"There are a lot of things you don't know about me."

Little did Harold Hill know, he had just flipped a wonderful moment on it's head. Things you don't know. Secrets. If he only knew her secret. Marian's thoughts often sped up when she was anxious, and this was certainly one of those times. Harold really ought to know, especially if he was going to tell her his secrets. But he would never want her after knowing. Did she even want him to want her? How did she know she could trust him? What if he was just like...the other one? What if he- She cut off her own panicked train of thoughts. No, Harold would never do such a thing to her. He wanted Marian to trust him, so he should be able to trust her, too.

"I could say the same for myself." She forced out. Harold looked intrigued.

"Oh? You have something to confess as well?" He asked. Marian swallowed hard.

"Yes. But just know, you won't like what you're about to hear. It will change what you think about me." She looked away and found she couldn't look back at him. After a moment, she took a deep breath and began the story.

Marian was thrilled as she raced to the library. She was probably the youngest girl in River City to have a job, and at the library! She was only fourteen, but she had just secured a job working at the Madison Public Library, her favorite place in the world! She pushed open the door and smiled. It smelled like old books. She loved it. The librarian, old Ms. Brown, gave her a stack of books to reshelf. While completing the task, she heard two girls whispering. They were a few years older then her.

"Did you hear?" Ethel whispered to her friend. "There's a traveling salesman in town! I'm shocked they let him stick around!" Marian was surprised.

A traveling salesman in River City? Marian thought, always the suspicious one. I wonder what that's all about.

Marian had been working at the library for over a week now. Ms. Brown was was out sick with hay fever, so she was left in charge of the library. The library had closed for the day, and she was in the process of locking up when the front door swung upon, and in strutted the self righteous traveling salesman, Arthur Johnston. Marian looked up from the stack of books she had been sorting.

"The library is closed." She said. Mr. Johnston turned to the front door.

"You missed this one." He turned the lock on the front door. Now no one else could get in, not that there was anyone left. Everyone else was home by now. For some reason, Marian began to feel uneasy.

"Why are you even here?" She asked him. "Did you need a book?"

"Well, I do need something." Mr. Johnston said. That's when it hit her. She knew why he had locked the door, and she had to get out now. Without another word, she turned and bolted down an aisle of books toward the back door. Mr. Johnston wasn't playing around anymore. He was too tall, too fast. He caught up to her and slammed her to the floor. Marian screamed, but it was too late. No one could hear her, and if they did, they couldn't get in.

It was very late, or very early, when Marian finally brought herself to leave the library. She was still shaky, and still terrified. She had hidden in a back corner of the library for hours. Mr. Johnston could be prowling the streets, waiting for her to leave. She got up and slowly walked to the front door, jumping at every small noise. Then she heard a sound that sent relief flooding through her. She flung the door open and raced into the street. Mrs. Paroo had come out looking for her.

"Mama, I'm here!" She shouted. But her legs didn't agree with her, and she stumbled and fell to the ground. When Mrs. Paroo finally reached her, Marian burst into tears. They didn't stop the whole walk home. She was too scared to sleep, so Mrs. Paroo sat with her in the parlor for the rest of the night. The sun was starting to come up when Mr. Paroo came through the front door. He had been out looking for her as well. Marian began to cry all over again when she saw him. It was all too much for her. How was she supposed to go on like this? She would never feel safe in the library again.

Marian thought things couldn't get worse, but somehow, they did. It had been a month, and Marian was starting to feel a bit better and more confident. She still couldn't even walk by the library. Mr. Johnston had been arrested and sent off to Des Moines for a trial. But recently, Marian hadn't been feeling well. At first, she thought she had eaten something that disagreed with her, but when it didn't clear up right away, she assumed it was a stomach bug. But it had been too long, and Mrs. Paroo insisted on a visit to the doctor. Even with the circumstances, neither of them had expected the answer they got. Marian knew what the doctor would say as soon as he asked her if she was married. Now, thanks to Mr. Johnston, single, fourteen year old Marian was expecting a child. And to make matters worse, the doctor informed them that teenage pregnancies had a low survival rate for the mother and even lower for the baby. Even if by some miracle she and the baby both survived, she couldn't raise a baby. She was still practically a child! That night she cried herself to sleep. It was so unfair. Why did all of this have to happen to me? What did I do to deserve this?

By some miracle, nine months went by with little complications. There were a few scares, and once when Marian thought for sure that she was losing the baby, but now here she was, screaming for the whole town to hear, with Mrs. Paroo holding her hand and trying to comfort her. She had avoided going out in public once she could no longer hide her pregnancy with corsets, so no one knew her secret. Once again, she made it through by some miracle. She now had a daughter, and even though she couldn't keep her, she still panicked when the midwife said the girl wasn't breathing. She went into damage control mode, and somehow got the baby breathing. When the baby was returned to her mother, Marian started to cry.

"Mama, why did this happen to me so young? Now that she's here, seeing her, I wish I could raise her, and keep her. But there's no way I can."

They gave it a few days, but Marian could only stay hidden away for so long. Mrs. Paroo had talked to a friend of hers, Linda Locke, the Constable's wife. She was always saying that she wanted a daughter, but so far, she had been unable to have children. Mrs. Locke agreed to take the baby in, whom Marian had named Clara, and keep her true identity a secret. Marian couldn't bear to do it herself, so Mrs. Paroo brought Clara to the Lockes. That day, Clara Paroo became Clara Locke, and Marian Paroo was forever broken.

Over the years, things changed. A year or so later, the Lockes finally had a child, a son named Harry. Harry became the center of attention and Clara was an afterthought. Marian had finally started working at the library again, and she now had a second job as a piano teacher. She didn't have many students, but to her delight, when Clara was five, she asked to take piano lessons. They grudgingly agreed, and so Marian got to spend one afternoon a week with her daughter. When Marian was twenty, shockingly, Winthrop was born. She never expected to have a sibling, especially one with such an age gap. And even though she loved her little brother, sometimes being around a baby was heartbreaking. As Clara grew older, and her family grew more and more neglectful, she made an effort to be even closer with Marian. She popped up at the library all the time, and she even started coming around the Paroo house outside of her lessons. Clara adored Winthrop and his cute little lisp. Then came 1910. Clara was thirteen years old. The Spanish Flu was ravaging the globe, and it made it's way to River City. Thankfully, not many people fell ill, but those who did all died. Mr. Paroo was one of the first to contract the illness, and he was the first death. It seemed fate's sole mission was to keep Marian miserable for the rest of time. The day after his death, there was a knock on the door. Marian almost didn't answer it, but she did, and she found Clara at the door. She was holding several pink carnations tied together with a ribbon.

"Miss Marian..." Clara didn't seem to know what to say. Marian found herself losing what little restraint she had. She couldn't stop the tears once they started, and she pulled Clara into a tight embrace. Even in the midst of such grief, Marian found herself comforted by being able to hold her daughter.

Marian finally paused. She didn't know when she'd started crying. She had been watching the water running under the footbridge the whole time, but now she finally looked up at Harold. She was sure she'd see disgust or hatred or something similar, but instead she saw that he was holding back tears.

"That's why you were so hesitant to trust me...oh my God..." Marian felt her heart lift.

"You-" but he cut her off.

"If you're going to ask if I still love you, I can tell you with full confidence that I love you even more then I did ten minutes ago. To go through all of that, and still be as amazing as you are, you must be the strongest, bravest woman in the world." Marian was so delighted and so full of love, that she almost didn't notice the sound of a branch cracking. But she did. She turned to look at a nearby bush, expecting to find a young couple, but instead she found...

"Clara?"