Disclaimers, acknowledgements, notes, warnings, etc: Please see Chapter 01.

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The Sound of Music Chronicles

Part I

The Twelfth Governess

Chapter 34

Preparing a battle

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"It is by no means enough that an officer of the navy should be a capable mariner. He must be that, of course, but also a great deal more. He should be as well a gentleman of liberal education, refined manners, punctilious courtesy, and the nicest sense of personal honor.

He should be the soul of tact, patience, justice, firmness, and charity. No meritorious act of a subordinate should escape his attention or be left to pass without its reward, even if the reward is only a word of approval. Conversely, he should not be blind to a single fault in any subordinate, though, at the same time, he should be quick and unfailing to distinguish error from malice, thoughtlessness from incompetency, and well meant shortcoming from heedless or stupid blunder."

John Paul Jones

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Like a hawk, Max watched, as his good old friend, Captain Georg von Trapp disappeared inside the house. It wasn't until he could no longer be seen that he approached Elsa, cautiously, and with a very definite purpose in mind. If his friend was insanely affected by a certain governess – although he would not really believe it if he saw them together with his own eyes – then he wanted to know. Next, he would want to find out exactly how strong that attraction was – if merely sexual, then he would be sure not to meddle.

He knew the signs well and he hoped Georg had not changed so much in the last two and a half decades. He knew well how he used to act in the old days, before his marriage, when he was interested in a woman. There had been quite a few of them, and usually it did not take too much effort from the dashingly handsome Captain to achieve his goal. His first real challenge had been Agathe Whitehead, and it took him straight to the altar – well, that had been different, not only because he loved her, but because she had probably been the first young woman of a respectable family to catch his interest.

Now this new one should be interesting… The governess of his seven motherless children, young and a future nun.

In spite of the fact that he was yet to see the girl, he was certain that she was nothing at all like any of the women in Georg´s distant past. Yes, the time could not be worse, because now there was a chance that he would see him tie the knot with his best female friend – Elsa von Schraeder. Would a little postulant from the mountains be an obstacle to what, in Max's mind at least – could be the quintessential perfect union?

This should be interesting. Very, very interesting.

"Well?" he asked simply, his eyes gleaming with mirth and curiosity.

"Well, what?" was Elsa´s irritated answer. "As I matter of fact, I think that I should be asking you the same question. You have known him longer than I have. I know there are things he tells you that he would never tell me."

"You are hopelessly wrong about that, darling. The man is a sphinx. I have known only one person who was able to read his moods like an open book, and he was married to her for nearly twenty years." Max shrugged. "As for knowing him longer than you have, I have never been practically engaged to him. There are things, my dear that only a woman can perceive. I thought that you, of all women, would know that."

"Practically engaged?" she echoed dramatically, raising her perfectly shaped eyebrows. "Oh dear, dear Max!"

"Then tell me, darling. Have you made up Georg's mind yet? Do I hear wedding bells?" he asked, eagerly.

"Pealing madly," was the sarcastic response.

"Honest?" There was something about Elsa's exasperated tone, not to mention her sarcasm, which he did not quite like. It stopped him from believing her answer. Her next words surprised him.

"Yes, but not necessarily for me."

"If not for you, them for who else?"

"This is exactly what I´ve been telling myself, but sometimes I am not so convinced."

"What kind of talk's that?"

"That is "none of your business" talk, Max. I may be losing my mind, but I'll just say that somehow, and sometimes, he does act and talks like a man who is deeply in love but…"

"… not necessarily with you," Max guessed.

"Cruel, isn't it? Oh, I am starting to feel so desperate! I keep telling myself, that. "Elsa, if not you, then who else?" I almost convince myself when I do that, but there is always a little nagging doubt that… I don´t know. This has been torturing me ever since the day he arrived in Vienna."

"Well, in this case I think that…"

"Oh no. Don´t."

"Don´t what, darling?"

"Don´t think. Don´t do anything. As much as I would like you do actually do something, I rather you stayed away from this, you fiend! For the moment, at least. I'm terribly fond of Georg and I will not have you toying with us. He is a very complex man, you know. I could be wrong. I don't want anyone to do anything unless it is absolutely necessary."

