Chapter 13: The Journey to England
Since Marta was still unwell, Georg decided they'd stay in Zurich for the rest of the week. Now they'd obtained their temporary visas, there was no longer the urgency to leave Zurich straight away. Instead the family got some well-earned rest after all the stress from the past week. Maria and Georg devoted all their time to the children during the days, while the nights they devoted to each other. Finally able to be alone, they made love each night after they'd tucked the children in. However they were both very aware of being discrete since the children were only sleeping across the hall. Especially since both Marta and Gretl had begun a habit of waking around 6am to gently knock on their parent's door before hopping into bed with them. Although Georg moaned and grumbled about it every morning, Maria knew he was secretly pleased with the affection he received from his youngest daughters, especially when they fought over who got to lie next to him.
Maria was happy. Finally they were safe from the Nazis, she had a husband and children who adored her, and they had a whole future together as a family waiting before them. She even dared to dream of one day having a baby of her own.
But one thing that made Maria worry was learning English. Georg was a very patient and excellent teacher so within only a few days, Maria could say several simple words and phrases in the foreign language. But in order to help her practice, Georg insisted that whenever they could, as a family they would all speak English to each other. The children were excited by this prospect, even Gretl who barely spoke the language. But Maria instantly found that she felt horribly confused when children spoke fast or all at once. When she aired her concerns to Georg, he quickly assured her that she was doing well and told her not to worry.
But despite his reassurance, Maria found it hard to ignore the looming sense of dread deep in her gut surrounding their upcoming visit to England. She knew that their best and only real option was to travel to England, and she trusted Georg completely with this. But after all the stories he'd told her about how much the Whitehead's disapproved of their marriage, she wondered whether it was the best place to go and worried whether she'd be welcomed there. However she tried to approach it with optimism, so by the time they left Zurich a week later, she was feeling as excited as the rest of the family to make the journey.
They took several days to travel from Zurich through France up to the English Channel. As Georg was conscious of saving money, they all shared a large hotel room when they could, or otherwise Maria shared a room with the girls while Georg slept with the boys. After a long and luxurious honeymoon as well as the week they'd spent together in Zurich, Maria missed the intimacy of sharing a bed with Georg, and of course making love to him. Although they never spoke about it specifically, she was certain he felt the same way for the vigour of the way he kissed her when they did manage a few stolen moments alone told Maria that Georg was looking forward to regaining their privacy as much as she did.
It was early morning when they finally boarded the ferry that would take them across the English Channel. As the large boat left the dock, the children scattered across the desk to watch the French coastline disappear as they entered open waters. Maria stood next to Georg watching him breathe in the sea air, his eyes closed, completely at home being on the sea again. He looked so relaxed and contented especially dressed in his more casual attire. No tie or jacket, the top few buttons of his shirt undone, and he hadn't shaved since his visit to the embassy in Zurich. He really did look like what she'd always imagined a sea captain to look like, particularly now they were on the sea. Georg opened his eyes and glanced over at her watching him. He wrapped his arm around her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Together, wordlessly, they watched mainland Europe disappear into the distance as the boat journeyed towards England, saying goodbye to their homeland forever.
Upon arriving in England, Georg immediately arranged transport out to the Whitehead estate. Although it only took under two hours to travel from Dover to the estate just on the outskirts of London, after their prolonged journey so far, the trip to reach their final destination felt longer than that. It was just after sunset as the large taxi entered the main gates to the manor and Maria couldn't help but gasp at the vision in front of her. She remembered how overwhelmed she'd been the first time she'd seen the von Trapp villa, however the villa in Aigen paled in comparison to the grandeur of the Whitehead manor. High turrets on every corner of the manor house gave it an appearance of magnificence and stateliness. It was the largest building Maria had ever seen, and she could scarcely believe it was a house. Suddenly feeling the looming sense of dread in her tummy again, she instinctively reached across for Georg's hand. He smiled and squeezed her hand, silently reassuring her just as the car pulled up outside the front door.
Unlike Maria who was feeling ridiculously nervous, the children all piled out of the car in a fit of excitement. Georg collected the small amount of luggage they'd accumulated along the way and paid the driver before the taxi left. Georg rung the bell and it was only seconds before the front door opened and they were greeted by a butler who looked so stern that he practically made Franz seem pleasant.
"Yes?" the butler asked as he glanced disdainfully around the group standing before him.
