Chapter Six: Easy to Remember, Harder to Move On

It was startling to realise that Maria had been at the von Trapp villa for a month now; it felt like she'd been there so much longer than that. The first two weeks with just the children had simply flown by. And now it had been two weeks since the Captain had returned with his guests.

Today was her designated day off and she had just returned back to the villa after visiting Nonnberg. Every week she went on her day off and visited the sisters and other postulants. And every week she looked forward to it as she missed her home at the abbey greatly. However, today had felt different. While she still missed the abbey, it was more that she just missed seeing the sisters and not so much the life there. Maybe she had become to accustomed to the lavish life she was living here in the villa?

She had felt out of place at the abbey – more so than usual – and she had actually missed the von Trapp villa. When she had walked down the long road and finally reached the iron gates, her heart had lifted as she walked through the gravel drive and up to the large yellow house. It was obvious she was getting too attached to the children and a small part of her was starting to become concerned about what was going to happen when she left. Would she be able to visit? Could they visit her? Maybe? She didn't know.

She shook her head; it wasn't worth worrying about now anyway.

Wandering aimlessly around the grounds, Maria came across the large glass gazebo. The late afternoon sun was shining down on it, causing refractions of light to glitter along the green grass. Inside the gazebo she could see someone inside and as she neared, she recognised the Captain. He had his back to her, as he leant against a glass wall, and she could see he was reading.

She smiled to herself as she approached. After last week when he had shown her the library, she had felt like she'd managed to cross some kind of bridge with him. He was still quite surly, and certainly was quick to chastise her, but more often than not, Maria was finding that she quite looked forward to seeing him every evening.

It was like, for once, she had a friend. A friend that didn't judge her based on her background or status; someone that understood her. He treated her as an equal – well, most of the time. After all, she was the governess and he was the father. But it was… pleasant, the time they spent together.

Entering the gazebo, she walked up to the Captain and he immediately closed the book as he glanced up at her.

"Hello, Captain," said Maria, giving him a smile. "What are you reading?"

"Nothing," he said, his piercing blue gaze looking up at her. "How was your visit to the abbey?"

"Oh, fine," said Maria dismissively. She tried to push away the thoughts that had been niggling at her during her walk back the villa and instead focused on the book in his lap. Her smile grew wider as she saw the title. "Ah… Guinevere and Lancelot."

Georg glared at her as she sat down next to him. "Actually, King Arthur and the Round Table." He watched at she tried to contain the grin on her face by biting down on lower lip. He cleared his throat. "Knights and men and swords and so on."

"Mmm," said the governess, "still, it's a romance." Her face broke out into the smuggest smile at that and Georg felt that while she looked like the cat that got the cream, she still had this strangely innocent air about her.

"Fine, yes, it's a romance," agreed Georg begrudgingly.

"I thought there were better things to read than romance?" she asked, her beaming face leaning towards him.

Georg was hit by the sudden scent that wafted towards him as she leant closer. It was fresh and sweet, and it curled its way around his head, making it hard to think. For one wild moment he was suddenly gripped with the urge to bring her closer so he could inhale more of the tantalising smell. With her so close, he also noticed that her lips were a rosy pink and that the sun had brought out the freckles on her face. Another wild thought cartwheeled across his brain: he wanted to kiss every one of those freckles before capturing those lips. Would she taste as lovely as she smelled?

He blinked. "Uh," he said before clearing his throat. "Yes, well, I can't help if some books have a little nonsense in them."

"Mmhmm," was all she said as she turned her head away from him. "It's lovely in here."

"Yes," he said, glancing at the architecture. "It was here when we moved in. I used to come out here a lot and read."

He hadn't in years. He had loved to spend his time sitting in the gazebo, watching the way the glass created rainbows across the grounds when the sun hit it just right. During his leave, he'd spend time in the gazebo; he'd read, nap or even spend some quality time during the summer nights with Agathe. It felt like a lifetime ago.

"Sounds nice," said Maria, casting a glance towards the Captain.

He was staring off into the distance, a slightly dazed look on his face before it disappeared, the mask slipping back in place once more. There was a comfortable silence until it was broken by Maria's stomach grumbling.

She laughed. "Sorry, I think I need to go see cook about some food."

"Mmm," muttered Georg, "best you do, Fraulein."

Standing, she bid him goodbye before she left, turning once more to give him a small wave. He watched her walk away towards the house, the sun glinting off her halo of hair, until she faded from view.

Giving his head a shake and flexing his fingers, he tried to forget all the strange, but not unpleasant, images that had just managed to float into his head while she had been with him. Returning to his book, he tried to forget about the smell that seemed to have lingered and was trying to vie for his attention.

Later that afternoon, Max found himself utterly bored. Elsa had been off in town, seeing some friend or whatever, and Georg had been busy reading – a hobby Max had never been fond of. And, so, he was bored.

Max was your typical sponge; he took what he could get and soaked it all up, leaving not a drop behind – especially when it came to alcohol. And that was the main reason he had come along with Elsa. Of course, he did care for both his friends, but Max was a man of leisure and he liked to lead a lovely carefree life. Besides, it was usually quite entertaining with Elsa.

