A/N: Here's the next update! We're over halfway through here, and honestly, this may be my last SOM fic for a while. Sherlock and Downton Abbey have strong holds on me (and anybody who's seen those shows will completely understand). Please watch and read those, and keep up the great support!

Twenty

It was safe to say that the Schraeder summer villa on the northern shore of Lake Lucerne in Switzerland was Elsa's favorite place in the world. When her husband had first courted her, he had very wisely brought her here before he proposed. Any doubts she'd had disappeared when she first came to this beautiful place. Looking back, Elsa realized that one of the reasons she had become so keen to marry Georg when he had brought her to Salzburg was the fact that his home was similar to her summer villa: lovely, peaceful, by a lake. Thankfully, she had come to her senses.

Now, she waited anxiously for the party that was arriving from Zurich on her verandah. The day was absolutely beautiful, for which she was very thankful. God knows that poor Georg would need all the help he could get to fully recover.

The day after she and Georg had broken off their engagement, Elsa had immediately left Austria for her villa by the lake, glad that she really had no ill feelings about the situation. The next day, she'd received a late night phone call from Max, who asked if he, his sister, and some friends could come in the very near future for a few-week stay. Elsa had said yes immediately; she loved Max and his twin sister Philomena, who were both such rays of sunshine. As for the unnamed guests, Elsa trusted them both that they would not bring anybody she would not want to welcome.

It hadn't been until the previous day, when Philomena had arrived from Austria, that both women had learned the full story. Max had telephoned from Zurich in the afternoon, explained everything, and by the end of the conversation, the two women were in a state of horrified shock.

"What time does their train come in again?" asked Elsa anxiously, looking towards the glass doors out to the veranda.

Philomena looked at her elegant wristwatch. "It should have come in about fifteen minutes ago, so they should be arriving any minute."

Elsa gave a heavy sigh and tried sipping some tea to calm her nerves. "Philomena, please be honest with me: Do you think, if I had gracefully bowed out sooner, things could have turned out better?"

Philomena reached her hand across the table and patted Elsa. "I highly doubt it, Elsa. Those monsters wanted him from the start…"

Elsa sighed, deciding to take comfort in that fact for now. "I am so happy that Maria is with him. She is his best hope of making a full recovery as quickly as possible."

Max's twin sister smiled at this, happy to see that Elsa bore no jealousy or grudge to the situation. "You really believe there is love between the two?"

Elsa looked pointedly at the other woman. "You have not yet seen them together, my dear Philomena. When I saw them dance at that party…there was never really any doubt. I was stupid not to end it that night, rather than make things worse. But what can you do to change the past? Nothing."

Before their conversation could continue any further, they could see several figures (most familiar) approaching the glass doors and finally coming through them once opened. Elsa waved to her butler to spare the introductions for there was no need.

Philomena got up immediately to embrace her twin brother. "I'm so glad you all got here safely," she said. She then turned to Georg and gave him a warm smile and gentle pat of the cheek. "I'd hug you, but I don't think your ribs couldn't handle it."

"You've got that right," muttered Georg, but he managed to give a small smile to the woman.

As Elsa greeted Max and Georg, Philomena approached the young woman who must be the famous Maria. The only thing average about the girl was her height, as far as Philomena was concerned. Though she couldn't have been any older than twenty-two, there was a gravity about her that was beyond her years. Her strawberry-blonde hair was cut short in a pixie style that suited her, and her big blue eyes reflected a passion for life. But it was dimmed now, and that showed in her nervous and self-conscious body posture. Her hands were at her coat collar, which she made sure was covering up her neck.

Philomena gave her a kind smile and said, "So this is the young woman who saved the Von Trapp family."

These words caused Maria to blush beet red and shake her head vigorously. "Oh, no, I didn't –"

"Yes, you did."

The softly spoken words came from the head of said family, and everyone looked at him, no one more shocked than Maria. He was looking at her with such adoration, gratitude and guilt it broke her heart. Not wanting him to see the tears he had brought to her eyes, she averted her gaze.

Max, who wanted to lightened the atmosphere and save these important conversations for a time when Georg was in better physical condition. "Come, Georg, let's get you settled," he said, and the two men made their way inside, followed by the butler.

Now the three women were left alone on the veranda. With the Captain gone, Maria's hands relaxed so she could take each woman's hands in proper greetings. When the formalities were done, Elsa said, "Philomena, would you excuse us for a bit? We'll be back down soon."

