Disclaimer: I own nothing. The Sound of Music and its characters belong to their respective owners.

A/N 1: Whoa, this took long, I know and I'm sorry! Life got really busy but I'll admit I had a rather long writer's block and I was really unmotivated and uninspired to write. On top of that I got stuck with this story, too, for while I know where I'm taking it, some details had to be figured out as to how to get there. Since real life is a funny thing, I can't promise for sure that I'll be back with another update quickly, but the same thing could be said for my inspiration and I may get this overwhelming urge to work on it immediately. One thing is for sure, I appreciate ALL your feedback, you guys have been really awesome and I do NOT intend to leave this story unfinished.

A/N 2: Many, many, MANY thanks to foreverjulie for betaing this for me! It makes me feel so much better to know that everything I may have otherwise overlooked and the mistakes I wouldn't have caught myself were corrected. I try but not being a native speaker makes it a little hard sometimes. 3


CHAPTER 14

The sound of a splash was what grabbed the Captain's attention again. He had stared after Maria, momentarily lost in his thoughts, before Felix reminded him of his presence. The little boy's hands were wet and so were his cheeks this time, so Georg guessed he had just splashed himself in the face. With a chuckle the Captain approached his son, crouched down to him and gently wiped his face off with his hand.

"Careful there, Felix," he told him with more gentleness than he had been treating his other children lately. A pang of guilt shot through him momentarily, knowing he had turned inwards yet again. As much as he had vowed to be a better father, he failed them again. He was far from the overly strict and denying man he had turned into after Agathe's death, but he cursed himself for the coping mechanism he just couldn't shake. A man of his age, and with such passion, had a hard time changing his ways. Although he had learned from his mistakes, he had to come to the conclusion that he just couldn't change who he was. What he consoled himself with was the fact that he merely wanted to provide for his children, some of whom were practically adults by now. Especially Liesl.

He hadn't seen much of her lately and he knew very well the reason for it. He may have hardened in demeanour again but he did keep an eye on all of them. Liesl seemed lonely. As much as he despised Rolfe, he had to admit Liesl had feelings for him. Two years had passed but his daughter evidently carried the hurt with her, which he wasn't surprised about. That sorry excuse of a boy was her first love that she had lost. That wasn't necessarily an occurrence he felt sorry about, but obviously he didn't enjoy seeing his daughter suffer. And, of course, the one person who she could confide in and draw support from was dead, too. Or so they had thought. Of course Georg also realized Liesl may have been following the last advice her mother had given her. She was waiting. The Captain, surprisingly, didn't have to really bother with fending off possible suitors. Liesl was more beautiful than ever, yet never once had he caught anyone trying to sneak in. As it turned out, Liesl did most of the guarding herself and he was immensely proud of her. He still felt guilty for having asked her to lie to her brothers and sisters about Maria and he knew very well he owed her an apology. The truth was, he owed all of his children an apology.

Felix's undivided attention was what brought him back from his reverie yet again. The little boy found him utterly interesting, the ship was floating on the surface of the water all abandoned, while his son continued to stare at him. It wasn't the first time it happened yet it wasn't an unfamiliar occurrence to an experienced father of seven, either. Eight, he corrected himself. It broke his heart to admit that he was a stranger to his son. The boy didn't recoil from him, yet there was the kind of scrutiny in his eyes he knew was reserved for strangers. He smiled at him, endeared by the recognition that despite the resemblance to him, Felix had the same innocent and curious look in his eyes as his mother.

"Momma?" He finally spoke, looking around, trying to find Maria.

"Momma's changing," he told him, running his large hand through the boy's soft hair. "She'll be back soon."

Felix looked at him once more but this time the Captain couldn't decide if it was because he understood what he said or because he was unsure whether to cry or to carry on playing. Before any breakdown could have come about, however, the Captain grabbed his toy and held it up in front of him.

"The ship is missing its captain." Georg was delighted to see the gleam return to his eyes as his short hands rose to grab it from his father's hands. The toy was immediately back in the water and the Captain laughed when he noticed Felix dropped it in upside down. He turned it up and pushed it towards him.

"'ip… 'ip!" Felix cried, delighted, and Georg concluded it had to mean 'ship' in his son's very own baby language.

