much she loves us and misses us."
"I think you're right, Marta," he said with a wink and a smile that made Maria's heart flip. Georg's face soon became unreadable, and he straightened. He immediately recalled Agathe's last words: how she promised that she would find someone for him and the children…to make things right…and send her to them. He also recalled that dream he had in Vienna – the one of Maria and Agathe by the gazebo when Agathe had put Maria's hand in his. Today Agathe did the same thing, just in different circumstances.
Indeed, it was evident that Agathe had lived up to her promises; it was time that he lived up to his.
The Captain looked up at Maria who was watching him and Marta; she wore an expression he had never seen before. Georg realized that today had to be hard for her as well. The parallels between Maria's life and his own daughter's were rather astounding. Maria shook herself back to the present when she sensed the intensity of his gaze and offered him a watery smile.
Georg searched her face before continuing. "Agathe would have approved of you and your methods, Fraulein. I hope you know that".
Maria's lips immediately morphed into one of her beautiful smiles, and she wiped a stray tear from her cheek.
Turning back to his daughter, Georg continued.
"Marta, Papa is sorry he neglected your Mama's memory for so long. Fraulein Maria is helping me to learn to live with my grief. I feel like I am finally beginning to be able to live in peace with your Mama's memory. Remembering her now makes me happy. But, before, when I would look at you and your brothers and sisters, all I could see was your Mama in all of your faces. It was so hard to see her every day and not be able to hug her and tell her that I loved her. But thanks to your Fraulein, now I know now that is such a blessing to see Mama's blonde hair on Louisa, to remember how she used to stand up tall and straight like Friedrich, to see her dimples when you smile at me...memories of Mama are wonderful things, and I am sorry I kept them from you. I was a fool and just thought it would be easier..." he said as he trailed off, fighting the tears that were threatening once more.
Standing watch over the Captain and his daughter, Maria marveled at how far the Captain had come in so little time. She also could not help but smile at his last comment about Marta's dimples. In her opinion, Marta had definitely inherited those dimples from him.
"Father, don't worry. Fraulein Maria told us something like that while you were away. She said that it is hard when someone we love passes away, and she told us that you needed to find peace. Just in your own time and in your own way. Fraulein Maria is smart, Father. She knows a lot about us for someone we only met a few weeks ago," Marta smiled widely as she looked up at Maria, and the Captain turned his head to look her in the eyes, silently thanking her for this moment.
"Marta, love," Georg continued. "Why don't you put your rose down for Mama. I know she would love to receive a flower from you."
Marta moved closer to the headstone and set the rose on top of the stone, adjusting it a little so it looked just the way she wanted it. She ran her hand across the engraving of the angel and smiled. While she knew that her Mama was an angel now, she wanted to know more about her. Marta had had heard so many stories about her from Liesl, Friedrich, and Louisa, but she knew there had to be more.
"Father. Mama is our angel now, isn't she? Where did you meet her?" she asked.
"Listen, love, the rain is getting pretty steady, and we don't want to catch a chill. Why don't we go back to the car and go to Café Mozart for some tea. I can tell you all about it over a piece of strudel. Would you like that?"
As she nodded, Marta smiled and reached out to take her father's much bigger hand in hers and squeezed it gently. She walked them towards Maria and grasped her hand as well as they made their way back to the car. Maria looked over to the Captain and noticed his face looked so much more relaxed. She knew today was hard for him, but it was a necessary step and he would be better off because of it.
ooOoo
"You are looking rather pensive, today," Max said as he rolled into the sitting room with a cup of coffee. Elsa was perched on the chair by the window flipping through her magazine, occasionally looking out the window and across the lawn as the rain fell.
"Oh, Max. I am just worried about Georg." Elsa replied without looking up from the glossy pages. "You know, visiting Agathe and everything. I tried to convince him that he should just deny his daughter's wish. I mean, it's been so long already, what good would it do the little tot? What good would it do him?"
"Well, you could have gone with him if you are so concerned?", Max replied.
