A/N:

What if the Captain, after breaking up with Elsa, waited another day or two to talk to Maria in the gazebo? A slight reference to another story, "In Vino Veritas".

My thanks to all of you who reviews for this story. And my special thanks to Mellie D. who helped me with the final touches, and also to another old time TSOM fan, Valouisa, for her priceless encouragement.

Happy reading to you all!

Disclaimer: I still do not own anything.

Joyful

And sorrowful,

Thoughtful;

Longing

And anxious

In constant anguish;

Skyhigh rejoicing

despairing to death;

Happy alone

Is the soul that loves.

Freudvoll und Leidvoll (Joyful and Sorrowful) – words by Goethe, Music by Franz Schubert. Transl. by Richard Morris

"Maria…"

She stopped where she was, unable to formulate another single coherent thought.

He called her Maria.

It had not been the first time, but somehow she knew this was different – that he was different. The first time had been up in the attic when she found him drowning his sorrows in too much wine, and she had always considered his casual use of her name a very understandable slip of tongue. Sometimes she even wondered if she had not imagined it, or even if he had realized what he had done. But she was definitely not imagining things now, this was real. Her name escaping his lips sounded like an answered prayer from God. She closed her eyes and took a calming breath, only to have her moment of peace interrupted by his statement.

"Elsa is gone. There is no Baroness."

"Gone?" Maria turned to him, a questioning look in her eyes, only to see his solemn face looking back at her. Then she remembered, "Oh, yes, Liesl told me she is back in Vienna for a few days, but when she returns" her voice cracked but she continued, "she will want to… you will… marry her! In September!"

Yes. He will marry her in September! So what is he trying to do to me?! The baroness has made it quite clear that the Captain was merely infatuated with Maria, whereas with the baroness it was right. It was proper, it was expected, it was….

"No. There is not going to be any Baroness," he repeated, stressing each word.

"There isn't?"

There is not going to be any Baroness.Maria tried to make sense of the words, but her thoughts scattered in every direction except the one she knew she had to take. Is she no longer a Baroness? Did she loose her title? How does a Baroness loose a title? But if she was going to marry the Captain, she would still be a Baroness anyway, because the Captain was also a Baron.

He walked past her into the gazebo.

"No," he answered simply.

"You´re right. I don't understand. Not at all."

"Well, we've, um - called off our engagement, you see, and, um…"

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said impulsively, simply because it was what people usually said in those circumstances. She still wasn´t able to think straight – her mind was hopelessly trapped between the moment in time when he had called her Maria and the moment he said that there was no Baroness.

"Yes. You are?" He sounded absolutely incredulous. He turned to her, looking into her eyes for the truth.

"Mm hmm. You did?" She looked at him in shock. Only then the full implications of what he was saying hit her.

Only then the full implications of what he was saying hit her. She briefly recited the conclusions in though, as if she he was explaining something to the children.

He called her Maria.

There was not going to be any Baroness.

The Captain and the Baroness had called off their engagement.

There was not going to be a wedding in September.

Then…

Maria was distracted from her thoughts again, because he was close, so very close now, as he circled her. His arm brushed against the sleeves of her dress. She looked up at him in utter disbelief.

"Yes. I don´t know what I was thinking when I proposed to her. I – uh – I think I was running away, just like you, only to a different place. You felt safe at the Abbey, I felt safe with Elsa. It was… easier."

Ask him, Maria urged herself. Go on – just ask him!

"Why – why did you change your mind?" Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"Why did you change yours? Why did you come back, Maria? No, don´t tell me it was only for the children. And don´t speak of obligations to fulfill."

She shook her head, refusing to answer before he did. "Please," she pleaded. Tears were forming in her eyes, but she refused to shed them.

"Well, you can't marry someone when… you're in love with someone else…" He was facing her now. Close, very close.

In love…

Blue. It was all she could see. His eyes were the purest blue fire under the moonlight. Blue, like the dress she was wearing. Another scene, not to long ago, flashed in her memory, at the speed of light.

