It was supposed to be the last party for a while if all went according to plan, and she found herself more than grateful. They weren't planning to attend, but Georg received word last minute that the final man he was waiting for would be in attendance. He had been assigned the task of obtaining certain information from this man who had been eluding him for weeks, due to no knowledge of his own, of course. Maria had no idea who the man in question was, nor did she care if it meant she would have her husband back again. She would have helped him extract any information he needed if it meant he would be hers again.

The moment they entered the party she saw his eyes scouring the crowd of guests, looking for his target. She could have rolled her eyes at how ridiculous it all sounded had they not been in public. After a moment of watching him drink his brandy and appear to be brooding in a corner once again, she shook her head and began to excuse herself, but a man approached them before she had the chance.

"Good evening Captain Von Trapp, Baroness." They all shook hands, and Maria smiled wildly at the kind face of the man. She had been introduced to him at least twice that she knew, but she was terrible at remembering everyone's names and titles. She felt terrible about it, but she couldn't have picked his name out if she tried. Though she had become very good at pretending as the man took a seat at their table. "What are we drinking?"

"Well, my wife is pretending to sip her champagne, and I'm afraid I've been swimming in brandy." The man laughed, and Maria smiled, noting Georg's attempt at having a sense of humor for the evening. He was a man on a mission, and nothing short of brooding would have been good enough for him. He seemed to think their company was a nuisance.

"I must remain lucid if he plans to swim in brandy, of course." The man nodded, taking a drink from his own glass of champagne.

"Your husband has always had a weakness for brandy. Has he ever told you of the time he stripped down by the lake at one of my parties and..."

"I assure you, she does not need to hear about that." He sounded gruff, but Maria laughed wholeheartedly. She would need to get that story out of him later for certain.

"I can't wait to hear it! I do like to hear stories of his foolishness before he met me. Obviously I keep him on his best behavior." She smiled to him, and he rolled his eyes, causing their company to laugh. Suddenly she saw Mia from across the room, waving her over excitedly. She smiled wider, waving back. "I do apologize, I must excuse myself. I'm being summoned, it seems."

"It's a pleasure to see you again, Baroness." She smiled her farewell and crossed the room to meet her friend, who she was hopeful would provide a good distraction from the dullness of the party. "She is quite charming, Georg."

"Yes, she does seem to radiate sunshine everywhere she goes. Quite annoying when I'm attempting to brood." The man laughed, and Georg gave a smile to let him know he was joking. Georg had known the man for years, a friend of a friend from long ago. They always seemed to find one another at social events, getting along on most subjects, but inevitably having argued quite a bit about politics in the past. Georg knew it was only a matter of time before they began yet another disagreement, but he played along and chatted with the man for a bit anyway. He supposed it would look better if he at least pretended to be engaged.

"Oh Georg, it is good to see that you're coming to your senses."

"I don't know what you mean."

"Marrying your wife, I mean. She seems supportive of the Nazi cause, at least. We're all hoping she can talk some sense into you." He laughed, but Georg's body felt stiff, angry and rigid at the implication toward Maria.

"What on earth are you talking about?"

"Well, she has been spending so much time with Baroness Knopf. Her husband is a large investor in the cause. Rumor has it, his wife is very gifted at obtaining and passing information."

"Her friend, Mia?"

"I don't know her first name, I'm afraid. But it has given the rest of us some hope for you." He laughed taking another drink of his champagne as Georg drained his glass. His blood was beginning to boil in anger. Did she know about Mia?

"I see."

"Not to mention, my wife saw your wife and Baroness Schraeder having lunch together quite a while ago. It was a bit before your wedding, I suppose. They were apparently speaking quietly, secretly perhaps...Georg?" He walked swiftly away from the man, unable to think straight as he searched for Maria. She would need to explain to him exactly what his acquaintance was talking about. While he noticed she always shied away from the subject with him before things got too deep, he knew for a fact that she was not a Nazi supporter. They went against everything she valued and believed, and there was no way she was one of them.

But could his love for her simply have made him blind to it? She could be quite cold at times, the times when they were arguing or when she became angry with him. Was she able to simply turn off the coldness when she was with him and the children and stay silent about her thoughts. She obviously didn't feel she had any ties to Austria, especially given that she wanted to leave it behind. Did she have no faith in their country making the right decision? Or did she not even care, after all?

He saw her from across the room, a warm smile upon her face as her friend Mia spoke with her. Mia leaned in to whisper something into her ear, and she erupted into laughter. He could read her like no one else, and it scared him to think he could have missed such an important fact about her. Certainly he hadn't, it was a preposterous idea…But there she was, laughing and carrying on with a woman who had a reputation of essentially being a spy for her husband. What had his wife unknowingly revealed to her, he wondered...or perhaps she knew after all.

"Are you ready, darling?" She smiled as she approached, having noticed him looking at her from across the room. He jumped as she put her hand on his arm, not moving to touch her in return.

"Yes." He walked away, her hand falling from him as she was left alone. She looked around, wondering if anyone else had noticed his mood, before she followed him closely. He seemed quite volatile at the moment, the smell of alcohol drifting off him.

"Do I need to drive?"

"No." Only one word, but more anger in it than she expected.

"Did something happen?" She was a bit out of breath as she followed him outside to the car, nearly stumbling in her heels as she hurried to put on her coat. He didn't even bother to open her door for her, entering on his side and starting the vehicle. Brow furrowed, she opened her own door and sat next to him. He began to pull away before she could even get her door closed, and she hurried to do so, gasping in surprise. She turned to face him, finding nothing but anger radiating from him. "Have I done something?"

"I need silence." She nodded, looking down to her folded hands in her lap. She went over the events of the evening in her head, but she couldn't pinpoint anything out of the ordinary. What had she even done?