Disclaimers, acknowledgements, notes, warnings, etc: Please see Chapter 01.
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The Sound of Music Chronicles
Part I
The Twelfth Governess
Chapter 40
There is a first time for everything
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"Strong men can always afford to be gentle."
Elbert Hubbard
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"There is a first time for everything," he hissed, making his way towards the foyer once more.
The main trouble was that there had been too many "firsts" lately, and that was enough to make him uncomfortably edgy. The first time he was bringing a woman he intended to marry to meet his children. The first time he hired an unqualified young governess: the utterly inadequate, boisterous, impetuous and at the same time – as odd as it was - charmingly guileless Fräulein Maria. Now, for the first time, he would have to take back a few things he had said, and apologize to her.
It would not be pleasant, it would be a serious blow to his pride, but it had to be done. Georg von Trapp had an innate sense of justice, and was well known for it, even behind the enemy lines. At the same time, he was a man of strong opinions, and he was not used to apologizing, or taking back anything said before, for the simple reason that he rarely said or did anything without rationalizing first, without… strategizing. Whenever these two very prominent aspects of his personality clashed, he found himself in a deep, inner conflict.
It was definitely a conflict he was facing now.
He had not been his usual self when he clashed with the twelfth governess earlier. His passionate side had taken over completely. Unknowingly, the little Fräulein had pushed too many buttons at once, had kicked him where it hurt the most, notably when she had implied that he did not love his children. Had he behaved rationally – and gentlemanly - by allowing her to go inside and change into dry clothes, he would have had time to consider all the facts and regain full control of himself. But no, he wanted to lash out at her at that moment, while his temper still flared. He worried too much at the fact that he would be giving her an advantage, and he did not stop to think for a second that his own fiery temper would play against him, thus putting him in disadvantage.
The result was disastrous for both of them.
Indeed, she had said a few quite unforgivable things about him. Some of her accusations and name calling had been outrageous and utterly unfair, but part of it, as much as he hated to admit, was… true. He still did not think she was completely right, but she did force him to swallow the truth about certain things that were going on in his house and ultimately in his life. For that, at least, he would have to thank her.
Yes, she had hit her mark, while she gazed at him in a fashion he found disconcerting. Oddly enough, that too was another first. Never before he had seen a woman with such an unguarded expression, a face in which he read a wide range of emotions, some of which he doubted she was fully aware of herself. An anger top match his own, undoubtedly, but so many other things he did not wish to consider at the moment, emotions that he wasn´t quite certain how he would deal with in the future if he as much as dared to acknowledge them at all. She would certainly have no clue, the sheltered would-be-nun that she was.
Fräulein Maria, he discovered, was an open book - a very dangerous book.
On the other hand, he had been unfair to her, which meant that he should, in theory, make amends. If her eyes had been open and unguarded, he took care that his showed nothing but all the power of his fury.
Yes, he should apologize.
On the other hand, he wasn't at all certain he agreed with her methods, in spite of the results he had just witnessed. He still wasn't sure that if her personality was suited for the task of being a governess to his seven children. He was not certain that Fräulein Maria, with her rambunctious personality, would be able to help preparing his sons and daughters for what the society they lived in expected of them.
He paused, recalling his last thoughts for a moment.
"Rambunctious"! Dear God, he was running out of adequate words to describe Fräulein Maria and all her inadequacies!
Regardless, it had nothing to do with her background, her lack of social skills or, least of all, her non aristocratic ancestry. It was simply… her, and her romantic ideas about the world.
"Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens indeed," he thought, grimly.
Her methods, however, had decidedly worked. Somehow in that ludicrous universe she inhabited, the same universe he felt he was now being dragged to, they proved to be effective.
He had been bracing himself for the moment when the children would meet Elsa, uncertain as he was about their mutual reaction. He had no idea what to expect. He had never discussed the possibility of a second marriage with them. Elsa, on the other hand, was not used to being surrounded by children, at least not seven of them at once. To have his future bride accepting the children and vice-versa was essential for him to make the final decision about marrying her.
