Chapter Four: Days in the Sun
While Georg enjoyed being right, he had been utterly livid to discover that his children hadn't been following his carefully constructed schedule at all. He had returned home to find no children – according to his housekeeper they were out with the governess on an unauthorised excursion. And so now he was feeling completely ridiculous in front on his two guests because his children were not where they should be.
When he had finally heard the unmistakeable sounds of his children, seen them row into view on the lake and then proceed to tumble into the water his anger had skyrocketed. It had been utterly embarrassing to have Elsa meet his children for the first time in some old rags that looked like something out of a nightmare. And the governess! Georg seethed as she continued to witter on and on, her eyes a fiery bright blue. The woman – part of him had duly noted her soaked appearance and he so certainly could not find it within himself to call her a girl – was clearly unfit to look after herself let alone seven children.
As soon as the governess said the children had been wearing old drapes, the last tiny thread of Georg's composure snapped.
"You mean to tell me that my children have been wandering around the neighbourhood in some old drapes?" he asked, his voice failing to hide his fury.
The woman simply gave him a ridiculously bemused smile. "Yes, they've become very popular. Everyone smiles at them." She gave him a pointed look and continued, "They say, 'There goes Captain von Trapp's children. Don't they look happy.'"
"My children have always been a credit to my name," Georg spat back at her.
Maria was appalled. She had heard so many tales from the children – well, mostly the older children, about what their father had been like before their mother had died. But it was impossible to ever picture this man happy. She couldn't imagine him smiling. Or laughing. He clearly had no heart at all. Whatever sympathy she had felt for him before his return had disappeared quicker than Kurt's first meal of the day.
"Oh, but, Captain, they weren't!" Maria replied, her temper starting to get the better of her. "They were just unhappy little… marching machines!"
"I haven't heard them complain," the Captain said.
"They wouldn't dare. They love you too much," she continued, her voice rising. "They fear you too much."
"I don't wish you to discuss my children in this manner," Georg said.
"You've got to hear from someone. You're never home long enough-"
"I said I don't want to hear any more from you-"
"I know you don't, but you've got to!" the governess yelled, her blue eyes blazing.
Georg tried to tune her out but she kept going on, her voice getting louder and more full of feeling as she spoke. How dare this woman come into his home and tell him about his own children? She was going on about each of his children, as if he didn't know them at all. A deadly voice whispered in his head that she was right and he didn't know his children. He pushed the thought back into the recess of his mind.
"I don't care to hear anything further from you about my children!" he yelled, heading for the house. He had had enough - this nun was done. She can go back to that abbey and Georg would find someone else. Never in his life had he been so disrespected.
"I am not finished yet, Captain!" she yelled back at him.
He turned swiftly and shot back, "Oh, yes, you are, Captain!"
Maria blinked. Did he just call me 'Captain'? She couldn't help the smile that tried to pull at her lips as she watched him deflate.
"Fraulein," he amended. "Now, you will pack your things this minute and return to the abbey."
Maria felt her heart sink at those words and she watched wordlessly as he walked away. It was then that the sounds of the children's singing floated across the terrace and down the stairs towards them. The Captain paused and turned to face her once more.
"What's that?" he asked.
"It's singing."
He sighed. "Yes, I know it's singing. Who is singing?"
"The children."
Georg stared at her. "The children?" he repeated.
Wordlessly he headed back inside, leaving the dripping wet nun outside on the pavement. As he paced into the house and saw the sight in front of him, he felt his throat go dry and his chest ache.
He hadn't heard that song in so long. He remembered, with painful clarity, the many times Agathe had sung that song to the children before bed. He could see her so easily standing over Liesl's crib as she softly sang to their little girl. The memory pierced him, the sharp stab of emotions gripping at his heart. It had been such a lovely memory, and he had forgotten all about it. How could he have forgotten? It was true he had wanted to forget; all these years that is what he had tried to achieve, either through drink, meaningless one-night stands or various hobbies. The memories had just been pushed aside, buried deep within him because he thought it would make everything all right.
Before he knew what was happening, he was singing along with his children. And their faces; he would never forget the looks on their faces. Or the way they had hugged him so tightly. It made his stomach turn to knots and his breath catch.
He'd been wrong, so very wrong. And he had to admit that for once he was happy to have been.
Maria had been overjoyed when the Captain had asked her to stay. The way he had apologised had been so sincere that she'd been unable to believe it was the same man who'd just been shouting at her just moments before. There had been something in his eyes. Whatever that something was it had made the small flicker of hope roar to life inside Maria's chest.
That night they had all retired to the parlour room with the children and spent the evening chatting away happily. The Captain was mostly pleasant despite his tendency to bark snapping remarks, to be fair it was mostly aimed at Maria and usually because one of the children had told him something about their lessons.
