The next couple of days are spent in deep preparation for Gretl's sixth birthday party. The day before the much anticipated event finally arrives…

"Maria?" Frau Schmidt calls Just as Maria enters the kitchen.

"Yes, Frau Schmidt?" She asks as she begins to make tea.

"Yes, I wonder if you have time to go into town this afternoon to pick up Gretl's birthday cake. I would do it myself but I am still trying to make last minute adjustments to the house for tomorrow. The Captain said he would drive you, as he needs to go to the bank." She says as she stirs a pot on the stove.

"Of course. The children aren't due home from school for a couple of hours anyhow. And we should make it home by then I'd think. Is the Captain in his study?" She inquires, her smile subtly brightening.

Frau Schmidt nods 'yes,' noting the sudden glow to the young Fraulein's cheeks at the mentioning of the Captain.

Maria softly knocks on the study door,

"Come in," the Captain says as he removes his bifocals from his nose moving one arm to rest in each hand, looking to the closed door.

"Captain, Frau Schmidt said you'll be driving me to town for Gretl's cake? I hope you aren't busy…" Maria says, looking to the floor, a slight blush coloring her cheeks.

"Oh yes, of course, Fraulein." The Captain rises, smiling sweetly to her. "Are you ready now?" He asks, making a neat pile of the papers he'd been reading through.

"Yes, sir. I thought perhaps we could leave now so I can be here when the children return home from school."

He looks over to her at her and smiles, delighted when Maria smiles shyly back. He nearly stares, never tired of her always illuminated smile.

"I was just waiting for you. I'll get our coats and pull the car around." He says walking towards Maria who is leaning against the doorframe.

"I will meet you outside?" He says, stopping about a foot in front of her.

Maria could only nod, still not moving from her position blocking the entrance. Completely entranced in his eyes..

The Captain notices her obvious attraction and subtle desire and chuckles lightly to himself, "Fraulein, unless you'd like to spend the rest of the afternoon keeping me locked in my own study…I ask that you move so I can pass?" He concludes, smiling adoringly at her all the while.

"Oh, um, forgive me sir.." Maria said looking shamefully to the floor wringing her hands.

The Captain touched her chin gently raising her eyes, "No harm, no foul."

Maria smiled once more, "I'll meet you in front, Captain."

Finding a parking spot outside the bakery Georg turns off ignition and walks around to open the door for Maria. She holds her hand out and he takes it willingly. She steps out of the car, unintentionally still holding his hand. She entwines her fingers with his subconsciously and they walk to the door of the bakery.

Watching them from the bakery's large front window are two middle-aged women.

"Why don't you order us some pastries and coffee? I should only be gone for a short time." He says as he regretfully lets go of her hand.

"That sounds wonderful. I'll check on Gretl's cake and meet you inside… Is there anything special you'd like?" She asks kindly.

He shakes his head 'no' and smiles, but thinks to himself that she is all he wants and will ever need.

"See you in a bit." She says as she enters the bakery, a bell dinging as she pulls the heavy glass door open.

Maria inquires about Gretl's cake and is told it is ready. She thanks them and orders two sacher tortes, one coffee and one tea. She chooses a table beside the window and sits contentedly looking through it for the Captain. The waitress brings her order and continues to look out the window at a man putting on a puppet show.

As she watches she suddenly finds herself listening to the conversation between the women at the next table.

"Poor Elsa, here she thought she would be marrying Captain Von Trapp, and then he just breaks it off. People are saying it was due to her political views, but I hear he is having an affair with the governess!" says the rigid, yet attractive blonde woman with a tight bun in her hair.

"Well I heard they were stranded all night in a cabin! Right before he broke it off with Elsa! I wouldn't be surprised if he got the young girl in some kind of trouble… if you know what I mean." the other woman answers, leaning across the table to make her point.

Maria too shocked to move or speak does not notice Georg come over to her.

" Fraulein…. Fraulein?" Georg repeats as he touches her shoulder.

Maria shakes her head as if coming out of a trance, unwilling to meet his eyes.

"Fraulein are you alright? What is it?" She looks up at him and he sees the tears streaming down her face.

He takes her hand and she immediately pulls it away from him, getting up and running out of the bakery. Georg immediately chases after her. Catching up to her he grabs her arm.

"Let go of me!" She shouts desperately, new tears falling all the same.

"Maria what on earth is wrong? What happened?" He asks over her shouting as he struggles to hold on to her.

She breaks his grip, kicks him in the shin and runs off. Georg clutches his shin, and yells to Maria but it is no use she turns the corner and is gone. Maria runs through a group of people waiting to enter a theatre and guilt abruptly overcomes her for kicking the Captain. She feels awful and nearly loses her balance.

Georg goes back into the bakery to pick up Gretl's cake. He can't imagine what came over Maria and gets in the car and drives. He drives around the streets looking for her. He goes to the abbey to see if she is there.