He couldn't help but wonder how different their life would be right now had that fateful night not separated them. His son was just as wonderful as the other seven children and his heart swelled from the thought that Felix was his love child with Maria. He imagined how idyllic, despite his heartache over having to leave his country, it would have been to be by Maria's side every single day as Felix grew. He was only 15 months old, he knew he hadn't missed much, yet it felt like eternity. Of course a part of him couldn't deny he may have deserved his own suffering. He had seven other children that he could and should have taken care of, and while provide for them and preserve everything Maria had brought them he did, he wasn't there for them as much as he should have been. For whatever reasons, life had decided to give him a second chance… once more. Maybe it was his lesson to learn that he still hadn't learned from past mistakes. But the Captain clearly saw the opportunity this time and there was just no way he would let it slip away. Maria was back with his son, and if keeping them meant fighting tooth and nail, then he would do it. Of course being a sophisticated gentleman he had other ideas he intended to go with, first.

Maria had ignored the confused looks she received as she hastily made her way upstairs. She was sure the maid she had met along the way recognized the suit jacket she was gripping around her shoulders, but even that couldn't distract the attention from the very fact that she was dripping wet from head to toe. Her fine clothes clung to her frame and were now feeling quite cold, so she was horribly relieved when she finally made it inside her room. She tossed the suit on a nearby chair before she ran to the bathroom to get out of her wet dress. It took her only about ten minutes to dry herself off with a towel, wrap it around her wet hair and to return to the room to look for new clothes. It felt oddly liberating to be on her own – and completely naked for that matter. There was a great deal of safety in being exposed to no one in particular, yet she recognized the loneliness, too. The longing she had been feeling was somehow still present and it puzzled her, for the idea of Ben's presence didn't thrill her as it should thrill an engaged woman.

It wasn't until she caught her own reflection in the mirror that she remembered why she didn't like exposing herself, not to Ben, not even to the empty room. Though they had begun to fade, there was no mistaking the scars that covered her body here and there. She had always paid careful attention to hide them, and while her clothes were elegant, revealing enough to look good but still appropriate, she refused to wear anything that could expose any of the physical marks of her accident. She hated the reminder, hated answering questions that came whenever someone caught glimpse of the scar on her forehead or if the powder on her chin faded. Her inability to recall her past became the source of her greatest inhibition, and while her singing career alone had secured her a place in the highly ranked circles, it just simply wasn't her world. She had begun to feel that more and more each passing day recently, that was why she had welcomed Ben's idea to have their little getaway.

Now clad in another summer dress, Maria removed the towel from her hair. Although she dried it off as much as she could, it was still damp. Thankfully she could fix her bun enough for it to hold and she carefully swept a strand of hair over the one scar on her forehead she couldn't easily hide. Ben had told her it wasn't nearly as bad as she had thought, yet she remembered each occasion very well when someone couldn't stop staring at it or, although discreetly, tried to point it out. There was more to her than that scar – or the rest of them for that matter –, but people wouldn't see past it. So, she had opted to hide it.

When she thought she looked presentable enough, Maria observed her reflection in the mirror and took a deep breath. A talk. That was precisely what they needed, although frankly, she wasn't sure what to expect. The Captain was confusing her. While the previous night she was positive she had felt great disdain for him and today her annoyance returned full force - thanks to his part in her little incident-, she couldn't deny that her senses were stimulated like never before when in his presence. There were certainly many questions swirling around in her head that she wanted and needed answered and apparently he was the man who could answer them. She couldn't deny how disconcerting it seemed that someone as puzzling as him held all the information about her that she was craving to know. Yet she felt herself pulled to him somehow. Even now she was eager to spend time in his company. As she moved towards the door, she hoped it wouldn't turn out as bad as their previous 'talk'.

By the time Maria returned, the garden was considerably more crowded. Her son wasn't only preoccupied by his own father but by the other von Trapp children as well. It was only now that it struck Maria that these youngsters were Felix's brothers and sisters. It was a strange realization, something that should have come much sooner with how obvious it was, yet the full impact didn't hit her until now. With that knowledge that she was unable to give birth again, Maria always wondered how Felix would feel growing up as an only child. She had held great concern, wanting to prevent him from feeling as lonely as she was feeling in New York. Evidently, he was anything but an only child. He had seven siblings, who apparently looked as entertaining to the little boy as a lively circus. There was a clear sense of family in the air as they surrounded him and she was downright awestruck by the smile on the Captain's face. The tall, well-built and imposing naval hero now looked much warmer, for the first time appearing like the father Maria always wanted her child to have.