"Fraulein…?" came the questioning drawl.
"Yes, Captain?" answered Maria as she sat on the floor, braiding Gretl's hair.
Georg gave her a withering look. The girl had her shoes kicked off and her legs stretched out so Gretl could sit in front of her as she leant against the back of a couch that Liesl and Brigitta were occupying. She looked a bit like one of Marta's dolls, Georg thought. She'd changed out of the wet dress from earlier and was now wearing some summery pink thing that looked far too short on her – an unbidden thought remarked that this wasn't a problem.
"I hear you've been taking my children up mountains?" he asked, forcing himself to look at her face and not her legs.
The governess nodded. "Yes, sir."
"Please, Fraulein, do let me know in future if you have any excursions planned," he said as he accepted a drink from Max. "I don't think it's safe for them to be traipsing about a mountain. They could get lost."
"Oh, Captain, but that's my mountain, I would never get lost," she insisted, sending him a ridiculously large smile.
Georg took a sip of his drink and eyed her carefully. "Yes. But there are seven children, Fraulein, and you do not have eyes in the back of your head."
Maria sighed. She wanted to argue but she felt like there had been enough of that for one day already. "Yes, Captain. I'll make sure to ask first."
Saluting her with his drink, Georg turned his attention towards Elsa who had been busy nattering away to Max.
"Darling," said Elsa, placing a hand over Georg's, "Your home is just lovely. And your dear children are so kind. Did you see the lovely flowers they gave me?"
Elsa smiled as Georg nodded and made a remark to the children, telling them how kind it was to give her the bedraggled flowers. In her head, Elsa was seething. She did not want to be spending time with these blasted children. Georg had barely mentioned them during their courtship and now suddenly because of this damn governess he wanted to spend all his time with them? It was ludicrous.
Her gaze slid over to the so-called nun and mentally Elsa cursed her. When Georg had told her about the latest governess Elsa had laughed at the idea of some old nun looking after his children. But this was not some old nun. It was a girl. A pretty girl at that, Elsa admitted grudgingly. The girl was also wearing a short dress that had scandalised Elsa when she first seen the girl arrive back downstairs. It barely reached her knees. It was so indecent!
"Don't you think it's time the children went to bed, Georg?" Elsa said sweetly, giving his hand a squeeze. "It has been such a long day for them."
There were a multitude of protests at that but Elsa smiled as the governess got to her feet and started rounding up the horrible cretins together.
"Come on, children," Maria called, taking Gretl and Marta by the hand. "Time for bed. Say goodnight."
Maria smiled at the Captain and bid goodnight to his guests before ushering the children out and up the stairs towards their rooms. It had been a busy and exhausting day for sure. She'd fallen into a lake and been fired and rehired all in one day. After putting the children to bed, she retired to her room and changed out of the dress Liesl had let her borrow. All her other clothes were in dire need of washing after the many adventures her and the children had been having and her dress today had been her last clean outfit – until the lake had happened.
As she got into bed, letting the cool sheets envelope her, she smiled into the darkness. Today had certainly been an interesting one. And she was sure it wasn't to be last the interesting one either.
The next few days had passed with surprising ease and the Captain had requested Maria's to attend to his study every evening once the children were in bed. The first night Maria had been riddled with nerves, still feeling slightly off balanced since their argument outside the previous day. But it had all turned out fine, of course the man had clearly not changed because of one song - Maria wasn't that naïve. He had listened as she spoke but had occasionally interjected with a few remarks here and there. The meetings had been relatively short and so overall it had been nothing to worry about.
It had also become a custom after dinner to retire to the parlour room and over the past week Maria had noted how the Baroness had seemed slightly unimpressed with this turn of events. It wasn't Maria's place to judge, though, and of course the woman probably wasn't used to so many children. But it had been a little troubling. After all, Frau Schmidt had remarked that this woman could be the next Baroness von Trapp and shouldn't she then be spending time with the children? Maria had offered for the lady to join them on a picnic or two in the villa gardens but she was always too tired or too busy – what she did with her time Maria had no clue.
Maria shook her head, it wasn't her place or her business. She hadn't been paying attention to where she was going until she found herself in a corridor she didn't recognise. It was clear she had taken a wrong turn somewhere and found herself in the west wing of the house. Maria had been told by both the housekeeper and the butler that the west wing was off limits and she was to keep well away. She knew it was where the attic was, where all of the late Baroness von Trapp's possessions were kept and she knew she shouldn't pry but surely it couldn't hurt to just have a look?
As she continued down the long corridor she saw a door open at the end of the hall and a small figure hurry out and shut the door quickly and begin to lock it. Their back was to Maria but she instantly recognised that it was Brigitta.
"Brigitta?" Maria called out as she walked down towards her.