"Oh, Max!" Elsa sighed. "He knows I don't cope well when he speaks of her. I always try to change the subject, remind him to move on... When it comes to his memories, he's a tactician, he knows not to ask me to support him. How can I understand him when I don't understand what he's feeling? Four years is such a long time to grieve. He knows I would be of little help to him."
Max stroked his moustache, wondering if he could figure out what the actual issue was. Elsa rarely verbalized her concerns about Georg's grief.
"So, Elsa, out with it...you're harbouring something. This isn't about the man's grief; you have been navigating that for almost two years now."
Elsa closed her magazine exasperatedly and massaged her curls with her hand, pressing them into her head. Looking at the ceiling, she confessed.
"I just wish he had not been so set on going with the damn Governess, that is all."
Max chuckled inwardly at Elsa. Despite her wealth and status, she was easily affected by the Green Monster, but she would soon get over it. Did she really think that she had to complete with a nun? Max knew that the little Fraulein had been a positive influence on his friend in the short time they had known each other, and he would not change that for the world. Finally, someone had been able to chip Georg out of the shell he had been living in for the past almost-four years.
"Well, Elsa, she is a nun-in-training, she is good at counselling and channeling God's love, that sort of thing. Plus, she seems to understand him well. I don't think that is a bad thing. So very few people have managed to crack Georg Von Trapp over the years. It's nice to see the man I met so many years ago returning slowly piece by-piece"
"I suppose, if that is all it is." Elsa groaned.
Elsa knew that Georg attracted women like a moth to a flame, and the little doe-eyed nun was no exception. She'd caught glimpses of the little governess sizing up Georg like a choice cut of beef in the butcher shop from time-to-time. No female could help it, really. She was just unsettled by the fact that Georg seemed to appreciate all her attention.
Elsa could also readily admit that her pride was hurt - that a plain looking nun with a bad haircut could somehow give Georg something that she, Elsa Von Schraeder, could not. Why did it feel like she was competing with a woman who had chosen a vow of chastity, and would one day be wedded to God, no less? She shivered as she thought of the fate of any woman choosing that path. They had no idea what they were missing. Mind you, with Georg's insistence on maintaining appearances and doing the right thing over the past months, Elsa was beginning to feel like a nun, herself.
Standing up from her chair by the window, Elsa placed her magazine on the side table. "I just think she has too much influence on him. He has changed so much since he came home. Anything she asks of him, he does it. I mean, she has more power over him than I do," she said with a pout.
"You must notice it, Max? Just look at his reunion with the children. How did she manage to convince him to change his ways so suddenly? We arrived here, had a tour of the villa, and everything seemed fine. Maybe he was a little nervous that day, but that is all. But that part doesn't matter. Chaos ensued when the governess swamped the boat...I left him on the landing, his nostrils flaring! Georg was as angry as a lonely mountain goat in mating season! From the window, I could not tell what they were saying, but his body language was such that I was convinced he was going to fire her...to show her the door that very moment! He paced back and forth like a caged lion."
"You remember, don't you dahling? We could hear them yelling at each other out on the landing? Next thing I know, POOF!, he's standing right there," Elsa sighed exasperatedly as she pointed to the spot by the doorway. "He was singing with them! Georg singing? Can you believe it, Max, it still blows my mind?"
Elsa paced agitatedly around the room before continuing.
"He told me that he even apologized to her for his behaviour. Georg doesn't apologize to anyone! Well, the Georg I thought I knew would never have apologized, particularly to a subordinate. She was no saint that day – you heard the way the governess yelled at him. And yet, he felt it necessary to apologize? I have learned so many things about Georg over the past week, it's as though he's become another man! To think that my first impression of him in Salzburg was that he was much less of a riddle..."
Max was definitely beginning to see what the underlying issue was. She was unsettled by all of the changes in Georg since arriving in Salzburg. But Max had known that man once before, and so to see him this way didn't surprise him nearly as much. In fact, it was a blessing.
