Chapter Twenty
Maria took the children out for a walk around the grounds a few days later. Even though it was March in Austria it was a nice day to get fresh air. Georg had declined to go, he had a lot of work to do as he had lost so much time dealing with the attack of the flu on both the children and him.
As Georg worked though, his mind kept wandering to a few nights ago when Maria had felt the baby. It had been a magical moment for then. The intimacy of sharing her realization of the first movement, the way Maria had laid her head against him, there was trust there. More and more Maria was letting him see her vulnerability and that was such a blessing to him.
Max who had been in Vienna for a few weeks after the flu bug, that he miraculously didn't catch, knocked on the office door and pushed it open. Georg didn't even realize he was there.
"Georg!" Max repeated his friend's name for the third time. Finally, Georg looked up.
"Max, I didn't hear you come in," Georg replied.
"Am I interrupting important business or are you just daydreaming?" Max asked with a laugh.
"I have been staring at this group of figures for the last half hour," Georg admitted. "I can't keep my mind on numbers."
"Where is your mind, old man?" Max asked helping himself to some of the coffee in the silver pot.
"With my wife," Georg admitted. "She took the children out for a while, get them some air, they were getting a case of cabin fever."
"She's well?" Max asked. "I know she didn't catch the influenza but otherwise?"
"She's doing beautifully," Georg replied "For all the troubles she had early on Dr. Kretzer says she's progressing well, and he doesn't foresee any problems. The baby quickened while you were gone. I can feel it now as well. I think Maria is finally accepting that this is going to happen."
"And she still doesn't remember what happened? Who did this to her?" Max asked sitting down and taking one of the tarts Maria left for Georg.
"No," Georg sighed. "Not that there's much I can do about it if she did. It's been six months since it happened, even if we were to try to have him arrested…her word against his."
Max shook his head. This was simply unfair. Maria was the purest, kindest person Max ever met and she has surely saved his friend and his family from losing each other. It shouldn't happen to anyone, but to someone like her…
As the silver, white winter melted into spring, Maria found she wanted to be outside more and more. Some afternoons she would accompany Georg to town for his business and browse the shops for baby things. Sometimes she would visit the Reverend Mother, but she always stopped at the church to light a candle and to pray.
On this particular day, he was waiting for her on the steps when she came out. He didn't like her to come down the steps alone. She wasn't very big, but her balance was off some times, and he worried.
"I do wish you would use the side entrance," Georg sighed as he took her arm to lead her down the steps.
People stared at them as they walked through town. Maria tried not to let the whispers and the looks get to her. She was in a good place with her marriage to Georg and was accepting the child she carried would be her child as well as anyone else's. She would have influence over this young one and raise him or her in the manner Georg had raised his children until Agathe died and again now.
Maria inhaled as they passed a roasted peanut vendor. She continuously craved peanuts, cheeses, salty style foods. Before Maria could even ask, Georg directed her to a bench. "I shall be back momentarily, my love," he smiled. "It's good that you rest a moment anyway. I won't be too long."
Georg headed for the vendor and Maria smiled. She put her hands on her baby bump and inhaled; she had been praying in earnest to make her peace with this. "You're going to be fine, little one," she whispered. "Even though we aren't sure who your father is, your Papa will be a wonderful and strong man for you to look up to. I'll do my best for you, to be a woman you can admire, someone you can trust."
The baby kicked inside as if it understood Maria's words. She traced the pattern of the kicks with her hands and enjoyed the sun on her face. That is until it was obscured by a tall shadow and Maria felt her blood run cold.
"Baroness von Trapp," Herr Braun that she'd met briefly at the von Klauss villa stood before. "It's so lovely to see you again."
Maria felt bile rise in her throat. That voice…that scent…No, this wasn't happening, this was just an overreaction to a close male presence. It happened with Max just the other day. She took a deep breath, "Georg will be back any minute," she told herself. "Just smile and say hello."
Maria's body did obey mind and she forced a smile, "Herr Braun. My husband will be returning shortly if you have business with him."
"Oh, I just wanted to say hello," he replied, his eyes boring into her as he fixed his dark gaze with hers. "I did so enjoy your company at our last meeting and since the wedding was so hasty, I never got a chance to congratulate you on you…" He reached out and touched her shoulder. It took everything in Maria not to scream out for Georg.
"Here we are, Darling," Georg said as he arrived at Maria's side. "Herr Braun, I see you have been keeping my wife company while I was gone."
Maria took the snack from Georg's hand but she didn't start to eat. She wanted to throw up. Her skin burned under the place where Herr Braun touched her. He was too close and the smell…
"Yes, I heard you had remarried and I did have the pleasure of your wife when she attended the von Klauss event with your daughter…"
The voices faded. Maria couldn't get her breath. She felt Georg place his hand on her shoulder and rub it gently. He knew she was fighting off a panic, she would be humiliated if she lost herself in public. "Come on, Maria," Georg prayed silently to himself. "Hold on, Darling. Hold on…"
Without mussing a hair, Georg managed to get himself between Herr Braun and Maria and then get Braun to step away with him. "Herr Braun," Georg said in a deathly quiet tone. "I do not wish for you to engage my wife in conversation again without my being present, especially right now. She's in a family way and she's sensitive you understand, and sheltered, she was in the Abbey after all."
"I was merely saying hello," Herr Braun defended. "As I said, I had the pleasure of knowing her and wished to congratulate her."
"Congratulate me then," Georg deflected. "She got the rotten end of this stick I assure you. Regardless, don't go near her again without me present. If I have to tell you again, it won't be with words."
Georg had a lot of skills and at the top of the list was how to make a threat with a smile on his face. With Braun still smarting from Georg's threat, Georg turned and went back to Maria's side. "I'm sorry, Darling. Are you all right?"