The girl visibly jumped as she turned around. The guilty look on her face giving her away almost immediately.
"Where does that lead?" Maria asked.
Brigitta sighed. "The attic..." She looked up at Maria and added, "Please don't tell Father, I don't want him to get angry. We aren't supposed to go in there." The girl paused. "It's where all Mother's things are kept. He locks it but…" She gave a little shrug and smiled awkwardly. "Well, he hides the key but he's so predictable so I usually find it. Then I just put it back."
"Oh."
"I know we shouldn't," the girl went on, "I mean, we normally only go in there when he goes away to Vienna but I like being in there." Brigitta sighed again. "It makes me feel closer to her. Gretl and Marta don't even remember Mother at all. I barely can, at least I think I can. Sometimes I forget what her face looks like. How could I forget my own mother's face?"
Maria had her arms around the girl before she had finished and she could feel the tears seeping through her dress as Brigitta cried. She let her hand run in soothing circles on her back until she calmed but in Maria's head her thoughts were running wild.
Those poor children had nothing of their mother's and so they had to sneak around just to catch a glimpse of a photo? She knew the children were happy to have their father back but she knew they were also scared it was going to wear off and there would be whistles and marching again. She couldn't blame Brigitta for disobeying her father. Maria had very little of her parents possessions, just her guitar and a small framed photo; anything of value had been sold by her uncle or chucked out. But at least she had something.
"Brigitta, I will try and talk to your father, I promise," Maria said, giving the young girl a warm smile. "Now you better go get ready for bed, I will be with you soon."
Brigitta nodded, giving Maria a watery smile as she did before she hurried back down the corridor. Eyeing the door, Maria began to walk closer until she was startled herself.
"Fraulein!"
Whirling around, Maria saw the Captain striding down the corridor, his face like thunder.
"What do you think you are doing?" he asked.
"Uh," Maria dithered.
"I'm certain Frau Schmidt told you this part of the house is off limits," said Georg, trying to keep a hold on his temper.
He hadn't been up to the attic in weeks. And lately, with everything that had happened with the children, he felt like he should go up there. But he had not expected to find the governess here. She should not be here.
She nodded. "Yes, she did, Captain, sir, but-"
"Fraulein," he said warningly. "I do not wish to have every conversation with you end in a shouting match." He sighed. "Please, I do not wish to see you in this part of the house again. Is that understood?"
"Yes, sir," Maria said.
"Good," he said with a small inclination of his head. "Now, I will meet you in my study in half an hour after you have seen to the children."
With a nod Maria left the man behind and walked down the hall back towards the nursery. She would do as she promised Brigitta, but now was definitely not the time. The man clearly had a problem with his temper – not that Maria could talk – and she didn't feel like baiting him. Especially after how well things had been going.
Making her way back towards the nursery, she made sure all the children were tucked in bed before she headed downstairs. She reached the study and took her usual seat across from his desk when she entered. She managed to wait for about five minutes before she stood up and walked behind his desk, peering at the assortment of model submarines and ships, books and other miscellaneous items that filled the shelves. Sneaking a glance at the clock above the small fireplace that sat nestled in a corner of the room, she saw that it had been nearly an hour since she'd seen the Captain and she idly wondered where he was – he was never late.
With a small sigh, she sat back down in her chair and let herself relax. Before she knew it, she was quoting Shakespeare – a habit she'd picked up to keep her mind occupied when she was bored or doing dull work. It had always irritated Sister Berthe but some of the other Sisters had always enjoyed listening to Maria. And it wasn't singing so she didn't need permission.
"'Love can transpose to form and dignity. Love looks not with the eyes but the mind and therefore…'" Maria said aloud and was startled when a deep rumble continued.
"'And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.'"
Maria blinked and turned to face the Captain, who was shutting the study door behind him.
"You're late," she said as he sat down in his leather chair.
"I told you to come earlier so I wouldn't be kept waiting for a change," said Georg, unable to help the smirk that spread across his face.
While Fraulein Maria had turned out to be quite the governess, she still seemed unable to grasp time keeping. He'd been tired of waiting for her every evening, though usually it was because the little ones had requested an extra song or story.
He was feeling marginally better after being in the attic. It had become a ritual of sorts, going up there. It wasn't clear whether he did to punish himself or to make himself feel better. Possibly, it was both. The memory of Agathe had been too painful to bear; it had been so much easier to push everything else away. To just become the commander again. But things had changed now. Because of the woman sitting in front of him. He was trying his best to make up for the terrible father he'd been. But it was still hard. To see Agathe's face in his children, to see her mannerisms, her smile. It wasn't getting easier but he was learning to deal with it better. To be able to enjoy seeing those things, instead of shying away from them.
"Oh," Maria said with a small smile. "Well, it worked." She paused and asked, "So, you know Shakespeare?"