""Now, where is that lovely little thing you were wearing the other evening when the Captain couldn't keep his eyes off you?"

"Couldn't keep his eyes off me?"

"Come, my dear, we are women. Now, let's not pretend we don't know when a man notices us."

"The Captain notices everybody and everything."

"There's no need to feel so defensive, Maria. You are quite attractive, you know. The Captain would hardly be a man if he didn't notice you."

"Baroness, I hope you're joking."

"Not at all."

"But I've never done a thing to…"

"But you don't have to, my dear. There's nothing more irresistible to a man than a woman who's in love with him."

"In love with him?"

"Of course. And what makes it so nice is that he think he's in love with you."

"But that's not true!"

"Surely you've noticed the way he looks into your eyes. And you know, uh, you blushed in his arms when you were dancing just now.""

"Can you?" he asked, intrigued by her brief silence, so softly that she barely heard him.

Maria shook her head, in awe or denial, or both, she did not know. But her dismay was all the answer that he needed.

He cupped her chin in his hand and pulled her gently toward him, with such care and restraint that the simple memory of that moment would be enough to bring tears to her eyes for years to come. It was her very first kiss, and he knew it. At first he merely brushed her lips with his, allowing her time to get used to the wondrous feeling. It wasn´t until he felt Maria´s hands on his upper arms that he deepened the kiss, just a little bit. He kissed her tenderly, gently, and, at the same time, pouring his heart and soul into that simple, most basic of all intimate acts between two lovers. The poignancy of it was almost too keen to bear. Maria let her head fall on his shoulder.

The glass walls surrounding them disappeared, as she fully accepted the only shelter she had ever wanted, had ever needed – his arms.

""Are you in love with him?"

"I don't know! I don't know! The Baroness said I was. She - she said that he was in love with me, but I-I didn't want to believe it. Oh, there
were times when we would look at each other. Oh Mother, I could hardly breathe!"

"Did you let him see how you felt?"

"If I did, I didn't know it. That's what's been torturing me. I was there on God's errand. To have asked for his love would have been
wrong. Oh, I couldn't stay, I just couldn't. I'm ready at this moment to take my vows. Please help me."

"Maria, the love of a man and a woman is holy, too. You have a great capacity to love. What you must find out is how God wants you to spend
your love.""

"G… Georg," she whispered, and he smiled at how easily and naturally his first name had come to her lips. He grazed his lips all over her face. He kissed her eyelids, her cheek, the tip of her nose. "C… could you?" He raised his head and gazed at her questioningly, lovingly. "Could you just… just hold me tight?"

His arms instantly tightened against her. "Would you like to sit down?"

"No, please. Just… hold me." As his arms gave her a tighter embrace, she closed her eyes. Dreaming – she must be dreaming. Such bliss did not belong to reality, at least not to real life as she knew it. She sighed contently against his chest. She could hear his heart beating… Yes, this was real. He loved her, and she was… her heart skipped a beat as she finally admitted to herself – she loved him.

"The Reverend Mother always says, "When the Lord closes a door, somewhere He opens a window," she burst out. She had to say something, she just had to. If she did not, she felt she would just melt into his arms, she would forget who she was. Somehow she knew that the day would come when she would wish to do just that, but it was all still too new. There was still much to be explained much to be understood before she fully abandoned herself to that wonderful new world he was showing her.

He smiled, and although she could not see it, she felt it. "What else does the Reverend Mother say?" he asked, forcing her to look at him again.

"That you have to look for your life… for the life you were born to live."

"Is that why you came back?"

Maria nodded.

"And have you found it, Maria?"

""My daughter, if you love this man, it doesn't mean you love God less. No. You must find out. You must go back."

"Oh, Mother, you can't ask me to do that. Please, let me stay. I beg of you."

"Maria, these walls were not built to shut out problems. You have to face them. You have to live the life you were born to live."

She smiled up at him, the tears making her blink. "I think I have." She looked into his eyes, and for the first time, allowed herself to see the love she knew was shining in them for her. They gave her confidence to accept God's will – to accept the life she was born to live. "I know I have."

"I love you."