Chance Is A Fine Thing - Chapter 2
As they arrived inside the restaurant, one of the gentlemen at the front desk called out. "Maria? I thought you'd left. What are you doing back?"
Maria quickly answered, "I did, John. But I just bumped into an old friend from before the war. We'd like to get something to eat, if that's alright."
"Sure," John replied. "I'll show you to a table." He took their coats and Georg's hat then escorted them into the dining room. It was crowded with many tables already occupied by couples and groups having dinner.
Georg looked questioningly at Maria as they followed John to their table, wondering how the waiter knew Maria. She explained. "This place has live entertainment in the evenings," she gestured towards the stage where a young man sat at a grand piano playing pleasantly, "and I work here as a singer."
"A singer? Well, I'm sure you're very good at it. I remember you had a lovely voice." Maria blushed slightly at the compliment.
John handed them some menus as they sat down. "So what do you recommend here?" Georg asked Maria.
"Anything, I suppose," Maria replied, "although English food isn't quite Austrian food, I'm afraid. More bland, I think."
"I agree. Something about bangers and mash that isn't quite up to the standard of a delicious wiener schnitzel," he laughed.
Georg perused the menu for a few moments before the waiter returned. Georg quickly ordered his meal with a glass of wine. His eyebrows raised slightly as Maria smoothly also ordered a large glass of wine for herself to accompany her apple pie for dessert. Seeing his curious look, she commented rather frankly, "Georg, yes, I drink wine now. I'm not the naïve, young postulant-turned-governess you knew back in Salzburg anymore."
"I can see that," he replied pleasantly. "There's nothing wrong with it, I was just surprised, that's all. But if you enjoy wine, perhaps we should get the bottle?" Maria nodded in agreement as Georg half-raised his hand in the air to call the waiter back over to tell him his request.
They sat there in an awkward silence for a minute or so before Maria asked Georg more about his trip to London. Georg started to tell her about the challenges of settling the Whitehead Estate and the many business meetings that he'd had to attend over the past month or so. He also told her about the tedious task of sorting through the many possessions that his late in-laws had and deciding what to keep, what to store and what to throw out. It had been quite a mission.
As Maria listened to Georg speak, she couldn't help remember the many evenings back at the villa where they would talk. Each evening, she would venture down to his study to give him an update on the children, assuming that their nightly meeting would only be a short five to ten minute event, but once they'd started talking, their conversations would often go on for hours, sometimes into the early hours of the morning. It was so easy to talk to Georg. It was during those times that she had gotten to know Georg very well and each day she'd longed for the evenings to come, just so she could spend time with him. After fleeing the villa the night of the party and the revelation afterwards at the abbey about her feelings towards Georg, Maria had realised just how much she had fallen in love with him during all those conversations. And now listening to Georg talk again, it brought back all the feelings for him that she'd fought so hard to get over once she'd left Salzburg. It was quite overwhelming. Maria had to keep reminding herself that it had been such a long time ago and so much had happened in her life since then and she had moved on, as had he.
Just as Georg was finishing telling her about his business in London, the bottle of wine arrived. Georg poured her a glass of wine. "So tell me," he began as he poured another glass of wine for himself, "your English is very good. I never realised you were so fluent."
"I wasn't, not really. I knew a few phrases here and there; just enough to get around, but coming to England really forced me to learn English quickly. As you saw before, German-speaking people are not well received, especially now after the war." Georg nodded, remembering the shocked reaction he'd gotten outside the restaurant earlier when he had inadvertently spoken in German. "But I did have a lot of help to learn the language, especially from my hu…" Maria caught herself, "er, from my friends that I'd met here."
Georg didn't appear to have noticed her almost slip of the tongue as he continued with his questions. "So, how did you come to be England? Have you lived here long?"
Since she had somehow gotten through the questioning about her hasty departure from the villa that night, Maria felt more comfortable talking to Georg about what had happened to her afterwards and their relaxed conversation together so far that evening had also put her at ease.