He gave a small shrug. "I had an expensive education."
"Actually," Maria said with a small smile, as she took her usual seat across from him, "Romeo and Juliet is my favourite play."
The Captain scoffed and raised an eyebrow at her. "Why is that not a surprise?"
"I'm sorry?" Maria said, unable to hide the indignation from her voice.
"Well, all that heartache and pining and…" he waved a hand dismissively. "So many better things to read."
Maria let out a laugh of disbelief. Was he actually serious? The man who had locked his wife's possessions away and kept his children at arm's length because the memory of her was too much to bear was telling Maria that he had no care to read about heartache and pining? He was a Shakespearian character.
"Like what?" Maria asked.
"Well, have you been to the library?" he asked.
Maria shook her head, she hadn't realised they had a library. Most of the books used for lessons were kept in the schoolroom and the children had never mentioned there was a library. This house was just full of forbidden and secret rooms it seemed.
"It's usually locked," said Georg. "I keep most books in here and it was…" He paused, cleared his throat and continued. "I could you show you if you like?"
"I'd like that very much," Maria replied, giving him a small smile.
He opened a draw in his desk and pulled out a set of keys and walked over to the far side of his study. Maria had never noticed there was another door there and she followed him as he opened it. The Captain walked in and flicked on a switch, lighting up the room.
Maria gasped. The room was huge and every single wall was lined with books. Her eyes couldn't take in the details fast enough, and she felt her fingers twitch at the sight of so many books. The shelves spanned over two floors and Maria could see there was a large ornate fireplace on one side of the room where a few plush armchairs sat in front of it. There was one large spiralling staircase that led up to the second floor and the large windows that lined the room were letting in beams of moonlight. Next to the fireplace was a large circular table with a few chairs surrounding it where a large globe sat in the middle. Most of the furniture was covered in dustsheets but the room was still incredible and she was aware her mouth must have been hanging open but she couldn't help herself. She'd read nearly every single book in Herr Schreiber's little bookstore and that shop was miniscule compared to the size of the Captain's collection.
"Are you all right, Fraulein?" Maria heard him ask.
"It's wonderful," she breathed, turning her beaming face to his.
Georg couldn't help the smile that tugged at his lips. The sight of her face animated with sheer, unadulterated happiness was contagious. He cast a quick glance around the room.
"Yes, I suppose it is," he said, taking in the room. "If you like it so much, you're free to use it anytime you wish." He pointed towards another door. "That's the main entrance over there."
She gave him another one of her wholesomely charming smiles. "Thank you."
Maria walked over to the nearest shelf and let her fingers graze against the spines as she read the titles. She fervently wished she'd been able to be in here sooner, there was no way she was going to be able to read everything before the summer ended.
"Have you really read every one of these books?" Maria asked, returning her attention back to the Captain.
"Well, not all of them," the Captain said. "Some of them are in Greek."
Maria's eyebrows shot up. "Was that a joke?" A small laughed escaped her lips at his expression. "Are you making jokes now?"
"Maybe."
Another laughed escaped her lips and she gave him another puzzling look before she returned her attention back towards the rows of books. Georg watched as she occasionally pulled out a novel and gave a delighted cry of excitement before flicking excitedly through the pages. Before long she'd made a small pile on the large table and was already hurrying up the spiralling staircase to check the rest of his collection.
He let his eyes leave her and once more took in the room. He hadn't been in here in years, not since Agathe had left him. It had been one of her favourite rooms and he could so easily picture her half way up one of the ladders as she retrieved yet another fairy tale to read to the children. The memory made him smile and he returned his attention back towards Fraulein Maria, who was now up a ladder herself. The sight of her, mixed with his memory of Agathe, caused a strange sensation in his stomach and he quickly looked away.
The jolt seemed to make him realise that she'd managed to get him to unlock a forbidden room. She hadn't even asked him too, he had offered to show her. Why did he do this? He wasn't sure. Maybe it was gratitude? The children had been doing exceptionally well lately. They didn't complain (much) about their work and seemed to actually enjoy their lessons. It had occurred to him the other night that he had actually begun to enjoy the evenings he had spent with the governess.
There was the sound of her asking a question and Georg looked up to see her leaning over the top of the bannister on the second floor, flourishing a book in one hand. She was smiling still, that same beguiling smile that seemed to be permanently tugging at her lips. It wasn't until nearly two hours later that he remembered he was supposed to be meeting Elsa and Max in town for dinner. Part of him had been flabbergasted by his behaviour while the other hadn't been able to care.
A/N I used both the film and the stage musical for the rowboat argument.
Sorry this took so long, I work in retail and it's Christmas so I've been so exhausted I haven't had the energy to work on this one. Any spare time I have has been spent re-watching "The Nanny" haha