"I see, but… You? When were you ever wrong about a man? A distinguished member of the male species? You always had them all wrapped around your elegant fingers. No, it is highly unlikely, darling. Come on! Let us be honest, you sensed something, so did I. What is wrong with sharing a little information with your best friend?"

Elsa glared at him. He decided to change his tactics.

"I'm a child. I like toys. So tell me everything." Elsa, however, only shook her head and still said nothing. He insisted. "Aw, come on. Tell Max every teensy weensy, intimate, disgusting detail."

"You are hopeless, aren't you? What will I get in return?"

"Information, darling. Valuable information. And help, if you need it and when you need it." When her eyes gleamed excitedly, he continued. "But…"

"I knew here had to be a "but" with you…"

"Elsa, you know well I owe that insufferable aristocrat enough – my life, to say the least. I can and I will help you – for as long as I am certain I will be helping Georg as well. That is my one condition."

"I know – it would not hurt your bank account either, would it?"

"Don't pout like that. You are far too beautiful to have wrinkles so soon. Now do tell Uncle Max what is wrong!"

The Baroness sighed, defeated.

"Well, let's just say I have a feeling I may be here on approval."

"Well, I approve of that. How can you miss? We both agree on one thing – if not you, then who else?"

"I can miss, and far too easily. Max, stop asking questions for which you already know the answers."

"I know nothing at all, but I know you, darling. And I also know that you will find a way."

"Oh, he's no ordinary man."

"Wah-ho, no, he's rich."

"Obviously, but the size of his assets has nothing to do with it… Oh please, don´t give me that look you devil, this is no time for your innuendos. When his wife died she left him with a terrible heartache."

"When your husband died, he left you with a terrible fortune."

"Oh, Max, you really are a beast!" she mocked, laughing.

"You and Georg are like family to me. That's why I want to see you two get married. We must keep all that lovely money in the family…"

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Captain Georg Ritter von Trapp leaned on the veranda's railing, his head bowed.

He felt suddenly… drained.

The children were still nowhere to be found, and the inquiries he had made among the servants did not provide him with information enough to set his mind at ease. It had taken him all of his iron control not to start bellowing that somebody better come forward tell him exactly where they were and what they were up to or else. However, he had guests in the house, and he did not wish their first day in Aigen to begin with witnessing his anger towards the help.

Oh yes, the children all adored their Fräulein already, that was made clear enough to him. The problem was that now, she apparently had contaminated other members of the staff also who also adored as well, with the possible exception of Franz, but the butler did not seem to like anyone. Frau Schmidt and Frau Poppmeier seemed to be completely smitten by the black sheep of Nonnberg for some ludicrous, inexplicable reason. That he was losing control of his own servants angered him beyond belief. His house was the closest thing to one of his ships he could think of, and if he could no longer command it…

No, he would not let that happen!

As if those worries weren't enough, he had just caught the courier in the act, as while he was throwing pebbles at Liesl´s window. As learning about the fact that his sixteen year old daughter had a love interest wasn't enough, to make matters worse, the boy had greeted him with a Nazi salute. Liesl had always been sickeningly naïve, even as a child, but a Nazi! That was too much for him to bear.

No, he was not having a good day. Arriving home unannounced had proved not to be such a good idea at all. Even Elsa's soft touch in his arm, and the gentle sound of her voice were not enough to sweeten his sour disposition.

"Hello?" she said melodiously, but he was still too angry to respond, too busy fighting his inner demons.

"You're far away. Where are you?" she insisted gently, whispering close to his ear.

"In a world that's... disappearing, I'm afraid."

Yes, it was all disappearing. He was losing the little control he had over everything in his life. Austria was disappearing, and with it everything he believed in, everything he once gave his life for. His servants did not look at him with quite the same respect for his authority anymore. His sixteen year old daughter was in love with a sympathizer of the Third Reich. And he could not stop thinking about… No, he would stop it – that, at least, he would be able to control. His thoughts, his emotions, were still his own.