"Well," she began as she took a sip of her wine. "After I left the abbey, I needed a change so I left Salzburg and travelled to Innsbruck. Reverend Mother knew a family there who needed a governess for time and so I stayed there until the Anschluss happened. As you know, Austria as we had known it was no longer and with the German occupation, it didn't seem safe to stay anymore. Too many people were being forced to support and serve the Nazis or being persecuted." Georg nodded in agreement, knowing exactly what it had been like in Austria just before the war.
"So, I left Austria and tried to get as far away as I could. I travelled through Switzerland and then into France, working my way from place to place doing anything I could; from cleaning and cooking to seamstress work. It took a while but eventually I made my way here to London just before the war broke out."
"And you've been here ever since?"
"Yes and no. I now call London home, although I did spend some time during the war travelling through northern France singing to entertain the troops positioned there."
"You did?" Georg marvelled. "Maria, I am very much impressed." He smiled genuinely at her.
Maria shrugged. "I felt quite helpless at the start of the war. It seemed like the least I could do." There was more to the story, but Maria wasn't quite ready to share that with Georg yet, So wanting to throw the attention away from herself, she turned the conversation back to Georg. "But what about you? How did you end up in America?"
"Similar story to you in some regards," Georg began. "I had been concerned for some time about the increasing Nazi threat. Then once the Anschluss occurred, I received a telegram requesting I accept a commission in their navy and report to their naval base in Bremerhaven immediately. I knew instantly that to accept them would be unthinkable and to refuse them would be…"
"Fatal to you all," Maria finished for him.
Georg nodded. "Yes, exactly. So I packed up the family with just a few hours' notice and with Max's assistance with creating a diversion away from Herr Zeller, who had been assigned with escorting me to Bremerhaven, we fled Austria. The borders had just been closed so we drove up into the mountains and went over the border into Switzerland on foot."
"On foot? What about the children?" Maria asked, wondering how on earth the little ones would have coped with that.
"They were fine, although I did carry Gretl a lot of the way. She was quite heavy at times," he chuckled. "It took many days – over a week, I think by the end and it was difficult but we made it. Then from Switzerland, we travelled to England and stayed with the children's grandparents, the Whiteheads, for a couple of months. But wanting to make a fresh start, we decided to go to America. We had only just arrived when war in Europe was declared."
"It seems as we both were lucky to leave Austria when we did," Maria remarked as Georg finished his story. Just at that moment, the waiter brought Georg's meal and the two of them lapsed into a natural silence as he began to eat.
Maria sipped her wine as she pondered everything Georg had just told her. She couldn't imagine how hard it must have been for him to say goodbye and leave the homeland he held so close to his heart, not to mention travelling on foot across the mountains with the children to flee the country. She knew those mountains, she had grown up on them and crossing them on foot would not have been an easy feat. Maria also wondered how the Baroness had survived it all. She could barely imagine the Baroness in her high heels, her expensive couture dresses and coiffed hair hiking through the woods and over the mountains, let alone camping out in the wilderness. The very thought of it made Maria giggle inside!
But then Maria also reflected on how changed Georg appeared to be. When she had first met him, he was a disciplinarian and completely disconnected with his children and now he was pleasant, relaxed and speaking fondly of the children. She'd liked to think that she'd had something to do with his changed demeanour after witnessing his reconnection with the children following their argument by the lake. Yet, there was something else that she sensed in him as he talked: sadness perhaps? She didn't know.
Maria was so lost in her own thoughts that she hadn't noticed that Georg had stopped eating and was looking at her. "Why do you stare at me that way?" he asked.
Maria blinked and laughed, realising that she had actually been staring at him. "Oh, I don't know…" she flubbed trying to think of a cover story, "I guess perhaps I'm deciding whether or not I like the beard." Maria gestured towards his goatee. While it had been a bit of a surprise initially to see Georg look so different with a moustache and beard, Maria decided that it suited him and it, along with the salt and pepper colour of his hair, made him look even more handsome and attractive than before.