To his utter and complete dismay, after the initial shock, Elsa seemed genuinely charmed by the children. Whatever the little Fräulein had done or said to them, he had to admit, it had worked wonders, and he knew for certain that he would never be able to achieve the same result.
The truth was that now he needed her to stay for the moment. Seeing the governess before she left the grounds of the villa was crucial, even if he had to camp outside the door to the bedroom. Naturally he did not have to go to such extremes, when he knew she would necessarily have to use the main stairway before leaving.
It all happened just as he had expected. The only thing he had not counted on was to have Max in his tails. Elsa had been dragged away by the children who wanted to show her the kittens that had been born just two days before. Later he planned to talk to them about a certain rule concerning animals in the house, but at the moment, he was only glad that he had the minimum number of witnesses possible for the scene that would follow.
No, he did not expect it would be easy. She was a proud one, his twelfth governess; she would not concede him victory so easily.
He heard her first, her heavy running footsteps echoing down the hallways upstairs. He grabbed her guitar, which the children had left behind in the drawing room, and practically run to the foyer in order not to miss her, and this time, he was quick enough. When she came into view, he saw that he was indeed running, and had just begun descending the stairs, two steps at a time. His fingers tightened on the guitar.
"She will not leave without it," he considered for a moment, and the thought reassured him in one way or another.
"Stop right there, please!" he said briskly.
She startled, jumping back a couple of steps, looking down at him from somewhere in the middle of the stairs, in that same wide-eyed, disconcerting manner.
"I have a feeling you might be looking for this," he said with a little, apologetic smile, showing her the guitar.
Fräulein Maria did not smile back. Her wary eyes went from the guitar to him, then back to the guitar. Next, she frowned. Her right hand let go of her carpet back, which dropped to the floor with a thud. Her left hand clutched her bosom, as if she was half expecting him to demand some kind of ransom for her precious instrument. Even from a distance, he could tell that she was breathing heavily.
Indubitably, she was distressed, although she was trying her best to appear nonchalant, considering the look of defiance in her eyes, and the way she held her chin up. But her hands betrayed her, as usual – they were not joined together so tightly – probably to keep her fingers from fidgeting - that her knuckles were visibly white.
Fortunately, she was not crying, nor there were signs of unshed tears in her eyes. It was good, because he would not be able to deal with a sobbing governess – he'd had enough of those among the previous eleven he had hired. He found it difficult enough as it was now, with her looking composed like that, not only because he would have to apologize to her, but also because he felt the most absurd desire to… comfort her. It was an absurdly idiotic idea, because no matter how open minded about social different he believed himself to be, he knew that employers did not simply hug governesses whenever they felt like it.
"Indeed I was, Captain," she spoke at last, clearly making a supreme effort to keep her voice even. "Ehm… Herr…?"
Only then he became fully aware of Max´s presence behind him.
"Detweiler," his friend provided, casting him a cynical glance, which he answered with a cautionary one.
Georg carefully placed the guitar next to the door to the ballroom, feeling her eyes follow his every move.
"There it is, Fräulein. I will not take your music from you, if that is what you fear," he thought.
"Max, this is my children's governess, Fräulein Maria," he said, walking towards the bottom of the stairway again. "Fräulein, this is…" he hesitated, as his lips twitched into a half smile, "Uncle Max."
"H… how do you do?" she said, bowing her head slightly.
Now she seemed completely puzzled and bewildered, and it was obvious to him why. He had just introduced her as his children's governess, a scant hour after he had fired her in the worst possible manner.
"I am sorry I could not find the case," he said, glancing back at her guitar. "I know there is one, if I remember correctly."
"There is, but… I left it in the…" She rolled her eyes impatiently, as if chastising herself. "I left it in the gazebo yesterday when the children and I were rehearsing."
Only then he realized that, although her short hair was nearly dry, she was still wearing the same wet clothes she had on when she fell on the lake.
"Do you mind explaining the meaning of this?" he asked,