~* Epilogue *~

Vienna, 17-09-1993

Dear Mrs. Miller,

I know it must be very strange for you to receive a letter of a person you don't even know, but I can explain the reason for my writing.

As I put the estate of my mother in order, I found a few photographs and letters, which made me see my Mother in very new light.

However, I should start at the beginning. My name is Elisabeth Rainer and my mother was Maria Rainer.

I know you must be astonished she even had a daughter, as she was still a nun when you met her the last time. I hope and I know I can explain all this to you, although it won't be easy.

After Mother died last Christmas, I found a box in the attic of her house, which contained the letters and photographs I have already mentioned.

Maybe you're wondering now, why I haven't been writing to you earlier, as almost one year passed since Mother's death. But the things I found out changed somehow my whole life. Truthfully, I did not know if I should or even wanted to share my knowledge with anybody. Finally, I came to the conclusion that you have the right to hear of it. In addition, I hope you will tell your siblings what I am telling you now.

The earliest dated letter I found was your invitation for Mother to come to your wedding. Based on the photographs I can tell she followed this invitation. The other letters mostly were invitations to the weddings of your siblings, notifications of the births of your children and the message that your Father died in the autumn of 1981.

Since you and your siblings mentioned it in your letters, I know that Mother never responded to any of these letters and I am afraid the reason therefore is me.

I was born in Vienna in the summer of 1949. Mother used to work for a dressmaker to earn our living and although we hadn't much I never missed a thing.

Maybe I did not miss anything, because I never knew anything else, but I always thought, and still do, we lived a happy life. Of course, when I grew older, I started to ask her questions about my Father, but she refused to answer them for a very long time.

At my sixteenth birthday, she finally told me a part of her story. You can imagine how shocked I was to hear, that she used to live as a nun.

I don't know if she left the convent because she had found out she was pregnant with me or out of the conviction she wasn't meant to life as a nun. I am afraid I'll never find out.

However, with some calculations I found out she was still a nun when she got pregnant with me.

First I just couldn't understand all the interrelations, nor believed she did something like this. After all, she was my Mother and you don't expect your Mother to have something like an affair.

As long she lived, she never told me who my Father was – and I never would have found out the truth, if there had not been another letter in her estate, a letter of a Captain Georg von Trapp.

I am sending you the letter your Father wrote to my Mother, because I want you to see that it had been more than just a briefly affair.

Whenever I asked her for my father, she had that look in her eyes and a smile played about the corner of her mouth. In the past, I could not make tails of it, but now I can, she remembered him with love.

I suppose this information hurts you, as his letter and my existence are proofs your Father was unfaithful to your Mother. However I can tell my mother never intended to destroy his marriage or to hurt you and your siblings, and if you only know her a little you will have the same conviction.

Furthermore, I hope you believe me that I am not writing to you in the expectation of any inheritance, I just thought you should know the truth; you should know you have a half-sister.

Besides, I would love to meet the people who are somehow my family. However, of course I will respect it, if you and your siblings will decide not to have any contact with me.

With best wishes,

Elisabeth Rainer

~*~*~*~

New England, 18-10-1948

Dear Maria,

I am sending this letter to you, because I need to talk about the things that happened that one, special night. Maybe it would be better to remain silent, but I just couldn't.

I want you to know that this was more than just one night of passion.

My feelings for you are deep and honest. On the one hand, I know this is wrong, but on the other, it seems so right for me to love you.

It's hard to admit myself that I maybe could have changed the things, if I wouldn't have accepted you leaving the night of the party, if I would have followed you to the Abbey.

However, in these days I was convinced you never could feel the things for me I was feeling for you. Now I know I was wrong, and I am deeply sorry.  

I wish I had realized the real reasons for your leaving; I did not, a fact that is weighing heavily on my mind.

The note you left this time, was unambiguous, but believe me, if you would ever ask me to come to you, I would immediately.

I will never forget the night we spent together, the hours we finally lived our love. I do not regret any second of it and I hope you are having the same feelings about it.

Yours,

Georg

~*~*~*~

----Flashback: September 1981----

Dear Georg,

Although nobody of us had the courage to say it, we both knew that our actions of this night are for tonight alone.

I am sorry for leaving you again without a good-bye, but I don't know if I could stand it, if another kiss wouldn't throw down all my beliefs against better knowledge.

Please forgive me,

Maria

Smiling Georg looked a last time at the yellowed note in his hand, before he threw it into the crackling fire. "There's nothing to forgive", he whispered, while the old paper went up in flames, finally turning to dust.

FIN

~*~*~*~

I know that some people did not like the way the story went in Part 2. However for me it felt right, to let it go like this – as well as it felt right to me, to let it end like this.

I know that many people think it's out of character that Georg and Maria slept with each other – For me it was not. For me it fitted to their characters, because I see both as very impulsive, passionate people. I never was just like: Hey, let's them have an affair. I thought a lot about it, about love, passion and duties, and concluded they would have done so. However, that's just my point of view.

They forgot about everything for one night, a few hours in their entire life, and I don't see something wrong in it. (Otherwise, I wouldn't have written it like that)

But I always knew Maria would never have accepted it to marry Georg after he had a divorce just because of her. And there's another thing I want to state clearly, just if somebody didn't realize this during the story: Of course Maria never told Georg she had a child, because if he would have known, he would have left Elsa, something Maria certainly didn't want him to do.

Nevertheless, I hope you enjoyed this Fic. Me, I really enjoyed all your wonderful reviews:-) (Wowh, so many of them!) Thanks for that! And thanks again to Amy, for being my Beta:-)