The guilt returned once more as this thought reminded her of Ben. He had been most excellent with Felix, he really loved the little boy, although Maria often noticed some sort of awkwardness in his demeanour. She had learned to recognize it was merely his inexperience in raising a child and since there had been no talk of Ben officially adopting her son, there remained a certain kind of uncertainty as to what he was to Felix. A father figure he was for certain, yet Maria never referred to him as Father, or as the Americans called it, Daddy. To Felix he was 'Ben', usually pronounced 'Bee' in his own child language. And Felix loved him, it was evident in the way he always clung to him or looked for him when he was away for too long.

By the time she awoke from her reverie, she held Captain von Trapp's undivided attention. The smile didn't leave his face but it was unlike the amused and playful smirk she had faced earlier. She wasn't sure what to make of it. While it certainly was an expression that could easily make a woman melt, she found herself mostly startled by the unexpected eye-contact. She shifted a little but her lips twitched upwards in an unconscious reaction to return the reception.

"Liesl," the Captain turned to his eldest. His children had surprised him but instead of ruining a moment with the son that he had yet to really bond with, he welcomed their company. For a while he could lose himself in the moment and marvel at his family, even going as far as pretending everything – and everybody – was in place. "I need to speak with Maria. Would you keep an eye on Felix?"

"Of course, Father," Liesl nodded and Maria received a delighted smile from the girl. Liesl was the one she hadn't gotten a chance to really interact with but she looked like a lady already. Maria knew the girl was 18 years old and beautiful, but in her haste to collect herself and deal with the rest of the children who somehow found a way to spend some time with her, she had forgotten about Liesl.

"Thank you." She smiled back at the eldest von Trapp child before the Captain joined her. The rest of the children were so engrossed in entertaining Felix that they didn't even notice Maria's return and then departure with their father.

The Captain suggested privacy and Maria wholeheartedly agreed. He proposed to retreat to his study and she put up no protest. She followed him silently, or walked beside him rather, unsure of what to say. In the short time she had known him (or remembered knowing him, that was), she had found it difficult to predict what kind of an attitude he was going to have with her. Yet there was no hostility in his demeanour, in fact he acted like the true gentleman that he appeared to be. Once they arrived to his study, he opened the door for her and let her enter first before closing it behind them. Through the open window she could immediately make out the children's voices and as she walked closer, she was pleased to note that she could keep an eye on Felix from above. They were on the first floor and the window overlooked the beautiful garden along with its path that led to the mountains. The surroundings were beautiful and for a moment she marvelled at how much more peace it brought her than the crowded city.

"Do you need anything?" His voice startled her and Maria turned back to the room.

It took her a few moments to realize he was referring to her previous state. "No. Thank you, I'm fine." She answered with a polite smile.

"Have a seat. Please," the Captain offered and Maria, albeit hesitant at first, did so. There were certainly many questions on her mind beyond the information he had already given her, yet now that she had the chance, she wasn't sure where to start. In fact, she couldn't even find the right words to speak.

"You wanted to talk?" She asked, not exactly the kind of question that was the most pressing one on her mind, but it was the first thing that came out.

The Captain nodded in response and she scrutinized every move, every gesture. She felt guarded around him, yet she found him intriguing. She didn't feel uncomfortable in his presence, in truth she found herself enjoying the fact that she was kept on her toes whenever they were in the same room or interacted.

"Indeed," the Captain nodded and seemed hesitant, too. And hesitant he certainly was as he began slowly pacing in the room. There was a specific reason why he wanted to talk to her yet not for the first time in her presence, he found himself unable to express his thoughts the way he usually could. He realized he had awoken enough animosity between them and the last thing he wanted was to push her farther away. Yet he simply had to address certain issues that were long overdue. Doing that, while having decided to get her back, was difficult.

"I'm sure the last few days have been… overwhelming for you," he finally began and looked at her. "It certainly has been for us. The children and me," he added as a way of explanation, as if including the children would take some of the attention off him and make him feel less exposed. It was almost hypocritical, he thought, since all he wanted was for her to open up to him and remember. There had been safety in the knowledge that she had wanted him when they first fell in love, so opening up back then was easier. Now, with the clear possibility of her rejecting him, it felt much harder than it would have appeared. Of course, trust wasn't the issue here but his pride and, in a way, his patience. He reminded himself that he couldn't allow himself to be pompous and that getting Maria back was not a certainty but a goal.