"Lloyd." Georg addressed the butler by his first name and extended his hand. "It's been a while." Georg spoke to the man in fluent English.
The butler looked down at Georg's outstretched hand but didn't take it. He narrowed his eyes for a moment before he nodded in recollection. "Captain von Trapp. Yes, I remember, and your family I presume?" Lloyd ran his eyes over the group in such a cold way that Maria felt immediately uncomfortable.
Georg nodded. "Come with me sir, I'll inform His Lord and Ladyship of your arrival." The butler turned on his heel and entered the house. Georg beckoned the family to follow him. They were taken to a parlour off to the side of the grand entryway. Maria had to keep telling herself to close her mouth, as it seemed to keep opening on its own as she gazed in amazement at the lavish surroundings: from the ornate furnishings and the plush rugs to the classical paintings on the walls. They waited only minutes before the door opened and an elderly, yet extremely elegant couple came into the room. Maria instantly assumed they were Lord and Lady Whitehead.
"Georg?" Lady Whitehead said as she swept into the room and went immediately over to Georg, ignoring the rest of the family. "When Lloyd told me you were here, I could scarcely believe it." Georg leant forward to give his mother-in-law a kiss on the cheek. She immediately stepped backwards clearing her throat at the impropriety of his action, and instead presented her hand for him to kiss.
As Georg lightly placed a kiss on her hand, Lady Whitehead took a moment to look him up and down. "Georg really, I care barely recognise you since you're looking so scruffy." She gestured flamboyantly with her hand to the week-old growth of his beard and his open collar. "Agathe would've had a fit if she'd seen you looking like this!"
"Well, we've been travelling," Georg chuckled, "and having quite a time of it, mind you."
"When we heard about the Anschluss, we both were so concerned," Lord Whitehead quickly interjected glancing at his wife. "I had hoped that you might have wired to inform us how you all were, or at the very least to have had the decency let us know that you were coming," he chastised Georg somewhat sternly.
"My apologies, James, but I'm afraid there wasn't time. We had to leave Austria immediately," Georg replied stiffly through gritted teeth. "And there was a deplorable lack of telegraph offices while trekking through the Swiss-Austrian Alps," he added somewhat sarcastically.
"Trekking? Oh Georg, that does sound quite frightful. Surely you didn't walk the entire way here from Switzerland?" Lady Whitehead asked somewhat dramatically.
"No, only to Zurich. We travelled by train and then by boat after that."
"Yes, yes…" Lady Whitehead dismissed his response straight away with a flick of her hand. "But surely you were able to wire us once you were back in civilization?"
Georg took a deep breath, trying to bite his tongue. His parents-in-law were just as insufferable as he'd remembered them to be. "Of course I could have wired, but since I managed to be on the top of the Third Reich's most wanted list, I thought it was best not to alert the Nazi's of our intent to come here." Georg glared at them. "I had your best interest in mind, I assure you."
Lord Whitehead was immediately alarmed. "Wanted by the Nazi's? Good god Georg, what on earth did you do?"
"James, perhaps I can discuss everything that has happened with you later. My family have been travelling for days and I'm sure could do with some rest, and perhaps something to eat."
"Family?" Lady Whitehead turned around. "Children?" She blinked several times as if she didn't believe what she saw in front of her. "Children! Oh my, how you've all grown!" One by one she embraced the children gushing over how much she'd missed them and how much each one looked like Agathe.
Georg glanced over at Maria who had been standing quietly on the other side of the room, observing the scene in front of her. Since everyone was speaking English she was having a lot of trouble understanding the conversation, but what's more, she felt like an intruder with no place there. Georg could see how uncomfortable she looked. Maria raised her eyes towards Georg and he met her gaze, giving her a reassuring half smile. He took several steps towards her to take her arm and he cleared his throat.
"James, Elizabeth…" the Whiteheads both looked up in his direction. "I'd like to introduce you to my wife, Maria." Lord Whitehead acknowledged Maria gracefully with a slight nod of his head. However the pleasant expression that Lady Whitehead had had on her face from greeting her grandchildren vanished. She walked towards the couple on the other side of the room and stopped right in front of Maria. Maria felt her heart beginning to race with nervousness, as the older woman looked her up and down slowly, raising her eyebrows.