"Elsa. This is Georg. And really, I think we both know that you and I would be apologizing to a nun if we had thought that we might have offended her. It is just bad karma to be mean to a nun," Max said with a chuckle. "What you see now is the man Georg used to be, you know, before Agathe died. I just think he's finally coming to terms with the fact that she is gone and that he's going to start another life with you. His grief kept a lot of who he really is bottled up for such a long time. Trust me, in the long term, her influence will be a positive thing for you."
Elsa rolled her eyes and snorted. "Well, I suppose you're right. If only I could feel certain it was more about the old Georg and less about the new governess. I don't know if I can handle all these kids all the time, though. So, I can't really justify asking him to get rid of her. However, she still has too much pull for my liking. She asks – he agrees! Maybe it would not be so bad if she started acting like the Help and not like she's a member of his family. Fraulein Maria sits in the mistress' spot at the dinner table, for Heaven's sake, and she's been his lunch date at high noon at Café Mozart. She's just too familiar."
"Well, I don't think that is necessarily the case, Elsa. Georg's very aware of how things look to others, so I am certain that lunch with the little Fraulein was entirely innocent. You know as well as I do, Georg Von Trapp doesn't do anything he doesn't want to do, and he would immediately put a stop to anything that he didn't approve of."
Max sat down on the sofa and crossed his legs, pausing to take a sip of coffee before continuing.
"You know – Georg and I have been friends forever. Hell, I saved the man's life once! If anyone was going to make him capitulate to a whim, it would be me! And yet I fail miserably all the time! My, just the other day I was talking to Georg about this puppet show...not just any puppet show – but a huge stage with a whole set of marionettes! You know Anton Aicher of Salzburg marionette fame? [1]" Max inquired, looking at Elsa over the top of his cup.
Elsa cocked an eyebrow at Max, wondering how a marionette maker had managed to enter their conversation at this point. Undeterred by the look Elsa was giving him, Max continued his story.
"Well, Anton's brother-in-law, Professor Hans Kohner is on this year's Festspiele Committee. Hans told me last week that Anton has surplus marionettes that he is trying re-home so he can finance some new work. Given the renewed relationship between Georg and the children, I thought it would be a great fit. The little Fraulein could teach them, she is so musical after all, and we could ensure that these exquisite examples of Austrian craftsmanship would be in the Von Trapp family for generations. Plus, it's an under-the-table way for me to keep the little darlings singing. I want to enter them all in the Festival this year!"
"And what did he say to that, dahling?" Elsa inquired.
"Turned me down flat. Absolutely out of the question, he said. First of all, he said he didn't have anywhere to put them, and secondly, what would his family do with a bunch of used marionettes from the last touring productions from Leningrad, Moscow and the Balkans? He told me I was thoroughly off my rocker".
"That is because it was your idea, dahling, if Fraulein Maria suggested it, I am quite certain he would agree. I think anything that I want from Georg, I am going to get her to approach him about it. Maybe she can get him to propose to me," she said with a pout and a hearty laugh.
"Still, Elsa," Max crowed. "I think you over-estimate her. Surely, Georg is just thankful to her for bringing him and the children back together. He's still Captain Georg Von Trapp and he most certainly does what he wants. Given how he felt about this puppet show the other day, it will be a frosty Friday in Hell when he agrees to it, let alone picks up the bill to have it all sent to the villa to entertain her and the children."
Elsa rolled her eyes and took a cigarette out of her purse. She popped it into the holder and lit it. Taking and a long draw to calm her nerves, she blew a long plume of smoke into the middle of the sitting room.
"Max, I think maybe we should do a little social experiment. I mean, this could work in your favour, and maybe you will see that I am onto something. You talk to the little Governess and see if you can get her on your side with the marionettes. I'll bet you opening night box seats at the Opern Wien that she manages to convince him. Then you maybe will see why I am concerned with her influence on him."
"A-ha!" Max laughed heartily. "So, if I get the little Fraulein to convince him, which is undoubtedly in my best interest, I still lose the bet and I have to buy you tickets? That, Elsa, is the worst deal I have ever encountered, and I have seen many! Besides, you know I don't have the means to afford that? And don't you already share season's tickets with Baroness Schuman?" Max wandered over to the window and moved the shears aside so he could look outside.