"It has been… unexpected," she admitted and nodded, acknowledging that it had indeed been overwhelming, "but I always wanted to know," she added with the kind of sincerity he hoped to see from her. "My past, I mean."

The conversation felt awkward to both and the Captain cursed himself for feeling that sarcasm and provoking her seemed to come so much easier. And while his difficult attitude couldn't deter Maria from falling for him the first time around, it was under entirely different circumstances. In fact, looking at her now as she sat in the chair with the kind of grace and posture that was characteristic of people in their rank – even here in America, she seemed anything but relaxed. He had the overwhelming urge to hit himself over the head for his behaviour in the last two days. Maria needed understanding and encouragement, not distance and hostility, even if not necessarily directed at her personally. But as always, his passionate nature had gotten the better of him. It certainly wasn't easy to have his supposedly-dead wife in touching distance and see her with another man.

"Is there anything you want to know?" He asked, trying to offer something that could make up for the recent tension.

There it was, she thought, the chance to ask all she had been yearning to know. "A couple of things," she admitted and perked up in her seat. Her brows furrowed and she averted her gaze as she considered what to ask first. "I… you've said I used to be a postulant before… before you and I," she stuttered. The idea of he and she felt just as alien as exciting.

"Indeed," the Captain nodded, suddenly uneasy with the direction this conversation could possibly take. He really wasn't keen on telling her about her past, about her family before she had become a postulant. While Maria had certainly revealed many details he felt were heartbreaking, he always felt the two of them were alike in the sense that they both had hidden depths of their souls that needed time to reveal. The time that they hadn't had. As bright, flighty and innocent as Maria had been, hers was a personality with a complexity that went much deeper than many people would think. That was probably the heartbreaking difference he could see in her right now. While she was as beautiful and charming to people as she had always been, there was now a constant air of sadness around her that she couldn't hide from him. For a while he had wondered if he was merely projecting his own state of mind but it soon became apparent that Maria was carrying a burden he didn't know about. Life's cruel twist was that he knew the burden of her past that she couldn't remember. His love for her made him very protective, too, he did not have the heart to add the extra burden.

"Was I raised by the nuns? Was it my decision to become one or was it my family's? Was I uh, dedicated?" The questions sounded absurd even to her own ears but she was desperate to know. While her curiosity first and foremost wanted to know about her marriage, given her lifestyle and lack of faith had left her bewildered to know she had once been a postulant. Was it possible for her personality to change so much simply because she lost her memories, or had she not been dedicated to become a nun in the first place?

The Captain grabbed the opportunity to focus on her past as a postulant, hoping it would deter her from wanting to know about her childhood.

"Dedication had never been a problem," the Captain began, "They were all you had, but you weren't exactly fitting in, darling."

"Oh." Whether she reacted to the revelation or his term of endearment, he wasn't sure.

"There was far more life in you than what a nun's life required. Your commitment to God was strong but…it became apparent you weren't meant to serve the Lord locked in an Abbey."

"Was I… sent away?" Her eyes went wide, this was a most unusual revelation.

"No. You chose to leave. With me." The Captain's words were simple but all the implications that came with it had her hot under the collar. Maria didn't fail to make the necessary connections. Her life had been vastly different before her accident, in fact every single revelation pointed to a woman who was a stranger to her. But it was more than that this time. As much as she lacked Faith in God, she knew herself enough to realize if she was dedicated to something, then she gave it her all. There was no mistaking the fact that she had given up her life to spend it with him, instead, and it had to have been for a good reason. Her feelings for the Captain had been strong enough to abandon the path her life had been leading her on. That also brought some thoughts that nearly made her blush. Not only was this man the father of her child, but he had been the very first man in her life… unless…

"What prompted me to become a postulant in the first place?" The absurdity of having to ask someone else about herself barely registered in her mind anymore. She had accepted her state to be unusual and now that there was a chance of an information flow, she wasted no time on being uneasy about her inquiry.

The Captain seemed hesitant for a second. "The need to belong to a community you found remarkable. You joined the Abbey as soon as you were old enough to do so."

So there was no shameful association with a man or heartbreak that had made her want to become a nun. It was true then, that the man in front of her had impacted her life in a most drastic way. And yet she couldn't remember.

"Did my family give their consent?"

