Underneath her wimple
A/N:
Georg/Maria/Elza interaction – and a little bit of Max. Scene happens after "Edelweiss" and before the ball. Several different points of view throughout the story.
Disclaimer: The usual – I don´t own anything.
Friedrich approached the table, holding the dark mantilla in his hands as if it were a war trophy.
"Here, Fraülein Maria."
"Thank you so much, Friedrich!"
With a slight blush, the boy nodded and walked away.
"Friedrich von Trapp, a true gentleman in the making," Elsa said. "He may have his mother's looks, but that he got that from you, darling. In a couple of years he will have every Austrian girl under 18 chasing after him."
"Oh, I have a feeling he is already being chased, as you say, by a few of them," Georg said quite smugly. "It seems you have a champion, Fraülein," he added.
Maria smiled, re-arranging the mantilla back on her head, while Elsa watched her quizzically.
"I can understand now why you keep your hair so short. It must be a nightmare, to keep it tidy under that… that thing!"
"Oh, but that isn´t the reason, Baroness. I used to have very long hair."
"And why did you have it – pardon my words – butchered it, dear? No offense, but your hairstyle is hardly flattering. My hairdresser in Vienna would simply swoon if he saw you. He would be simply scandalized!"
The Captain muttered something in distaste, and began sipping his drink.
There he goes, brooding again, Elsa thought. My poor darling is probably annoyed by my attempt at girl talk. But what does anyone talk to a nun in training about? She had no idea.
"The older nuns would not leave me alone," Maria shook her head.
"Why not?"
"Sister Berthe said it was sinful", was her candid answer.
"Sinful?!"
"Mm hm."
"How odd!" Elsa exclaimed.
"That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard," Georg said, setting his glass firmly on the table, so hard that Maria winced.
"Exactly what I said to her, Captain. Eventually I cut it, because I was simply tired of arguing. Such a waste of time. It was… hair after all. It was certainly wasn´t worth having to kiss the floor as often as I did.."
"Well," Elsa began, turning to Georg, "I dare to disagree. It is not so ridiculous, darling. Vanity is one of the seven deadly sins, is it not?"
"It is not," the Captain and Maria spoke at once.
"Let me see if I can remember," Georg began, grinning at Maria, apologetically. "Please correct me if I am wrong, Fraülein. Gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, pride."
The Baroness shook her head. "That only makes six, Georg! Oh dear, I am glad Fraülein Maria is not strict, otherwise she would send you back to Sunday school."
"I was not finished," Georg defended himself, but she ignored him completely. "What is missing, Fraülein? Please, do tell us."
"Lust," Maria answered. The one mortal sin the nuns refused to speak about in detail. Only through metaphors, and their meaning was not always clear to Maria.
The Baroness smiled. "Interesting slip of memory, Georg. Lust. And, since we were discussing long hair, when I remember exactly the way you looked at your wife when she was wearing her hair loose..." That earned her a fierce scowl. "Don´t glare!" Then, after a moment, she continued. "You know, sometimes, lately, I do try to picture myself as a nun."
Georg´s expression turned to frank disbelief. "You? A nun? I am quite sure they would not permit you to re-designing your habit".
"Naturally, they would, darling. I can be extremely persuasive when I want to. I would make Nonnberg the most fashionable Abbey in Austria."
"I am sure you would," Georg agreed.
"But once I had my new little habit designed by the best and most expensive French couturier I could find, I am sure I would fit right in. Don´t you think, Fraülein?"
Maria smiled condescendingly. "It might be a little too quiet for you, Baroness. It is so even for me at times."
Georg frowned. Didn't she realize that the nuns of Nonnberg Abbey made a vow of seclusion, and that she would not be able to go anywhere else for the rest of her life? Not even the mountains?
"To live my life entirely guided by the seven holy virtues…" Elsa taunted. Again, she had caught him with that look in his face – he was staring at the governess like he was trying hard to figure her out, and failing miserably.
"Chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, patience, kindness and humility," Maria provided proudly.
"Oh, I could learn to cope with all that. Except the chastity thing - that I am not so sure of. Fraülein Maria, do you think I could…"
"Probably not," Georg said quickly, before she finished her sentence.
One, a voice in the back of Elsa´s mind said. And so loud and clear was the thought that she glanced sideways, just to make sure it was not Max whispering in her ear. Her conscience did sound a lot like Max Detweiler sometimes.
"Oh well, if there is no way getting around that one," Elsa shrugged, dismissing that nagging voice. And then to Maria, "How can you live with all those vows and restrictions, my dear?" she asked directly. "It seems almost… inhuman to me."