Taking a deep calming breath, and focusing in his surroundings helped him, just a little. The contrast was staggering. Peace and tranquility all around him, nothing could be heard except for the sound of birds singing and distance voices of children playing on the lake, most probably the same urchins he had seen in that tree line… Those little ragamuffins who, for a mad splint of a second, he had even succumbed to insanity and considered that they could be…

"Is there any way I could bring you back to the world I'm in?" Elsa's melodious voice asked. She was now leaning closer to him and under any other circumstances he would have pulled her to him and…

… his children!

The children's voices were clearer now, coming nearer. No, not the educated voices he always wanted to associate with his well brought up sons and daughters, destined to be the cream of Austrian society. There was laughter, there was singing, and there was shouting. His children never shouted like that, did they? At least not anymore.

"I am going to wring her blasted neck, I swear I am," he cursed inwardly, jerking his head towards the lake. He no longer cared of he said those words aloud, he did not care if Elsa heard them at all, did not care what she would think of them if she did.

With every step, he recognized the sound of each of his children's voices, he recognized her voice. He practically ran to the gate on the shore of the lake that guarded the steps going into the water, where the rowboat used to be secured. The skiff, which had not been used for years, was now missing.

He cursed. Loudly.

He could only find a word to describe the governess's actions during his absence, her open rebellion against his orders and the fact that at least some of the servants had been dragged into her little conspiracy. That word was mutiny.

The Captain did not have to look very far to find the culprit, one responsible for such acts of insubordination – he merely had to raise his head and look to his left. The hand holding the riding crop went to his hip, as he scowled impatiently.

With Maria in the prow, the children rowed towards the house, singing at the top of their lungs, the ragged version of a song he did not recall ever hearing before, about "drops of golden sun" and other silly things, similar to the unlikely combination of "door bells, sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles" they had been yelling about the night before he left for Vienna. He was sure then – the same urchins that he had seen climbing trees were his sons and daughters.

He never knew which of the children spotted him first. It wasn't certainly their governess, for she sat on the prow of the boat, with her back to him, blissfully oblivious of the fate that awaited her.

"Papa!"

"Father!"

"You're home!"

They stood up and started to scream and wave. The boat began to rock precariously. Obviously their excitement did not go unnoticed by Fräulein Maria. Her head turned, her body followed much too quickly.

"Fräulein, do not…" he started saying between gritted teeth, even knowing that she was just too far away, and that the children were making too much noise, so that she couldn't possibly hear him.

She rose.

"… stand!" he finished, but it already was too late, bracing himself for what he knew was going to happen, what years and years of life at sea told him was inevitable.

"Oh! Oh, Captain!" she clasped her hands together, shouting, a cry of the most absurd joy, and he failed to understand, at that moment, why was she so damned happy to see him. "You're home!" she opened her arms wide, as if to welcome him, and completely lost her balance, falling backwards on the lake.

The children and their governess had broken the number one safety rule – if you must move on a small boat, stay low and do not stand unless you are sure it is stable enough. The boat capsized spectacularly. The children fell on the water in the portside of the boat, their governess disappeared on the other side.

He did not worry about the children at first. The lake was scarcely one meter deep, and they all knew how to swim very well. Well, Marta and Gretl did not, but as soon as he looked for her, prepared to jump in the water if necessary, he saw that Louisa and Friedrich had come to their rescue already. None of them were crying, none of them seemed to have been frightened at all by the experience. On the contrary, they were laughing wholeheartedly, spitting murky lake water as they sloshed around. It did not look as if they were in a hurry to leave the cold water.

"Come out of that water at once!" he bellowed, in his best Captain's voice.

He saw the governess them, with the corner of his eye, but still did not dare to look at her directly. If he did at the moment, he felt like his fury would be so great that she would be instantly fulminated, burnt to cinders before his eyes. He certainly never worried, at that moment, if she were able to swim. Fräulein Maria had indeed resurfaced, her short hair plastered to her head, and quickly grabbed the rope tied to the skiff, and began to drag it behind her towards the shore.

Furiously, he flung open the gate as his grinning, laughing children waded ashore. They looked silly – happy. In the back of his mind he noted that he had not seen his children like that in years, but he was too angry at that moment to give it another thought.

