Dearest Fräulein Maria Chapter 10: 10, a sound of music fanfic

The last two instalments. The last bit of this is not really letters, per se, but I didn't want to completely break the structure and had to get creative. ;) Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it. xx

(from the stack of letters tied up with string in Fraulein Maria's carpetbag)

xxx

Dear Fraulein,

I hope you had an uneventful journey back from London. I spoke to Max again just after you left. He tells me you planned a short detour to Amsterdam to meet with some of his clients. I imagine that went well. If Max ends up representing you as your agent, I will not be surprised in the slightest. He might be ridiculous, but he has an eye for talent.

It was a shock and a delight to speak with you over Christmas. The children were thrilled, of course, in case their ear-splitting shrieking wasn't obvious over the telephone. I hadn't realized you were planning to visit Max over the holidays. Though together, you and he could rival the children, interrupting and trying to talk over one another. Did you enjoy your time in London? There's a very cosmopolitan feel to it, isn't there? That's something you don't find in central Europe, and I can see you taking to the variety the city has to offer. I hope Max at least pretended to act the part of host. I'm (partially) in jest. If he hopes to woo you into show business, I'm sure you were treated like royalty.

If you are going through your stack of mail, I'd sent a letter to you just before the holidays, not knowing you would be in London. There is no need to read it, since we had the pleasure of wishing each other happy Christmas by phone. You did indeed sound happy. I think it's one of your many charms – wherever you are, you seem happy.

To a new year and a new journey,

CvT

xxx

Maria.

I should have known you would go ahead and read it anyway.

Of course I meant it. Every word.

If you had said you were set on going into business with Max, I would have been prepared to stay silent. You deserve nothing less. But to hear you say the letter was everything you longed to hear… Maria, oh my love, I am blind, deaf, dumb, and above all, stupid.

I have missed chance after chance, squandered every opportunity that presented itself, let you go time and again. I let you run away to the Abbey. I let you run away to Groningen. I ignored the signals, ignored my instincts, and Maria, I made you doubt yourself. It would have been meant my death in battle, and now, it has cost me dearly.

You are halfway across the continent, undoubtedly pacing again. I am unable to look you in the eye, unable to take you in my arms, unable to place your hand over my heart so you can feel it's frantic beat. But I will have you know that I am going to say it again and again. I am going to say it every chance I have. I am going to say it until you are sick and tired of hearing it.

I love you.

xxx

My dear child,

I am delighted for you. I always knew someone as headstrong and determined as you would never stop until you found your way.

My daughter, be at ease. It was not your fault any more than it was his. It does not matter how you find each other, so long as you do. I am including a letter for you. It found its way to me not long after you returned to us in the summer. It's of no use to me, but it might bring you and Captain von Trapp the closure you are seeking.

All the very best,

Reverend Mother

(enclosed letter from Captain Georg von Trapp to Reverend Mother dated Aug 3, 1938)

xxx

(Letter sent to return address)

(written at the top)

Maria, I am sending this letter back. Hold on to it for now – there is something I must first do. G

(original letter posted to Georg von Trapp, Aigen, SBG)

Dearest Georg,

I love you, I love you, I love you. You see, I can say it just as many times as you and likely more, since I talk more than you do.

Georg, Reverend Mother sent me the letter you wrote to the Abbey after I returned. I didn't have a clue you had called and written to inquire about me. That you had cared about me even then, that you thought about me as anything more than a governess under your protection – Georg, I didn't know it. Perhaps at that time, wasn't ready to accept it.

I was a postulate from Nonnberg Abbey. I had no family outside the Sisters. I had no visions of being a wife or a mother, no concept of what love ought to be besides the pious kind. And suddenly, I could see it – what it meant to love you. And oh, I had no right to it. No right to think it, to want it. I was frightened. Confused.

I didn't know how to face you, that night. I didn't know how to say goodbye. I didn't even know how to leave – not really. I thought I could run away to the Abbey, that somehow I would be safe, that I could resume my old life as if the summer had never happened. But I was lying. Only God knew I did not spend my seclusion in quiet contemplation. My thoughts were full of every moment we spent together. Only God knew that when my voice was lifted in song and prayer, the only thing I could pray about was that He would help me solve this problem, that I had left my heart in your home. With your life, with the children, with you.

How could I still devote my life to God?

I had to confess to the Reverend Mother, to ask for forgiveness for loving you when I was there on God's errand. She was convinced I could love you, that in loving you I could serve God. She encouraged me to return.

But then we learned of your engagement to Baroness Schraeder. I wished then the floor might open up and swallow me. Even the Reverend Mother was at a loss over what to do. I could not remain a postulate. I never had the right temperament to be a nun. Now, I could not. She let me stay on at the Abbey until she found a different position for me. She wasn't just sending me away from the Abbey, she was sending me away from you. As far away as she could, to a place where I could start again.

I have gone from being a postulate, to being a teacher, and nearly became Max's partner in show business… and somehow, I've still found my way back to you. Perhaps God knew I needed the extra time. Perhaps He knew we both did.

I am no longer frightened. I am no longer confused.

Thank you Georg, for waiting for me.

I love you,

Maria

xxx

Ah Maria, you're killing me.

I know he's there. I'm a curious child, and I simply must know. Tell me every little teensy-weensy detail.