Maria stopped fidgeting with her hands and thought for a moment. "I never considered another option in life, Baroness," she replied honestly
"Could it be that you don´t know what you are missing. I mean, you do not know another life, do you?"
"I don´t need to," Maria replied confidently. "As I said, I never wanted anything else."
Elsa gasped. "My God, you are…!"
"Elsa, don´t say another word," the Captain barked, interrupting her again, this time quite briskly.
Two…
There it was again. Elsa raised her eyebrows.
"What is wrong with that, Baroness?" Maria asked, a little defensively, although she was not quite sure what what she was defending.
"Yes, Elsa, what is wrong with being virtuous?" the Captain asked, jumping once more to her defense.
"Georg! You are embarrassing your poor governess, my dear!" Elsa said, "Look how flushed the poor thing is!"
"Oh, I am embarrassing her?! Maybe she is flushed because she walked miles in this unbearable heat wearing that -" he gestured towards Maria's habit – "and not because of me and all this nonsense we have been feeding her ears with."
Three…
Elsa shifted uncomfortably in her chair. And why did he have to justify himself so passionately?
"Baroness, I really…" Maria began, but the Captain silenced her with his hand.
"Fraülein, I must advise you not to say another word about this. Whatever you say, they," he nodded towards Elsa and Max, who had just rejoined them, "will twist it and turn into an innuendo. I fear you would not find it pleasant."
And four…
The Baroness sipped her lemonade.
"What did I do now?" Max asked.
"I was just going to explain that…" Maria began, only to be interrupted once more by the Captain.
"Don´t. If you try to fix it, they will make it even worse."
"But Captain, I have to…" she continued.
"Fraülein!" he exclaimed, in a tone that suggested she should do as he said if she knew what was better for her. At least for the time being.
The Baroness would not allow herself to be intimidated, and continued her teasing. She just could not resist seeing how far Georg could be pushed. She had not seen him acting so fiercely protective towards a woman since… no; the thought was too ludicrous to be even taken into account. The girl was the governess, for goodness sake! And yet, when he sensed that she was about to offend the young woman's principles and question her religious vocation, he had jumped to her defense. Four times! It was the second time since that night the little nun convinced him to sing that she sensed there was something in the air.
And so, Elsa refused to change the subject.
"What is wrong with that, do you ask? Georg, you have five lovely daughters. Do you really want them all to die as old maids locked in some medieval Abbey, living by some ancient set of rules?"
"That might be an option," he said sardonically.
"You do run a tight ship, Captain," Elsa laughed, but he remained serious.
"If you think I will allow any of my daughters to…"
"What on earth are you grown-ups talking about anyway?" Max interrupted.
"Deadly virtues and holy sins, the Captain answered very quickly, only realizing his mistake when Maria giggled. He shook his head, irritably. "Deadly sins and holy virtues," he corrected himself immediately, silencing his governess´ giggles with one of his angry scowls.
Maria bit her lower lip. "A sea Captain is never wrong, merely misinterpreted," she remembered him saying during one of their arguments. And the other gem she had heard from him a couple of days ago: "You may thing whatever you like, Fraülein, as long as you agree with me." It was funny how he could not stand making mistakes, or loosing an argument.
"Lust and chastity." Elsa said with a wink.
Max looked at the Captain who looked like he was about to throttle Elsa. "Oh oh, this appears to be interesting. My favorite sin, my least favorite virtue. Please, enlighten me. Georg, Fraülein... Please!"
The Captain rolled his eyes, and Elsa answered, for she was enjoying the whole situation too much.
"Georg wants to send all the girls to the Abbey. And Fraülein Maria is…"
"Elsa, you can be worse than Max at times," the Captain said.
And five, Elsa thought. Five times he had rushed to protect the little Fraülein. And even before she finished what she had to say.
Max replied gleefully. "Of course, she learned it from me, the master himself!"
"Proud of your work, are you dear?" the Baroness taunted him. "Now tell me, Max, how would you feel about making a vow of chastity?"
"Oh, as long as it is not a vow of poverty he would be fine," was the Captain's sarcastic comment.
"You two know me so well!" Max said, sitting down next to a very confused-looking Maria.
This is going to be very interesting indeed, Max thought. Very interesting. Spending a few weeks at the Trapp villa had always been many things for him. Relaxing and even profitable.
But that was entirely different. Something out of the ordinary was about to happen, and he would not go back to Vienna until it did.
Whatever it was, Max Detweiler would not miss it for the world!
To be continued… some day, maybe!