She clicked her tongue against her teeth. "Hmm, so I see," Lady Whitehead replied dryly to Georg. Georg instantly picked up the hint of contempt in her voice. He gave her an uncomfortable half-smile and was about to say something else when he heard Maria start to talk in broken English.
"Lady Whitehead, uh… I thank you er… for us… um… for having us here."
Lady Whitehead raised her eyebrows once more at hearing Maria's pathetic attempt to speak English. Georg quickly interceded for his wife, explaining. "Elizabeth, Maria only speaks a small amount of English… er… she's only just begun learning the language."
Lady Whitehead stared intently at Maria for a moment, causing Maria to feel more awkward than she already felt. "Well then," Lady Whitehead began speaking briskly in fluent German. "If it helps you, my dear, then we'll converse in German when we can. But I will have to tell you, none of the servants speak German so you will have to continue to learn English."
Maria let out a sigh of relief and smiled brightly. "Oh thank you Lady Whitehead," Maria gushed. "Georg's been teaching me English so I'm sure I'll pick it up in no time at all."
Lady Whitehead smiled almost too sweetly at Maria. Just then the grandfather clock in the hallway struck the hour and a bell rang far away in the distance. Lady Whitehead cleared her throat again. "That's the bell for dinner. Georg, you remember how things work around here, don't you?" Georg nodded. "Good, now while we have all been in here, Lloyd has been preparing your usual rooms."
Georg's mouth went dry for he knew that meant he and Maria would be staying in Agathe's old suite of rooms. "Uh, usual rooms?" He coughed. "Elizabeth, I was perhaps thinking that Maria and I would be more, uh… comfortable over in the guest wing…"
"Guest wing?" She interrupted him in surprise. "Georg, you are family, not guests," she declared firmly. "Besides, the guest wing is still closed up after the winter and it is much too difficult for Lloyd and the rest of the servants to prepare a suite of rooms at this late hour of night. You must stay in your usual room, I insist." Lady Whitehead glared so intently at him that Georg knew it would be hopeless trying to argue with her.
Lady Whitehead turned on her heel and joined her husband at the doorway. But before she left the room, she turned back and scrutinized Maria once more, her nose scrunched up somewhat displeased at Maria's travelling attire. "Oh Maria, I should tell you, we dress for dinner. Make sure you find something appropriate to wear."
After the Whitehead's left the room, Lloyd returned to show the children to their rooms. Georg motioned for the children to follow the butler upstairs, before smiling at Maria and taking her arm to escort her upstairs to their suite of rooms as well. As they walked up the grand staircase, Maria began to relax. She wondered whether she'd been too quick to worry about coming to the Whitehead estate. Although Lady Whitehead had a brusque and high-class manner about her, Maria didn't find her any more unbearable than the ladies of the Austrian aristocracy that she'd met back in Salzburg before she and Georg had married. In fact, Maria found Lady Whitehead's offer of conversing in German with her quite generous.
But as they reached the top of the grand staircase and were about to depart down one of the side corridors, Maria took a final look down into the magnificent hallway below. What she saw instantly made her blood run cold. Lady Whitehead was standing in the center of the hallway glaring up at her: her stare icy, malicious and full of hatred. Maria gasped and froze to the spot.
When Georg realised Maria had stopped walking, he turned back to her. "Maria darling, is there anything the matter?"
Shaking slightly, Maria looked at him and began to stammer. "Y-yes, no… I mean I saw…" Maria turned back to look down into the hallway again to point out Lady Whitehead and what she'd seen, but to her surprise, the hallway was empty. Lady Whitehead had gone.
"You saw something?" Georg asked her gently.
Maria blinked several times but then shook her head. "No, actually. I'm sorry, I must have imagined it."
Georg studied her concern. "If you're sure then…" Maria nodded silently as her heart thumped wildly in her chest. She was positive that she hadn't imagined what she'd seen, but how could she prove it? All at once the looming sense of dread she'd been trying to ignore for days returned.
"Good, we must get ready for dinner quickly. We don't want to be late. Here, I'll show you where we'll be staying." He held out his arm again for her to take. "At least for the time being that is…" Georg muttered under his breath more to himself than to Maria.
A/N: Usual disclaimers etc. As always, there is more to come in this story. But my real life is super crazy at the moment and sneaking a few minutes here and there to write this story is about the only thing keeping me sane. So I'd love some reviews to help me keep going! Thanks!