Georg rings the abbey bell and Sister Margaretta answers.

"Sister, my name is Captain Von Trapp and it seems Maria and I have had some kind of misunderstanding… I was wondering if she may have come here?" He asks sounding rather worried and no less than desperate.

"I'm sorry Captain, but Maria is not here. Do you know why she was upset?" she asks.

"Not in the least and she ran away before I could get her to tell me. I am very worried about her. I have been all over Salzburg searching for her. I thought I would come here before heading home." He says as he wrings his wrists nervously.

"Why don't you see if she went back to the villa? If she comes here I will have the Reverend Mother call you immediately." Sister Margaretta says as she puts her hand on his comfortingly.

"Thank you, Sister." He says as he walks back to his car.

He drives home perhaps a bit faster than he knows he should. He pulls into the driveway and runs into the house.

"Maria? Maria!" He yells as he swings the heavy front door open upon entering the house.

"Captain?" he hears Frau Schmidt call from upstairs. She comes downstairs.

"Frau Schmidt is she here? Please tell me she's here!" he pleads to her while looking around the large room for any sign of her.

"If you are looking for Maria she is up in her room packing. Sir, what happened in town if I may ask?" she asks sounding very concerned.

"I wish I knew! She was fine when she went into the bakery. I went to the bank and when I went to join her she was staring as if she was in a state of shock." He says as he starts to go upstairs.

"Captain she is very upset, you may want to wait until she calms down or at least until she stops crying." Frau Schmidt says as she starts up the stairs after him.

"Are the children home?"

"Yes, I told Liesl that Maria was upset so she took the others on a walk. I thought it was best she be alone, at least until you returned. Perhaps I was wrong?" she says following him up the stairs.

"Please, Frau Schmidt, I know you want to help but please wait downstairs for when the children come back. I don't want any interruptions." He tells her as he makes his way to Maria's room.

"Sir, what if I have Franz take the children and I into town that way you will have the house to yourselves? Perhaps that way it may be a bit easier to settle." She starts back down the stairs.

"Thank you, that would be wonderful Frau Schmidt. I have a feeling this may take a while…" he says as he disappears from her sight.

Maria reaches into the armoire and removes the last of her dresses. She quickly throws them into her satchel. She grabs her guitar and turns to leave. She stops suddenly and through her tears she sees him. She tries to run by him but he blocks her path. Georg grabs her arm and pulls her to him.

"Let go of my arm, Captain." Maria demands through her dry throat and tears. She tries to pull away from him but he is too strong.

"I am not going to let go until you tell me what is wrong." He says closing her door, keeping his arm around her waist, holding her close and tightly to him. He lets go after he locks the door and Maria drops to the floor and Georg watches as she begins to sob.

"Maria, please I can't stand to see you like this, and I can't help unless you tell me what happened!" He tells her, as he squats to meet her on the floor. Her hands go to her face as she sits there trying very hard to stop her tears.

She slowly stops crying and looks up at him.

"Who is Elsa?" she asks. He finds her eyes and sighs.

He sits on the floor beside her, leaning against the bed and smiles at her. She scoots over, not wanting to be that close to him.

"Elsa Schrader was a very good friend whom I dated for about two years. We parted amicably after I found I was not in love with her… I was being unfair to both of us, actually three of us. She deserved a man who loved her. I was not that man. She went back to Vienna. Is this what you are upset about? Who told you about Elsa?" he asks as he shifts to face her, sitting Indian-style.

"I went into the bakery and there were women sitting at the table next to me. I heard them mention your name and how you were suppose to marry Elsa… They began talking about how you broke it off because you were having an affair with the governess.

"They said you had gotten the governess in some sort of trouble. I almost died when I realized the governess they were talking about was me. Is it true, Captain? Did you break off your relationship because you had slept with me?" she asks almost in a whisper.

Georg sighs and moves to her, "Maria, Elsa and I were never in love. She came into my life at a time when I needed someone to there to keep me from losing my mind. Elsa was more a friend than a lover. I finally realized I was not in love with her… so I broke it off. She was upset but I told her she deserved better.

"These women were gossiping, Maria. Perhaps they were friends of Elsa who felt some sort of misguided loyalty to her, I don't know."

"Why would they say we were having an affair if there weren't some truth in it? What exactly was our relationship before I lost my memory? I get the feeling it entailed more than me tending to your children…" Maria said uncomfortably, looking to her clasped hands, who was sitting across from Maria in suit position.

"Even if it is untrue I can't stay here… I couldn't do that to you, to the children. It wouldn't be fair! I'm going back to the abbey…back to where I belong." She says as she tries to stand.
Georg takes her hand looking up to her.

"No Maria, you don't belong there, you belong here!" He shouts as he pulls her to his lap on the floor. He takes wraps his arm around her waist and uses his other hand to guide her mouth to his, he says "I love you" before his lips finally claim hers.

