The Lonely Goatherd – Chapter 9

A/N: Sorry for the delay - it's a bit hard juggling the time to update two long and involved stories. Thanks everyone for the support and encouragement for both this story and "When The Lord Closes A Door". Hope you all like this update. Please review!

Later that night, Maria and Georg were seated together at a quiet table out of the way at The Lonely Goatherd. It had been hard to find somewhere private for them to be alone as the tavern was a buzz of excitement that night and full of people. So many ships had come back to port and all the men were looking for a night out to relax and forget about the war. Maria even spied Margaretta, supposedly recovered from her recent sickness, on the other side of the tavern with a young, tall blond man. However, Margaretta still looked unwell and extremely unhappy as she spoke to the young man, but Maria barely even pondered why as all of her thoughts were being devoted to Georg.

He'd placed the menus upright on the other side of the table to give them at least a bit of privacy away from the prying eyes of his men. Georg had learnt that sailors were almost worse than women when it came to gossip and there had already been a certain number of whispers around his ship about him and a certain nurse who he'd chased after she'd run out of tavern the last time they were in port. And also being in such a public place like The Lonely Goatherd meant that there was no opportunity for stolen kisses or any sort of open affection without them drawing attention to themselves. Still, Georg sat as close to Maria as he could, his hand holding hers underneath the table, the pad of his thumb casually moving over her knuckles.

They'd been there just over an hour and had talked almost non-stop since they'd sat down. Maria had forgotten how easy it was to talk to him. She looked adoringly at Georg as he became all animated when telling her an amusing story about an incident that had happened at one of the ports that they'd stopped at during their time away at sea. Maria laughed heartedly along with him then sighed as she reflected on how changed he'd become since they'd met just over 6 months earlier. No longer was he the solemn and serious man that she'd first encountered; no, he had now relaxed and opened up and slowly he was revealing a new side to him to her: one with a witty sense of humour and a bit of sass.

"You've got so many interesting stories to tell since you've been away," she remarked. "Practically nothing has happened to me since you've been gone. I'm so boring!"

"Not boring at all," Georg reassured her. "And from your letters, it sounded like you've been pretty busy at the hospital."

"My letters? You read them then?"

"I think I've read each one at least a dozen times," Georg told her sheepishly, looking a little like a nervous schoolboy about to ask his first crush on a date. Maria even thought she detected the faintest of blushes rising to his cheeks. She was glad he'd missed as much as she's missed him.

"Writing back kept me from missing you too much," Maria told him sincerely.

Georg squeezed her hand gently under the table. "Well, I'm back now – at least for the moment, that is."

"How long will you be in Pola for?"

"Not sure," Georg absently rubbed his chin. "Several weeks I'm guessing. There are certain repairs we need to make to the ship and restocking supplies, that sort of thing." Maria smiled. She was pleased that Georg would be with her for a decent amount of time, especially after he'd been away so long.

At that moment, the meals that they had ordered earlier that evening arrived and they continued to chat as they ate their dinner. "Although," Georg said, "Zeller seems keen to get back out to sea as soon as possible. Things are slowly turning away from us in the favour of the enemy and so he doesn't want to spend too much time in port."

"I see," Maria's face fell.

"But I think it's a mistake," Georg continued. "The men need to rest and recuperate if they are going to be efficient at their duty and a ship badly in need of repair would be disastrous out on the ocean. There doesn't seem a point to rushing things more than necessary."

"But why do it?" Maria asked.

Georg put down his knife and fork and stared for a moment at the ceiling, clicking his tongue against his teeth. Then his flicked his eyes back to Maria. "I think he's scared of losing control," he stated bluntly. "He's always aspired to be in a position of power and authority I can sense that he'll do whatever he needs to maintain his position in the Navy. While Zeller was promoted to Commander, there was so much chaos, mutiny and drama with all the business with the Agathe there are still questions being asked about his role in the entire incident. Then course with myself being decorated for bravery and placed in command, well…"

"You think he's threatened by you?"

"Perhaps," Georg surmised with a sigh.