That was not how he had planned it. They should be in line, wearing their impeccably tailored sailor suites. They would be introduced by order of birth to his future wife…

"Oh! You must be Baroness Schraeder!" the Fräulein spoke, in the same absurdly joyful voice. If she had noticed his anger, she either chose to ignore it, or she simply did not care.

Turning slightly, he saw Elsa just behind him. Only then he noted her presence. To his horror, even her seemed to have succumbed to the madness as well – she visibly struggled not to laugh. She had to bite her lips to keep herself from doing so when his scowl deepened. Meanwhile, soaking wet, the children were climbing onto the terrace, talking simultaneously, thus breaking another one of the many rules he was trying to teach them to live by.

"I'm soaked to the skin!" exclaimed Louisa, laughing as he had never heard her laugh before. His Louisa, the most grim-faced, the most ill tempered of his children, laughing.

"What have you done with my children, Fräulein?" he wanted to ask.

He took the boatswain whistle from his pocket and with one blast, silenced the children's chatter. They looked at each other, uncertainly, not quite sure if they heard it well – then they rushed to their usual places in line and stand at attention.

"Straight line!"

Georg paced back and forth in front of his children, as if inspecting a troupe of unruly sailors. No, not even that. Men who chose to serve in submarines were considered a breed apart, even in the Navy. However, even the worst of the rascals he ever had to command did not have the power to provoke his anger like that.

He paused at Louisa and pulled that thing from her hair - a flowered, green scarf. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Fräulein Maria frowning, disapprovingly, and shaking her head.

"That is right, Fräulein, deal with it. If there is one thing I will not tolerate in my command is a mutiny. And this qualifies as one," he thought. His anger reached a boiling point when he gazed at Louisa's wet scarf in his hand and saw that it looked remarkably like… no, it couldn't be!

"This is Baroness Schraeder... " he said, smiling at Elsa. He knew it was a chilling smile, but he could not help it. Somehow, a little of his fury was directed at his future fiancée as well, for daring to find the whole incident… amusing. He turned to the ragged line of children again, and his smile instantly faded.

"… and theseare my children."

"How do you do?" Elsa greeted them politely, as if she were in her Viennese drawing room. Inwardly, he smiled – he would have expected nothing else from her. Now she was finally back to being the Elsa he knew, and that brought him some relief. A moment earlier, he had been crazy enough to think that she was about to join the Black Sheep of Nonnberg and his children frolicking in the water. Now, all he had to do was to fix it, to fix the damage the governess had caused, by hopelessly ruining what he wanted to be a perfect, first impression for the next Baroness von Trapp, their future mother. And he would begin by addressing the mutinous, anarchistic, insubordinate governess – that is, former governess of his children.

"All right. Go inside, dry off, clean up, change your clothes, report back here! Immediately! " he snapped. The children, by now recovered and reacquainted with his authority, scrambled into the house. Still frowning with disgust, their soon to be former governess followed them.

"Fraulein, you will stay here, please!"

She stopped cold where she was, her stiff back to him.

"I – uh - I think I'd better go see what Max is up to," Elsa announced, with melodious elegance. He could not help but noticing the contrast between the two females, as the Baroness, in her tailored, sophisticated suit, floated past Maria, in her plain, wet dress.

The governess turned around to face him. She did so bravely, and he could not help but admire her for that – braver men had cowered when he was in such a mood. He also noticed that she wasn't too keen on wearing a hat at all times – her face was a little sunburned, and there was a bridge of freckles across her nose. She said nothing, not a word, but only stayed her, waiting for his next move. Yet, something in her yes, a look of defiance, warned him that she would not give in easily, that she would prove to be as difficult as she ever was in the couple of times he had confronted her.

"She has nothing to lose and she knows it," he thought.

In that aspect, she was so very different from the previous governesses, and it made all the difference. Those previous women were working to support themselves, and that being the case, losing a job was no pleasant perspective, even though he always made sure to let them go with a generous cheque and a letter of recommendation. It wasn't the case with Fräulein Maria. She had a place to go back to, the convent, where she had planned to lock herself for the rest of her life, and, oddly enough, claimed to be looking forward to it. In fact, he wondered if he would not be doing her a favor by sending her away.

Facing his Nemesis, Captain von Trapp prepared for battle.