"Your parents were deceased by then. Would you not like to know about our marriage? About us?" The Captain cut in, his stare hard this time in disapproval. Maria was taken aback and he achieved his goal to deter her.

"I… why, yes," she stuttered, shifting uneasily. The awkward air was gone from around him, replaced by a commanding aura. It was infuriatingly intriguing to her.

What Maria didn't realize was how easily the Captain could read her expressions. Now that he rid himself of self-pity and the all consuming grief and brooding over the newest living arrangements, he was dead set on using every little piece of knowledge about his wife to gain leverage and, ultimately, woo her back. He knew Maria would protest if he was too demanding and unfair to her, but he was well aware she was uncertain as to how to cope right now. It was the look in her eyes that gave her away, the look that made it awfully difficult not to just sweep her off her feet and gather her in his arms.

So he began. "My children needed a governess for the summer holidays and the Reverend Mother found you the most suitable for the task. You quite easily bonded with my children, to my dismay at first. There were certain… qualities about you I found hard to appreciate at the beginning. You were flighty, undisciplined, headstrong, but warm and loving. Qualities that certainly grew on me as time went on. So much so that I had to realize my engagement to Elsa Schroeder was standing on shaky grounds and any matrimony would have been based on untrue feelings. As fate would have it, you felt the same and with uh… the consent of the Reverend Mother, we were married. We spent an entire month in Paris on our honeymoon before political tension in Austria called for our immediate return. It was then, on the night of our escape from Nazi soldiers that we were separated." The Captain was matter of fact in his recount of the events but his eyes never left her face.

Maria was appalled and hardly noticed when he stopped speaking. She was stuck on a little detail. Not only did she abandon her life as a postulant but she even wooed him away from a fiancée. She certainly wasn't religious anymore, as a matter of fact her relations to Ben would have been frowned upon by most, yet she realized her past actions had been most significant. She had been a postulant and he had been engaged. Oh, the scandal. She also concluded from his words that her background didn't exactly match her current rank. Neither had it matched his, as a matter of fact. The question just why exactly she had married a man like the Captain was weighing heavily on her mind ever since they had been reunited. It was only now that she began to understand feelings had the most to do with it. There certainly wasn't anything in her past she could make out that would have lured the Captain to her aside from her very self. And a quick count had her conclude Felix most certainly had not been conceived before the wedding, hence he definitely couldn't have been the reason. But then even more of his words sunk in…

"The accident," she spoke, "I remember nothing of it."

It certainly wasn't easy for Georg to talk about it, but it occurred to him this was his chance for his own resolution, too. God knew how much time he had spent dwelling on what he didn't know, how much he had wished for a chance to go back in time and do things differently.

"I was requested to join the Nazi forces immediately. We agreed it would be a devastating blow to the family and decided to leave that night. Herr Zeller…"

Herr Zeller. Maria zoned out for a little while. Herr Zeller. There was something about the name. A cold, hard pair of eyes was the only thing she could see in front of her. Cruel and leering. But it was gone as soon as it came.

"…he held you as insurance that I would accept my post and that prompted the plan that went…. incredibly wrong. My good friend Max volunteered to get you out, using the local Festival as a ploy and you were to join me and the children for the escape. Unfortunately, Max was the only one who made it there and he notified me of your death." She hung on his every word, the events he was describing had been, after all, life changing. "He died from his wounds shortly after that and since I had to take the children to safety, I had no choice but to take his word." For the first time he turned away from her as he finished, "and I wished every night that I had gone back to make sure. News of your death had been made public in Salzburg but that was all I had. Until now."

Maria was still processing the information she had been given when the Captain unexpectedly turned back to her. "As you must realize your absence has been hard on the family. We wondered every single day what had happened to you. And now that you are alive and back, I'm eager to know what happened." His tone slightly changed as he added, "And how your current life… came about."

The interjection of his own feelings in the recount of the story wasn't lost on Maria. It felt like an invitation to be open to him in return, which, incredibly, was something she was willing to take. There was something about this man that made it impossible for her to refuse him, even when his request was most subtle. Despite his earlier attitude, he gave her hope and reassurance that treading into a territory she hadn't been in a long time was safe. So, with more openness she had remembered feeling, Maria began.