"But you're still under his orders?"

"Yes, unfortunately I am. I do, however, do my best to tactfully avoid them, where possible though," he flashed Maria a wicked grin. "But having said that, Zeller is a dangerous man to have as an enemy so I have to be careful. Strategic. That's what it is. I have a certain amount of authority of my own and I suppose I pick my battles for the rest of it."

Maria ran one hand along Georg's arm. "Well I just want you to be careful."

He smiled. "I'll do my best."

"Good, because I can't have anything happen to you," she grinned. "Remember, you did promise me a wedding once the war is over."

Georg leaned back in his chair, resting his free arm casually over the back. "I did, didn't I?" he chuckled. "I guess that is one upside of the war possibly coming to an end sooner rather than later. I really can't wait to marry you." He gave her such a look of adoration mixed with lust that she immediately blushed.

"Well, why don't we get married as soon as we can?" Maria asked slowly, trying not to let her voice quiver that would show the effect he was having on her.

Georg sat forward in his chair and leant so close to her that he could whisper in her ear. "Maria, I want you so badly that I'd like nothing better than to beat down the door of the first priest I could come upon and force him to marry us immediately." Maria felt her whole body tingle with anticipation as he spoke. "However," Georg continued more seriously. "I need to keep a straight head about this. I do still believe that waiting until after the war is the best thing for us in the long run. And then we can do it properly – a grand wedding back in Salzburg at Nonnberg Abbey with hundreds of guests packed into the church lining the aisle as you walk down to meet me, dressed in an exquisite white dress with a veil that goes on for meters and meters."

Maria felt a little deflated hearing that he still wanted to wait to be married but she tried to crack a smile. "Hundreds of guests?" she laughed low. "I'm not sure I know that many people."

"Don't worry. I know a few people. That's the benefit of being an aristocrat: always knowing a huge array of nameless people to invite to balls and weddings just to fill up seats." He chuckled at his own joke but when he saw the downcast look on Maria's face, he stopped. "Darling," he stroked her hand. "I know it's hard, but please trust me."

"I do, but…"

Before Maria could finish what she was going to say, at that moment she was interrupted by whoops and cheering coming from the other side of the tavern. Maria looked over to see Elsa arriving, dazzling dressed in sparkling red twirling and spinning as the many sailors swarmed around her trying to greet her and kiss her hand. Georg seemed unperturbed by the spectacle and merely resumed eating his dinner. As Elsa disappeared into the swarm of sailors, Maria returned to her dinner as well, their previous conversation seemingly forgotten.

It was only as they were both finishing their meals; Elsa slinked over to their table. "Georg, darling," she crooned, still a little breathless from all the male attention she'd been receiving. "It's so good to see you."

"Elsa," he replied as Elsa planted a wet kiss on his cheek. "How are you?"

"Fine, darling," she breathed as she fanned herself with her hand.

He looked her up and down as Elsa perched herself up on the edge of the table, crossing her legs in such a way that the split on the shirt of her dress fell open to reveal her shapely legs underneath. "Wearing red again, I see?" he remarked dryly.

"Oh Georg," Elsa dismissed him with a bright laugh and a wave of her hand. "You of all people should know that I only ever wear red… and sometimes very, very dark pink," she added as an afterthought.

Georg threw his hands up in the air in mock defeat. "Of course, how silly of me." Maria giggled listening to Georg's sarcasm.

"Anyway, darling," Elsa gushed enthusiastically. "I just wanted to come over and tell you how happy I was to hear about your engagement. Maria told me."

"Thank you Elsa," Georg replied as Elsa bent over and gave him another kiss on the cheek. The back of Elsa's head blocked Maria's view of her face but as Elsa pulled back, Georg saw the smile fade from her face and Elsa's eyes darken like a shadow passing over them. He frowned, wondering what was going through Elsa's head and he was about to comment on it when the bright smile returned to her face.