Maria shook her head, "That smell…Georg I'm…"
Georg barely had a chance to jump out of the way before Maria got sick to her stomach. He tried to shield her with his body so no one else on the street would see.
"The cologne was very strong," Georg agreed. "Do you want some water, I could get…"
"No!" Maria almost screeched. "No, don't leave me again, please, just stay with me."
"All right," Georg soothed. "It's all right, I'm right here, I'm not going anywhere. I think it's best if we go home. We can finish selecting the furnishings another day. You're not feeling well, I can see."
Georg wrapped his arms around Maria and together they went back to the car and returned to the villa. As soon as they walked in Frau Schmidt was fussing at Maria, "Oh, Baroness, you're so pale. Was the car ride unsettling?"
"No," Maria shook her head. "I'm just not feeling well. I think I'll lie down now, but I'll join you for dinner."
"I'll be up in a moment, Darling," Georg told her but Maria shook her head. "No, I'll be all right. I'll see you for dinner."
Georg took the hint, Maria needed to be alone. She needed to catch her breath. She was doing so well with him, they were slowly progressing in their physical and their emotional intimacy, but with other men she still had a difficult time. Braun was a difficult man to begin with. Georg was proud of Maria holding herself together that way.
Maria was shaking when she got to the safety of her bedroom. She went into the bathroom and splashed cool water on her face. The baby was also distressed, flipping and flopping inside of her. She took deep breaths, but it felt like no air was getting to her body, just getting trapped in her lungs.
The smell…It wasn't really a scent, and it wasn't an odor, but it something unique to itself. She had smelled it before, probably at the party, but it haunted her.
Maria kicked off her shoes and laid down on the bed to stretch her back. Her ankles had swollen a bit, probably from the all the salt she was putting into her diet. She shut her eyes and tried to will her breathing and heartbeat to slow down for the baby's sake. She placed her hand on her belly as she lie there, inhaling Georg's comforting scent letting it lull her to sleep.
"Max…" Georg sighed when he saw his friend sitting at his desk, feet propped up, smoking one his best cigars. "How many overseas calls did you make on my phone this time?"
"Only two," Max replied. "In a few days time, I'll be leaving you once again, but don't worry I'll be back before the baby comes."
If Georg was at home for a birth, Max would be there too. It was his job to make sure Georg's drinks were well watered so that he could remain at Agathe's side with a clear head. If anything did go wrong, like it did with Brigitta, he was there to calm and occupy children and pray with his friend.
"Thank you, Max," Georg replied.
"I thought you and Maria were going shopping today, a layette I think?"
"Maria had an incident," Georg replied. "She was hungry, so I went to get her a snack and Jakob Braun went over to talk to her, he said to congratulate her on the wedding, but…"
"You don't think so?" Max pressed. "Has he even met her? That was a little forward."
"Apparently they met at the von Klauss party," Georg sighed. "Will there be no end the list of reasons I regret not going to that party?"
"Georg stop it," Max told him. "You made a choice, Maria had a choice, things went awry way after that party, and it did help you get your head out of your hind end and marry that woman. Alls well that ends well, right?"
"What ends well, Max?" Georg asked. 'Yes, we're married, yes, we are getting closer every day, but my wife has been made to suffer, she's had to be afraid. She got sick to her stomach in the street."
"If she was near Jakob Braun, I don't blame her, that cologne he wears stinks," Max wrinkled his nose. "I know it's hard, I do, but you've earned Maria's love and her trust, I can see it. She's still a little jumpy around me, but I think that's getting better too."
Georg loosened his tie and sat back, "I suppose it's selfish really that I'm upset about Braun. Yes, it was forward of him to approach her while she was alone but if he knew her from the event…I just don't want something like that to set the two of us back in our relationship and how things are progressing. There are nights, Max, when I think that one day, perhaps after the baby is born or perhaps our anniversary, I might be able to make love to my wife. So, to have something like this happen…"
"You're scared," Max finished. "And you have every right to be scared. You have put up with a lot too. You have held Maria when the nightmares came, you calm her panic attacks, you have gone through all of this with her."
"Not all of it," Georg shook his head. "No, I wasn't there when this animal that attacked her pulled her down a cliff and had his way with her. I wasn't there to go through that with her."
Max couldn't say anything to comfort Georg for that. Max knew Georg held himself partially responsible for what happened with Heinrich Mueller and with the man that attacked Maria. There was nothing he could say to convince Georg that he was wrong, so he didn't try.
"Well, I'll leave you to your tasks, my friend," Max said rising. "I'll see you at dinner."
Max excused himself and let Georg get on with his work. He planned to check on Maria in a short while and make sure she was indeed able to rest after getting so upset earlier.
After working on log books and endless piles of data and cost analysis for his father-in-law's Austrian based extensions, Georg's eyes were burning. He stood up to stretch his back then took a few sips of water before going to check on his wife, though he didn't' have to.
As Georg was about to open the door and go see Maria, she came to see him. "Darling, you're supposed to be resting," he chided gently.
"I can't," Maria said so quietly he barely heard her.
"Did you have another nightmare?" Georg asked. "I'm sorry, I should have checked…"
"I didn't have a nightmare, Georg," Maria replied. "I didn't even sleep more than a few minutes, but I…I have to tell you…"
Georg reached out to touch Maria's cheek, "Yes, of course. There's nothing you can't say to me, you know that. Remember that always."
"That's just it," Maria confided. "I do remember, Georg. I remember everything."
A/N: Well, there it is. Another cliffhanger and a whole different way of Maria recalling anything. So, do we know who the attacker is, or is this man just share equally bad taste in cologne?