Philomena nodded, smiling in understanding for she knew what this was about. "I'll be sure to have a cup of tea ready for you when you come back down, dear."

Maria returned Philomena's kind smile before nervously following Elsa back into her villa.

The last place Maria expected to be led was to Elsa's walk-in closet. Maria could not help but gawp just a little bit: she'd never known anybody to have so many clothes before. And of such high quality as well! Thankfully, Maria was able to keep from blurting this aloud.

But Elsa could read the look on her face, and merely chuckled. "All my life, fashion has been both my mortal weakness and my strongest suit." Elsa went to one of the elegant mahogany drawers, and opened it for Maria to see. Inside was nestled dozens of beautiful hermes scarves of varying colors and patterns. Maria gave a soft gasp and involuntarily lifted a hand to cover her neck.

Elsa gave her a compassionate look. "You are welcome to use these for as long as you are here, my dear. I can't imagine what you went through escaping."

Maria's vision became blurry, and she turned away to wipe away the new tears. "We…ran into a bit, but we weren't discovered. The Captain…he blames himself, when it was an accident…That's the worst part."

Elsa sighed, not surprised at all. "Good gracious, that's typical Georg. I didn't know there was such a thing as being 'too noble' until I met him."

Maria said nothing. Right then and there, she decided that she would not tell anyone else what had really happened to cause her bruises. As far as she was concerned, the whole affair had been a tragic accident, and it hadn't been the real Captain who had done that. She couldn't bear for anybody to look at him with horror and pity because of it, or think he was a dangerous and horrible man.

So, she approached the drawer and hesitantly reached out to touch a light blue one. "Thank you, Baroness…this would make things a lot easier for me."

Unexpectedly, Elsa took both of Maria's hands and looked at her quite seriously. "This is the least I can do, Maria. I deeply regret the circumstances of our last meeting, and how I frightened you away. I can only be so happy and grateful that the both of you are now safe and recovering."

Maria did not stop her smile of relief, and knew that she no longer had to fear Elsa Schraeder.

Georg spent the afternoon in his room at the villa. His body knew what it needed, and it was spent in a deep sleep. Thankfully, in the soft light of day, his sleep was not tampered with nightmares. Perhaps the knowledge that he was in a safe and familiar place had a hand in that, but when he woke up, he knew the reason immediately:

Maria was in the room, and the sight was so beautiful.

She was curled up in a comfortable armchair by the window, engrossed in a book. She had changed into the blue dress he thought was so beautiful on her, and even the fact that she had an hermes scarf around her neck didn't hurt him because it blended so well with her outfit. The afternoon sun poured in through the open window onto her, causing her to look so radiant…

The young woman must have sensed his stare after a while, for she looked up from her book and gasped at the sight of him awake. She immediately closed her book and got up from her chair. "I'm sorry, sir, I just…" She walked to the bed and held out a folded piece of paper to him. "I wanted you to see this right away."

He took the paper from her and unfolded it, finding that it was a telegram that had arrived around midday. It was from London, England and his mother-in-law:

Dear Georg – STOP – The children and their companions have arrived and are safe with me. – STOP – Greatly looking forward to your joining them. – STOP – Hope to hear from you soon. – STOP – Elisabeth Whitehead.

Relief that he had not known since the navy flooded through Georg's body. He rested his head back on his pillow and closed his eyes. "Thank God…" he muttered.

"Yes, thank God," he heard Maria say with emotion. He opened his eyes to look at her, and found her just as relieved and happy as he was with the news. Her smile was so lovely, and she was smiling at him.

Wanting to keep on this happy turn of events, his gaze shifted to the book in Maria's hands. "What is that you're reading?"

As if she had forgotten about it, Maria looked down at it and gave an embarrassed, "Oh, it's…one of the books in English you ordered for the children. I'd begun reading it to them before…"

"Which is it?"

"The Hobbit, or There and Back Again."

"Any good?"

"Very good and entertaining, actually, which explains why I…" She was still quite embarrassed.

Then he said something she didn't expect: "Would you read it to me?"

Maria looked at him in shock. "Really, sir? You wouldn't prefer something more –"

"After what I've gone through, Maria, I need something like this." And I don't want you to leave me alone, and I want to hear your lovely voice that has returned to you, thank God.

Maria gave a soft, shy smile and settled down in her chair again. "All right...but only if we take turns."

They smiled at each other, all of their demons banished for the moment.