"Oh that," Georg chuckled and leant back in his chair. He gave his facial hair a bit of a stroke. "I thought it looked quite distinguished," he defended with a smile, "however, both Marta and Gretl hate it for some reason."
Maria laughed. "Oh dear Marta and little Gretl… although I suppose they aren't so little anymore. Please tell me, how are they? I do miss all the children."
Georg took a sip of his wine. "Ah, the children. Yes, all not so little now. Gretl and Marta: 15 and 17 years old now, both are still at school, although Marta will graduate later this year. Gretl is just as bossy as ever and Marta is still as sweet as she was as a little girl. She loves art and hopes to become an artist. She's quite talented, you know. Brigitta is at college studying literature, no surprises there," he chuckled. "She loves it and is always waiting impatiently to tell me about the latest book she's read or to discuss some important detail with me."
"Of course!" Maria smiled. "What about Kurt?"
Georg pursed his lips together playfully and raised his eyebrows at Maria. "What do you think Kurt might be doing?"
Maria gazed upwards and thought for a moment. "Um… something with food?" she guessed.
Georg roared with laughter. "You know Kurt very well, don't you? Yes, he's a chef. A very good one too. His food really makes this stuff," Georg gestured disdainfully to his meal in front of him, "taste like sawdust." Maria giggled. "Actually, he's been very helpful. Where we live in America in Vermont, we run a sort of guesthouse: a lodge where people come to stay and he works to cook for all the guests. Everyone raves about his food, they really do." Georg paused to take another sip of wine. "Umm, who else? Ah, Louisa. After she finished school, she took some time to work out what she wanted to do. I suppose she couldn't quite find a job that specialised in catching bugs and playing pranks on people." He smiled. "But after a while, especially with living through the war, even all the way over in America, she decided that she wanted to help people and so she trained to be a nurse. Louisa has been working in one of the nearby rehabilitation hospitals for returned soldiers."
Maria was amazed that the young girl she'd known who took pride in terrorising people with pranks now found her calling helping people. "I'm very proud of her," Maria beamed.
"I am too," he replied. "And recently, she's been seeing a young man and they've just announced their engagement. They will be married at the start of the summer."
"That's wonderful!" exclaimed Maria. "You'll have to pass on my congratulations and best regards."
"I will. Liesl's married too, you know. Has been for about 5 years now. She and her husband, Thomas, live in a small house on the other side of the lodge. Close enough to come across to eat some of Kurt's fine cooking but far enough away that they have their own space. And…" Georg paused and retrieved his wallet from his jacket pocket. He opened it and pulled out a photograph and handed it to Maria. "I am a grandfather," he announced proudly.
Maria eyes widened and she looked at the photograph in her hands. It was a picture of two little children, the older girl looked around 4 years old and the younger, about a year old. Maria felt proud of the woman, and now mother, that Liesl had become. "Liesl has two little girls," Georg told her pointing to the photograph, "That one, the eldest, is Agathe. She was named after Liesl's mother, and the little one here is called… Maria."
Maria's instantly head shot up and she stared at Georg in surprise. "W-what?"
"It seems you made quite an impression…" he explained softly and Maria felt this strange sensation come over her. She was touched by the simple gesture that Liesl had made with naming her daughter after her. It was very special and she felt humbled by it. Maria didn't know quite what to say. She felt her eyes well up as she gazed down at the little girl in the photograph who was her namesake. After a minute or, so she handed the photograph back to Georg. "You're very lucky, Georg, to have such a lovely family."
While she hadn't said much, Georg could see how moved Maria was, as he had been when Liesl had introduced her youngest daughter to him. He knew just how much Maria had meant to Liesl, and to all of them.
Maria tore her eyes from Georg's and wiped a lone tear from her cheek with the back of her hand. She looked down at her untouched dessert which had arrived while they had been talking then poked it aimlessly with her fork, moving the food around the plate but she didn't make any attempt to eat it. Still keeping her eyes fixed downwards, Maria finally cleared her throat. "And Friedrich? How is he? You haven't said anything about him yet."