After a few moments of quiet contemplation, he turned back towards Elsa with a childlike grin on his face.
"Mind you, Elsa, you know that's a bet I am willing to take, because I am quite certain it's going to be a hard "NO" from Georg regardless of who is doing the asking. And besides, I will definitely enjoy the night out! Maybe I will take the little Fraulein with me as my date and watch Georg's head pop off!" Max said with a cheeky flick of his eyebrows and a wide grin.
Despite his smile on the outside, Max could not help but wonder if Elsa was onto something. He was struggling with a nagging sensation deep in his chest that stemmed from a conversation that he had with Georg the night before they all had returned to Salzburg: "a drunk man's words are a sober man's thoughts", he recalled. Georg admitted just a week ago that he had fallen for a nun! That same nun who had also managed to whip Elsa into a frenzy. At the time, Max thought it was all baloney, but watching Georg and Fraulein Maria interact since returning home, Max could see how it could be possible. He could not say this to Elsa, of course; he promised himself that he would go to his grave with that knowledge. Elsa didn't need another reason to be suspicious of the little governess.
Max truly liked Fraulein Maria and appreciated her influence on this family. Not just from a show business perspective, but because Georg was starting to act like the Georg he knew before Agathe died. Fraulein Maria had knitted the children back into his life, and today, right at this moment, he was at the cemetery for the first time in a long while.
This would all blow over, just like Georg said himself. After all, it was highly improbable that his friend could fall for any woman, let alone a nun, in such a short period of time. Besides, Georg would never compromise his position in society by having a fling with the Help - nor would he ever think about compromising her.
Perhaps this "quest" to obtain the marionettes and their stage could give him more insight into Georg's thoughts about Fraulein Maria – to see if he was still feeling the way he was a week ago. If Georg turned the little Fraulein down flat, both he and Elsa could rest easy. However, Max had a hunch he might be the one buying tickets for Elsa. Since they had returned to Salzburg, Max had noticed that Georg had been jealous of ol' Maxie on more than one occasion, particularly when Georg realized that Max knew more about the Governess than he did.
Twirling the ends of his moustache, Max realized he was in a bit of a pickle, but he was also on the cusp of intelligence. During the Great War he had become something of a phenom in the realm of information gathering. He had hunches he just had to follow, and oh! how he loved to uncover gossip! There had been many times in his relationship with Georg that he figured out what was going inside the Captain's head before the Captain could admit it to himself. Initially, his original aim to was to have Georg purchase the marionettes so that he could keep the children singing. Practice makes perfect, and his heart was set on entering them in the festival later that summer. Now there was an even greater benefit to him, despite the risk his inkling was wrong.
"Oh, Max, for Heaven's sake" Elsa's laugh cut into his reverie, and he returned to the present. "If you lose, just get Herr Reinhardt to bail you out. He's got more tickets for more cultural events than I have shoes in my closet. Just think, though, if you win, not only will you be able to make fun of me for being wrong, but you will have a great opportunity for networking and schmoozing, no? Connections galore in the box seats? Indeed, I do declare Sol Hurok will be jealous of your luck!"
Max ran his fingers over his face and impatiently tapped his chin before agreeing. He and Elsa shook hands, and he placed a peck on her cheek for good measure to seal the deal. Even if he lost the bet - indeed Elsa was right, Max Reinhardt would bail him out - he would at least know for certain what the status of Georg's feelings were without having to ask him directly. In fact, Fraulein Maria would do all the hard work for him AND they could get their hands on this puppet show at the same time. All he had to do was sit back and watch the action.
"Elsa, my dear, you really need to learn more about your future husband!" Max laughed with glee. "He's a Sea Captain first, and the Captain is always in command of his ship, even when he's on land! A little nun-turned-governess isn't going to get far with Georg when he's dead-set against something."
So he hoped, anyway.
[1] Anton Aicher was the founder of the Salzburg Marionette Theatre (1913). In 2016, the Austrian UNESCO commission designated the "Salzburg Cross" marionette technique that was developed by Anton Aicher as Intangible UNESCO Cultural Heritage (Austrian List).