But, when Georg had ditched Elsa for whatever reason, he'd been irritated that his friend had disturbed the natural ecosystem of Max's little world. Elsa had been angry, in that frosty and dramatic way that women tended to be like, and it had began to interfere with Max's carefree lifestyle. Determined to sort it out – for the sake of his friends (and the money) – he'd made sure Georg had planned a lovely little get together for a few select friends in a private room at the Goldener for Elsa. It had been lovely, and Elsa had been the toast of the night. The fact that Georg had thrown in some extravagant jewellery (no ring, though) had been a bonus.

However, he had still been determined to find out the real reason for Georg's absence in the first place. And happily, the answer to his question was about to be answered.

Strolling across the foyer he saw the young governess casually walk out of the library, a tower of books hiding the top half of her slim frame. Curious, he'd approached her.

"Fraulein?"

The girl turned, slightly startled, which caused a few books to tumble down. He hastily picked them up for her.

"Here, let me help you there!" he said and began to follow her up the stairs, towards the schoolroom.

"Oh, thank you, Herr Detweiler," she replied, giving him a smile. "I think I got too greedy there. Too many books to choose from!"

"Yes, indeed," he said. "And, please, call me Max."

"Oh, well, please, do call me Maria," she replied as he opened the door to the schoolroom.

She gave him another large smile as she deposited the books on a small table at the back of the room. Max hadn't really paid much attention to her since he'd arrived; she'd just been this somewhat small, nymph like creature floating around with the children. He was certain she couldn't be that much older than Liesl and his mind had just kind of lumped her in as a child herself. However, now that he came to look at her, he realised that was she was actually fairly attractive.

Her blue eyes were warm and large, just like the smile on her face. She was built like some woodland fairy with her strange haircut and long arms and legs. But she was certainly no child that was for sure.

"How did you get into the library?" he asked.

She gave a small laugh. "Oh, the Captain showed it to me the other night. And he said I could borrow books whenever I liked."

Max's brow furrowed. "What night?"

"I think you were out with the Baroness?" the governess said as she began to sort through the books. "It was a few nights ago. Last Tuesday? Wednes- no, definitely Tuesday."

Max felt his eyebrows rise and stay somewhere near his hairline.

"So," Max said slowly. "You were with Georg that night, in the library?"

She nodded, glancing up from the books. "Yes. We were in there for hours! It's huge! I've never seen so many books in my life." She shot him another lovely smile. "The bookshop in town could fit in there a million times over-" The woman laughed. "Okay, maybe not that much but you get what I mean."

Nodding, the dusty wheels in Max's head began to turn in thought. So, Georg spent the evening… talking with the governess? About books?

How dull.

But! It mustn't have been. Max tapped his chin thoughtfully, and after excusing himself to the governess, slipped downstairs and headed for the kitchen. If he was going to do this much thinking, he was going to need a snack. One thing for certain though, he was not telling Elsa.

It was nearly two in the morning but Georg was walking silently and swiftly down the dark corridor towards to the west wing off the house. He turned down a dark hall until he reached the door to the attic. Fumbling for the key in his robe pocket, he managed to unlock the door before he walked up the stone steps and pushed through another door and into the attic.

It was hard to see much in the darkness on this cloudy night, but he refused to turn on the light. He knew where everything was anyway. And he didn't really want to see anything. He knew it all. Every detail. No matter how hard he had tried to forget.

It was guilt, and shame, that had brought him up here. He'd woken in the middle night because he'd dreamt, dreamt of things he dare not speak of. It had started out innocently enough. He'd been back in the gazebo, the summer sun streaming through the glass windows. And then Fraulein Maria had come along, smelling of sunshine and sweet roses.

Without a thought, he'd brought her face closer to him to he could bury his head into her neck and inhale the intoxicating scent that had plagued him for the rest of the day. And then it had all gone from there. The thoughts he'd had earlier in the day had apparently stuck with him and the next thing he knew he'd been kissing every inch of skin he could reach. The way she had moaned and writhed had done nothing but urge him on and before he knew it, he was awake in his bed with sweat covering every inch of skin and the painful stab of arousal calling out for his attention.

How could he? What about Agathe? What about Elsa? If anyone, he should be thinking of her. Not the damn governess. And if not her, then at least his wife. He had needed a cold dose of reality and a shower had not been enough. So, he had shrugged into some pyjamas and a robe before he'd made his way towards the attic. Trying to find some sort of solace in the memories. Trying to ground himself.

Maybe it was just a one off and it wouldn't happen again? He hoped so.

He was distracted from his thoughts when the moon managed to emerge from the clouds and shine some light into the room. It glinted off a dressmakers mannequin located at the back of the attic. The mannequin wore Agathe's wedding dress. Swallowing hard, Georg approached carefully. Once he was a foot away, he realised both his hands were balled into fists.

No, he couldn't do this. It was one thing to open the library but this, he couldn't stomach this. He didn't want to deal with it – he couldn't. Not now.

Releasing the breath he didn't know he'd been holding, he turned sharply and hurried out of the attic. Completely forgetting to lock the doors behind him.

A/N Thank you for the reviews! Especially to guests since I can't reply. It's really fun mashing the two stories together. And Elsa is so fun to write as the 'evil villain' in this one – I usually write her a lot differently.

I will be leaving for Japan (yay!) on Wednesday (so Tuesday for you USA peeps) and will be gone two weeks so I probably won't be updating for a while. But I wanted to post a chapter on this one before I left :)