Georg's mouth went dry. When they had started talking about the children, he had known that this moment would come and he had been dreading it. He tried to speak but no sound came out. And when he didn't reply, Maria looked up at Georg again. The pained look on his face tore at her heart and instantly she knew. Her heart thudded wildly in her chest. "No…. it c-can't be…" she stammered, hoping that it wasn't true but Georg nodded slowly.
Maria felt a couple of tears run down her cheeks and she swallowed against the hard lump that had formed in her throat. "Oh dear Friedrich… What h-happened?" she croaked. She pulled out her handkerchief and dabbed it to her eyes.
Georg closed his eyes and braced himself. He had never been very good at expressing his emotions and talking about Friedrich still brought him so much pain but he owed it to Maria to tell her what happened. "As I told you earlier, we fled Austria and arrived in America just as war broke out in Europe. I tried to shield the children from all the news from the war front as we settled into our new life. Yet Friedrich was desperate to keep up to date with any and all news on the war. He was still very passionate about his homeland and was angry with Hitler and the increasing Nazi dominance throughout Europe. But when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour and the USA declared war, that was it for him. He wanted to sign up as soon as he was old enough. Although I knew the dangers and horrors of war, having served myself, I did understand his passion and how he wanted to prove himself as a man, so I allowed him to enlist. After a brief training period, he was sent over to Europe and he served there for the next year or so."
"And?"
Georg paused for a moment to collect himself. "Friedrich was killed in early March 1944 by enemy soldiers while out on patrol. The day we received the telegram…" he closed his eyes as the memory of that day flashed before his eyes. "We were all devastated."
Now she understood why she'd sensed a sadness in Georg earlier when he spoke of his family. "I'm so sorry Georg," Maria told him, placing her hand tentatively on top of Georg's. He took it in his own and squeezed it, then he pulled away.
"Anyway," Georg cleared his throat. "Somehow we all managed to pull through it as a family. It helped that Liesl had just given birth to baby Agathe as it gave us all something else to focus on. And as time has gone by, little by little, the loss of Friedrich becomes a bit easier. Except, of course, occasions like Christmas or his birthday, and then it is especially hard." Georg looked Maria directly in the eye. "But something that you taught me was that you can't shut all the memories away and pretend like the person didn't exist. I did that once, when the children's mother died and I tried to ignore anything that reminded me of her, even the children! But that was so wrong. And you helped me to realise that and reconnect with the children all those years ago. So now we try, all of us, to remember Friedrich always."
"I understand," said Maria softly, "and I know how you feel." Maria somehow knew that this was the right time to tell Georg of her heartache, the secret she'd been keeping from him.
"You do?" asked Georg in surprise.
"Yes, I lost someone too."
"Who?"
"My husband."
"Your husband?" Georg repeated in disbelief. Maria hadn't mentioned she was married, and he glanced down at her hand. She wasn't wearing a ring. He was puzzled. But then he noticed, for the first time, a simple gold band hanging from the chain around Maria's neck. Almost like a reflex, her hand gravitated to it, her fingers fiddling slightly with the ring as she spoke.
"Well, my late husband," Maria corrected. "Bill. He was killed at Dunkirk."
"I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"How could you? I never said."
"Why didn't you?"
Maria didn't answer right away. She supposed that when she'd first run into Georg earlier that night, she had felt wary of revealing too much about her life after she'd left Salzburg but also she hadn't felt ready to tell Georg about Bill, especially since Georg had thought all this time that Maria had become a nun. She could have hardly imagined the conversation that may have followed: Oh yes Georg, guess what? Not only am I not a nun, but I was also married and am now a widow. Surprise! Ha! She thought to herself. No, surely she couldn't have blurted that it like that. "Oh, I don't know," she finally answered in a soft voice. "It was so long ago now."
"Yes, but even still… you could have told me," replied Georg. Hearing the sincerity in his voice, Maria felt bad about keeping such an important part of her life secret from Georg, even if her reasons for doing so initially felt valid. "I'm sorry," she told him.