She starts to pull away but something causes her to return his kiss. She sees in her mind the events of their car ride and accident. She remembers the cabin and what happened there. She remembers him telling her he loved her and that he asked her to marry him. She remembers everything. She feels him hold her tighter and she wraps her arms around him, suddenly missing him more than anything. Deepening their kiss, he parts her lips with his tongue. Her body fits his like a glove. Reluctantly she pulls from his kiss.

Looking into his eyes she smiles.

"You haven't kissed me like that since that morning in the cabin. What took you so long, darling?"

He looks at her and he realizes she remembers, "Maria, you remember!" He stands up with her in his arms and twirls her around, her arms are wrapped around his neck and she giggles at his cute excitement. He sets her down on her bed sitting closely beside her.

"Thank God. I thought I was going to lose you…" He takes his hands in her.

"You're never going to lose me." She says as she kisses him gently on his cheek leaving her hand resting on his other cheek.

He claims her lips once more as his arms wrap around her body. She feels his body mold to hers as her body begins to respond to his hands. His kiss deepens and she feels his tongue touch hers. Her body quivers as his mouth travels to her neck causing her to tilt her head back and moan with desire.

The heat their bodies produce consume them as he slowly leans her back on the bed. She feels his hands move slowly up her sides. As his hands brush the sides of her breasts he instantly pulls out of their embrace sitting back up.

Her eyes slowly open as she wonders why he has pulled away. He looks down to Maria who is still laying on the bed and smiles as he sees the flush of her cheeks.

Touching her cheek he speaks softly, "I think we need to slow down before we can no longer stop like this… I want our first night together to be special, something you remember for the rest of your life."

Still trying to catch her breath she smiles and covers his hand with hers.

"In that case, I think it might be best if we go downstairs. Being in here is just too tempting… Why don't we go for a walk?" she suggests sitting up, taking his other hand in hers.

"A walk might be a good idea. I guess we both need to cool down." He says leading her out the door and down the stairs.

They both walk down the stairs arm in arm. Reaching the bottom Maria looks around, "It's too quiet in here, where are the children?"

"Frau Schmidt offered she and Franz take them into town so you and I could sort things out. Frau Schmidt and I knew you were upset and I thought it would be easier to talk if we had no interruptions." As he looks around and spots the phonograph sitting on the table, he has an idea.

"Maria would you mind grabbing our coats and meeting me in the ballroom?" He says as he lets go of her hands.

"The ballroom?" she asks, knitting her eyebrows in a confused manner.

"Trust me." is all he says as he pushes her towards the kitchen playfully. She shakes her head and heads to the kitchen. She goes to the closet to retrieve their coats and as she is searching for gloves she hears music. She finds the gloves and heads for the ballroom. The music gets louder as she nears the ballroom. She smiles as she sees Georg smiling, rather mischievously.

Next to him on a table is the phonograph they found in the attic. He walks to her and helps her on with her coat, putting his on as well.

"What are you doing? I thought we were going for a walk?" she says as he takes her by the hand. He walks to the doors that lead to the outside veranda, once outside he goes to the phonograph and changes the record.

He walks back over to her, bows and says, "May I have this dance?" She nods and they begin to slowly sway to the music.

Crazy world, full of crazy contradictions
Like a child, first you drive me wild and
then you win my heart with your wicked art
One minute tender, gentle then temperamental
As a summer storm.

"What a beautiful song. I've never heard it before." she says as she holds Georg tighter resting her head on his chest with her arms around his waist, she closes her eyes breathing in his scent.

"Max gave it to me. He met the singer when he was in Paris through his college room mate, Carol Todd, he was trying to get them to perform at the Salzburg Folk Festival and wanted to know what I thought." he says as he relishes how she feels in his arms.

"She's very good." Maria states as she listens.

"The only thing is that he is a she," he says laughing, "or at least trying to be?" He knits his eyebrows in confusion becoming quite pensive about it. "Oh what does it matter?" he buries his face in Maria's hair.

"Well no matter who he or she may be the song is wonderful." Maria says looking over at the phonograph.

They continue to sway together. Their eyes close and they revel in each other's happiness. What they don't realize is that they have had an audience for the last couple of bars.

Frau Schmidt, Franz and the children had come home just minutes before. Intrigued by the music they silently made their way to the ballroom, peering inside they saw their father and their beloved governess engaged in an intimate dance.

Maria and Georg continued to dance even after the record had finished. It was only after they heard a stifled giggle did they stop. Looking in the direction of the ballroom doors they saw the children standing, each one wearing the biggest smile. Maria, seeing Gretl, stopped dancing with the Captain and held her arms out to the little girl.

"You remember!" Gretl said before flying into Maria's arms.

"Yes darling, I remember. I remember everything."