"Now," Elsa began brightly as she sat up very straight on her perch, "I have something for the two of you. A little gift, I suppose. My way of offering congratulations." Without batting an eyelid, Elsa plunged her hand down her enormous cleavage and pulled out a key. She placed it on the table in front of them. "My best room. It's yours free of charge for however long you want it." She winked as Maria's mouth fell wide open.

Without waiting for a reply or even a thank you, Elsa slid off the table and slinked back out into the crowd. "Enjoy it, both of you," she called out over her shoulder.

Georg was immediately on his feet. "Elsa, wait!" he cried out after her, but she was gone. Georg huffed to himself in frustration as he sat back down, glancing over at Maria beside him.

Seeing the look of shock and surprise on Maria's face, he tenderly patted her hand. "Ignore Elsa," he instructed. "All she ever thinks about is sex and I suppose she thought she was doing us a favour."

"B-but, b-but…" Maria stammered, hardly knowing what to think.

"Maria," Georg said gently taking her hand. "I meant what I said on the beach that morning about wanting to take you into my bed, but I also told you that my intentions are honourable – we can still wait until we're married if you like." And like he was almost completely untroubled about the entire situation, Georg simply reached for his glass of wine and took a large sip. "There isn't any rush, is there?" He then pushed the key away from them onto the other side of the table and without waiting for her response, he asked, "Now, should we order dessert?"

Maria was flabbergasted that he could remain so calm about having such an offer placed before them. She blinked several times as she tried to sort out all the ridiculous and crazy thoughts that were going through her mind. Of course she had always imagined that she would wait until she was married before sleeping with a man, but yet every time she was with Georg, his kisses and the way his hands caressed her body seemed to stir something inside her that she'd never experienced before. Their night together on the beach, kissing and touching then even earlier that day their passionate embrace in the supply closet seemed to ignite a fire inside her – a burning desire to be with him in every way. Part of her felt petrified about the prospect of them becoming lovers, and yet there was another part of her that was secretly exhilarated by the thought of having him touch her everywhere and make love to her.

But of course Georg was right: there wasn't any rush. Despite her frustration at having to wait to be married until after the war, she knew that there would be plenty of time to enjoy each other after the wedding and do everything properly and nothing untoward, as Sister Berthe would say. Yes, good decision Maria, she silently congratulated herself.

Dessert came however Maria found herself continually distracted. She had begun to regret her decision. She could see the key sitting on the other side of the table and every time she looked at it, she began to imagine what it would be like if only they took the key and went up to that room. Her heart began to race and she could feel the blush spread all over her face as all sorts of inappropriate thoughts raced through her mind.

Georg watched her carefully as he finished his dessert. Maria kept pushing her uneaten dessert around her place aimlessly as her eyes repeatedly flicked over in the direction of the key on the table. "Maria," he remarked with a sigh. "Stop looking at that key."

Maria looked up in surprise. "What?" she stammered, trying to come up with some sort of explanation. "I wasn't, I mean yes I was…" she looked down and began to twist her napkin in her hands as she spoke, the words coming rambling out of her mouth. "But I was just thinking that well, it's so crowded in here and hardly very private and well, perhaps if we went to the room it would give us somewhere where we could, you know, uh… talk."

Georg was finding it hard to remain calm and determined to hold to his decision to wait until after they were married. But he felt all his resolve quickly crumbling away. "Maria," he said so softly that it made the hairs on the back of Maria's neck stand on end. She looked up at him to a look of pure desire on his face. "I think if we went up to that room, the very last thing we'd be doing would be talking."

The burning look in his eyes sent waves of hot and cold washing over her at the same time. The sound of her blood pulsating thundered in her ears and her heart was thumping so hard in her chest that she felt it was going to jump right out of her body. She knew at that moment that she'd changed her mind.

With her eyes never leaving his and fingers trembling slightly, she reached across the table and closed her hand over the key. Georg took her other hand and with a slight screech of the chair legs against the floor as he moved his seat away from the table, he stood up and pulled her to her feet.

Wordlessly, he led her across the room and out the back door. The only person who noticed them leave was Elsa who smiled to herself.