"Will you tell me a bit about him now?" Georg asked her gently.
Maria nodded then she began to tell Georg of how she'd met Bill. It was just before the war. They'd met on a cold London street in the middle of a thunderstorm. He had, quite literally, swept her off her feet as he'd caught her when she'd slipped on the wet pavement. Young, handsome, funny and sweet: Bill had been the perfect recipe to heal Maria's broken heart. He doted on her and very quickly, Maria fell totally in love with him. And after only a month, Bill had proposed. Maria had wept as she said yes and she had felt happier than she'd ever felt in her life. A few weeks later, they were wed and life was bliss. But then war broke out and, like all other young men his age, Bill felt it was his civic duty to enlist. For the next few months as he was training in England, they only saw each other sporadically whenever he was on leave.
But then Bill was called to the front line. She never saw him again.
As Maria recounted the day she received the telegram informing her of Bill's death, Georg couldn't help but be reminded of the fateful day they'd received news of Friedrich's death. And while the circumstances surrounding each death and the person were different, they understood each other.
Georg shook his head slowly and sadly. "There seems so much that I don't know about you, so much that you've done in the last ten years… left the abbey, married then widowed and your time at the war front singing for the troops…"
"Well that really came about because of Bill, you know."
"Oh?"
"Yes," Maria explained. "After he died, I felt at such a loss that I knew I needed to do something. Bill always loved to hear me sing, it brought him such joy and he always said that my voice would cheer anyone up and that he missed it when he was away. So when the opportunity to perform for the troops came up, I sort of jumped at it. And it made me feel better to think how pleased it would have made him."
"It sounds like you loved him very much," said Georg, feeling a twinge of heartache at the thought of Maria being in love with another man.
"I did, and I still miss him very much, even after all these years."
"Did you have any children?" he asked gently.
"No," Maria replied sadly, chewing her lip. "I had been pregnant once but I lost the baby quite early on, and then Bill died and so..." she paused. "It's one of my big regrets, not having that child because I would have at least had something, or someone from Bill to hold onto after his death. But I suppose it wasn't meant to be." Maria wasn't quite sure why she was being so open with Georg when she'd initially had felt so guarded about her life, but he made it so easy to talk to him and she felt like she could trust him.
Georg didn't quite know what to say, or what to do to comfort Maria. In the first year of his marriage to Agathe, she had lost a baby early in the pregnancy before eventually conceiving Liesl later that year. He still remembered holding a weeping Agathe as she told him of the miscarriage and the feelings of loss and devastation. At least Agathe had gone onto bore him seven other children, while Maria had none. There were no words to describe the sadness that he felt for her.
"Did you ever re-marry?" Georg asked.
"No," Maria answered with a finality in her voice. After nursing a broken heart now twice in her life, she hadn't wanted to commit to another relationship, let alone another marriage. Not that she hadn't had any offers. There had been many young men who had vied for her affections during the war, but she had rejected them all. She felt that her fragile heart wouldn't be able to take it if she were to have lost another man.
Wanting desperately to stop talking about Bill as the memories felt too painful, she reached for her glass of wine, which unfortunately was almost empty. She quickly finished it off then changed the subject. "Anyway, enough about me. You still haven't told me much about yourself. Apart from the children and your guesthouse in America, what else have you been doing? What about the Baroness? How is she?"
"The Baroness?" questioned Georg.
"Yes, since she isn't with you, I'm assuming she's with the rest of the family in America."
"No…"
"No? Did she come to London with you? I'm sorry, am I keeping you from getting back to her?"
"No, wait… Maria. I'm not quite sure what you're talking about."
"What I'm…?" Maria stopped and furrowed her brow. "The Baroness? You know, your wife?"
"My wife?" Georg repeated, not quite believing his ears. Did Maria think..? No, she couldn't…
"Maria, there is no Baroness…"
A/N: I have been absolutely blown away by the support for this story and my writing with all the lovely reviews and PM's. Thank you all so much. Please continue to review!