Max

xxx

My dearest Georg,

There is nothing to forgive. I am the happiest woman in the world. It is enough that you came. It is enough to revisit all these letters with you, to trace our journey together even when we have been apart. It is enough to sit together at dinner again, at the same table – although I'm not quite certain Edith believed you were only here to deliver an apology. It is enough to know you are only a short walk away, though I feel Edith thinks I spent entirely too long walking you out and it sets a bad example for the girls. And I'm very sure she disapproves of the way you kiss me goodnight.

You have just left, and I already cannot wait to see you again.

Maria

xxx

My Maria,

After last night, I'm not convinced Edith is going to deliver this note to you. I fear she doesn't believe me a good influence, after all.

Maria, I would take the overnight train and then some any time to spend one evening with you. But my greatest hope is to spend every morning, every day, every evening, every night with you. My hope is never having to say goodbye.

Meet me this evening at Grote Markt. The weather is taking a turn for the better, and I think we might like to take a walk along the canal. There is something I've been meaning to give you, and a question I need to ask.

Your Georg

xxx

Good grief. After all this time making eyes and mooning after each other all I get is 'we are engaged and will be returning to the villa next week'?

Well, at least Maria sounded enthusiastic about tying herself to you.

Very well then. I will make the arrangement to depart for Salzburg and you prepare the celebratory vintage. And I believe you have a bottle of that fine scotch I'm very fond of. After all, I do believe a proper engagement calls for a proper chaperone, and if memory serves me correctly neither of you have anyone of the sort. Max Detweiler will step up to the formidable task and protect my poor darling's virtue. I've seen the way you look at her, and I wouldn't put it past you to sneak in a little… afternoon delight? Amorous congress? A little four-legged foxtrot, perhaps?

Max (flourish)

xxx

My Maria, purer than light,

My sincerest of apologizes for mistakenly sending that last missive intended for your betrothed. As you were not the intended recipient, I think it is for the best you don't ask me for clarification nor mention that this wayward little letter landed in your hands.

As for you, darling, all I can say is I could not be happier to learn of your engagement. The two of you are like family, and I want to see you married.

Let us rendezvous in Salzburg,

Max (flourish)

xxx

(RSVP to the wedding of Baron Georg von Trapp to Maria Rainer)

Dear Georg and Maria Rainer,

I offer my sincere congratulations for your upcoming nuptials. The invitation is delightful. I'm assuming the rather minimalist cover was Georg's influence, but that little splash of personalized watercolour was simply divine. I imagine the idea is rather along the lines of using your wedding as a canvas from which to start, as opposed to a pre-arranged centrepiece. How cleverly done. Very regrettably, I must decline as I have made arrangements to escape this odious winter in the Tuscan countryside. At any rate, I believe it's for the best, least your prior associations set off raised eyebrows and wagging tongues. Georg, I know you hate being the centre of gossip.

Now Maria, I notice you haven't a bridal registry. I am asking my decorator to arrange for a new selection of window treatments to be sent down for the second floor of the villa. Between you and I, the previous décor was rather dark in some places and drab in others. I imagine they would find better use as play clothes. Oh, I do always recall that day with terrible fondness (Georg's abject horror still gets a laugh out of me to this day, and I do hope you never let him forget it). In hindsight, I'm really quite content to observe, and leave that brood in your capable hands. You will make a very fine wife.

I wish the pair of you every happiness.

Yours most sincerely,

Baroness Elsa Schraeder

xxx

(Georg slips a piece of scrap paper across Maria's desk while she is on the telephone)

Thought I'd come check on you. The evening is not the same without your presence. How is your call coming along?

xxx

The Sisters are very happy to be involved in the wedding preparations and have been a great deal of help. I'll be just a moment longer, and then I'll join you in the parlour.

Incidentally, you must stop constantly scowling at Max.

xxx

Max will mind his own business if he knows what's good for him.

xxx

Max has been a very loyal friend.

xxx

That he has, but if he keeps grinning at me like an infuriating Cheshire cat every time I look at you, I will not hesitate to dispose him from the house.

xxx

(notecard slipped under the door of the von Trapp villa's main guest suite)

Max is away for the evening at his exclusive wine tasting that I paid for, and there are no well-intentioned felicitation-bearing guests to receive for the night. Might I tempt you with a stroll around the gardens?

xxx

(folded note delivered at the breakfast table)

Good morning, my soon-to-be Baroness von Trapp,

Did you sleep well?

xxx

(second note delivered to the same recipient)

My lovebird, it appears both you and I had a jolly good evening. You might want to consider wearing a scarf for the next few days. - M

xxx

(written on a cocktail napkin)

Dear Georg,

I miss you.

Love, Maria

xxx

My dearest nearsighted love,

I am literally across the room.

Georg

xxx

My ever-practical Georg,

I'm quite aware. I'm listening to Friedrich rejoice over sinking your battleship as I write this.

Maria

xxx

My devious minx,

You distracted me on purpose, didn't you?

Georg

P.S. Since I have lost, as consolation I am coming to kiss you in front of all these children.

xxx

A/N: I was having such a good time writing letters I almost wanted to keep M and G apart a little while longer. I just can't imagine they'd choose to communicate via writing when they can see (and touch!) each other face to face. ;)