"I woke up in a hospital in Switzerland. As I understand, I was close to the borders but I am most clueless about how I got there. It took me long weeks to recuperate from my injuries and it was during my hospital stay that it was revealed I was with child. I couldn't remember who I was, I couldn't remember anything. Since no one had reason to believe I was from another country, any attempt to find out who I was turned out unsuccessful. I met Ben at the hospital. He's a very good man." Maria paused for a minute to look up to him, with an unconscious need to try to convince him of the truth behind her words. "I had nothing and no one and Ben… he asked me to join him. He came to America, he took me along and most of all, he provided a comfortable life for Felix." Maria couldn't pinpoint why exactly she was feeling remorse about her relationship with Ben aside from her own conscience pushing her for her waning feelings. She never truly loved him, it was a constant struggle that had intensified in the past couple of weeks, but this was different. This time she felt ashamed even if she was convinced she did the only thing she could at the time. "He gave me papers; an identity, really. He shared many things with me…"

"Like his bed?" The Captain wanted to hit himself over the head the moment it was out, but it slipped and he had been unable to stop himself.

Maria abruptly stopped speaking and looked up him, the look of fire in her eyes brought back memories of her feisty passion fighting him for the sake of his children – or any other time she felt he was unjust, as a matter of fact. He knew what calmed her down, however.

"I apologize," he added and held her gaze, conveying his sincerity. She was, once again, caught off guard. "Do go on."

Struggling with anger he had so easily stirred within her as well as the need to take his earnest apology, Maria took a few seconds before she resumed her story, "I was lost here in America. I felt I was going crazy unless I preoccupied myself with something. That's how singing came about. It was a successful endeavour." Any inclination she may have had to reveal her conflicted feelings about Ben were gone, however. It was obvious her relationship with Ben was a touchy subject, and even in his peace offering Captain von Trapp evidently wasn't quite just in his judgment of Ben. Deep down Maria knew he had every right. They had been married and never divorced. Maria briefly considered what she would feel had the situation been reversed and she was aware it would be hard to accept such changes. That she didn't love Ben made her feel guilty and all the more protective of him. No, she couldn't reveal that to her… husband. It was something she needed to settle with Ben first if it ever came to that.

"I was growing a little weary and tired of performing and New York. So we agreed to take a little vacation and… and the rest you know."

The Captain did exercise self control this time and refused to interject his disapproval of her performing on stage in the first place. As much as he admired her voice and talent, here was the precise proof why he refused to allow his family to go perform in public. It was too stressful. He did notice that Maria avoided talking about her relationship with Ben. They evidently arrived as a couple yet their relationship seemed most unusual to him. It was like a glimmer of hope, especially since he had found out they stopped sharing a room. But he couldn't be sure if it was permanent or just a one time quarrel that resulted in that decision. And he wanted to make sure it remained permanent.

"Maria…" he began softly, much softer than she had ever expected of him. He casually approached her and got in the chair right next to her, leaning close but not intruding her personal space. There was an air of intimacy around them and for the first time he radiated nothing but gentleness, "I am first and foremost glad and relieved that you and Felix are alive. I never meant to be rude to you although I realize I may have." He was sure his candid confession was affecting her, "but I do hope you realize how unconventional and upsetting present affairs are. I am your husband and… "

"…and Ben's not," she finished, catching his drift, hardly realizing how easily she read his thought. He had alluded to this before but his approach to it was entirely different now. He saw it was working much better and Maria, albeit just as conflicted, wasn't offended. Instead she felt unease and guilt. Guilt over not loving Ben and guilt over inconveniencing the man that was supposed to be her husband. She knew and felt grateful for one, but didn't love him while she found the other stimulating, albeit he was essentially a stranger. She was at a loss.

"Under different circumstances I would refrain from commenting on something that's between you and Herr Reinard. However, I am still your husband and we have a child together that I very much want to keep in my life. I also don't intend to give up on my wife." There was no malice in his words, she realized that, nor was he being difficult. He was instead reasonable, and the possessive tone of his declaration would have even flattered her had she not felt so trapped.

"What are you saying?" She frowned and turned her gaze to her lap, trying to make sense of it all but needing to avoid his gaze.

"I am asking you to consider the situation from your family's point of view."

She stiffened a little, her mind racing. Was he asking her to go back to him? He had appeared genuinely joyful over her return, then treated her with downright hostility and now… now he was talking about family. Two years had passed and he never remarried. This was so confusing.

"I am asking you to treat Herr Reinard as he should be treated. A man with no rights." Her head snapped up upon hearing that.

To Be Continued…