Georg was smiling when Maria joined him in his study the following night. "Good news?" she asked as she took her drink from his hands.
"As expected, your information has proven invaluable. There are people acting on it as we speak, and we will likely save many lives as a result."
"Really?"
"Truly. And in other good news, no one seems to know who you are. There has been much speculation, and I have fielded a number of calls today about you, but no one has yet connected the stunning young woman who accompanied me last night with my children's governess."
"They will though."
"I'm sure, but until that time, we do not have to announce anything which means that you can stay awhile longer. If you are still amenable to the idea, of course."
"Yes, of course!"
"Good. And the first thing I plan to do is to take you on a romantic vacation—or at least as romantic as one can get with seven children in tow." At her puzzled look, he gave a surprisingly boyish laugh and explained. "You mentioned the other day that Liesl had been asking about the children accompanying me on an upcoming trip. Well, it just so happens that I need to be in England for a couple meetings two weeks from now. The travel will take three times as long as the meetings themselves, and it's nothing dangerous, so I thought it would be the ideal time to take the children on a trip. And of course, I will need your help to watch them."
"Of course." Maria's heart fluttered at the prospect of going away with him. Somehow, taking their relationship out of the confines of the villa made it seem more real.
"I have a friend who has a beautiful house in the countryside there. Fortuitously, his wife is traveling the week I need to be in town, so he has decided to take the opportunity to visit his mistress which means the house will be empty. I offered to change that, and he graciously agreed."
"Oh." Maria's enthusiasm suddenly dampened at hearing the casual way Georg spoke about his friend's mistress. She told herself that it was silly to take offense—in Georg's social circle, it was fairly common for men to take mistresses, for most married for money or prestige. She had been foolish to think that their relationship would be any different.
He seemed to notice her sudden lack of excitement, for he peered at her carefully. "What is it? If you do not want to go, feel free to say so. Nothing is committed yet, so we do not have to do anything. I understand if it's too much too soon."
"No, it's not that, it's just. . . what does your friend know about me?"
"He knows I'm bringing my children and their governess, and that is all he needs to know. He won't suspect anything if that's what you're worried about. No one would expect me to take care of all seven children on my own and rightly so! I would probably lose half of them before the second day."
"I'm sure you would do fine."
"Not half so well as we will do together, I am sure." Maria nodded, unsure of what else to say. He seemed quite enthusiastic about the trip, and in many ways, she was as well. She simply needed to focus on the fun she was likely to have and stop worrying about possible future implications of his words—which may not even come to pass anyway.
Fortuitously, Georg for once did not push for Maria to give him more details about her reticence. Maria supposed he was too excited about the trip to do so, a fact for which she was grateful. Instead, after announcing the trip to the children the next morning, he threw himself whole-heartedly into planning for it. She often found him in the playroom or the older children's rooms, discussing what they would do on their upcoming vacation. He agreed to more of their suggestions than Maria had expected, showing once more just how far he had come as a father. However, a week before the trip, one of Friedrich's suggestions indicated to Maria that he was still not fully healed.
"Are we going to see Grandmother and Grandfather while we're in England?" Friedrich asked after a lengthy discussion of the sailboat that would apparently be at their disposal at the house where they were staying. The smile slipped immediately from Georg's face, and Liesl, who had been sitting cross-legged a few feet away, reading a book, looked up at her younger brother sharply.
"No, we will be quite far from their house, so I do not think it will be possible," Georg said shortly, standing up. "If you will excuse me, I have some business to finalize before our trip." With that, he strode from the room. Liesl rolled her eyes.
"You know Grandmother and Grandfather hate Father," Liesl scolded as soon as Georg had left.
"I just thought that he'd changed so much maybe. . ." Friedrich trailed off. Louisa snorted.
"He's changed. I'm sure they haven't. I don't see why you'd want to see them anyway."
Friedrich shrugged. "They're our grandparents. Aren't we supposed to want to see them?"
"Maybe if they acted like grandparents," Louisa remarked. Maria considered questioning her comment but eventually decided that it was none of her business. Perhaps once she and Georg were officially together, she would consider talking to him about his and the children's relationship with his late wife's parents. However, given his earlier reaction, perhaps not.
The children all seemed to have learned from Friedrich's comment, and none of them asked about their grandparents again. As the date of their departure grew closer, the children grew more and more excited, and eventually even Georg agreed they could forgo summer lessons in favor of packing and preparing for the trip. They embraced the task eagerly, so much so that Maria had lost track of the number of times they had repacked their bags. On the night before they were scheduled to depart, the children were extremely difficult to put to bed. After Kurt had rushed out of bed to pack something he had forgotten for the third time, Maria finally put her foot down and told all of them that they needed to stay in bed for the reset of the night, even if they did not sleep (their common objection).
All seven were up early the next morning—even Gretl seemed to sense her siblings' excitement and was standing in her crib, holding up her arms for Maria to pick her up. By the time Maria had dressed her and Marta, the other children were already downstairs waiting. They seemed surprisingly well rested despite the fact that Maria knew they had not slept much the previous night—or at least their excitement was making them seem more awake. They greeted her enthusiastically, and all ate quickly, eagerly discussing their plans for their trip. They actually finished breakfast early, and Georg sent them all to retrieve their bags, explaining to Maria that he hoped to run out at least a bit of their energy. She doubted it, but it at least kept them busy for a short time. Georg excused himself to retrieve his own luggage, and Maria decided it was time for her to prepare to leave also.
An hour later, Georg and Franz managed to fit the last suitcase into the trunk of the second car. As soon as they saw the cars were packed, the children immediately began to scramble into them. Reluctantly, Maria slid into the one that Franz was driving; she and Georg had discussed the arrangements earlier and determined it would be much too suspicious for her to ride with him. He had given her a small smile when he saw her unhappiness. "I am not too happy about splitting up either, but it is fortunately a short ride to the train station."
Georg's prediction turned out to be slightly incorrect. Traffic was unexpectedly heavy, so the normally twenty minute drive took almost forty-five minutes. Maria was grateful the children's excitement had caused them to leave early, for they arrived with plenty of time to get the luggage unloaded before the train came. The children's excitement was growing, something Maria had not believed possible until she saw it happening. When the train finally arrived, Georg led them all to the first-class carriage he had booked, and the children settled into their seats. Kurt, Friedrich, and Liesl peppered Maria and Georg with questions about the trip with an occasional addition from Louisa or Brigitta. Georg finally put an end to the questioning by telling them they would simply have to wait for things to happen and enjoy the surprise. After that, Maria distracted them by encouraging them to look out the window at the passing countryside and try to guess where they were. Georg was, unsurprisingly, quite accurate.
It was far past the children's bedtime when they departed the train in Calais. The youngest four had fallen asleep, and though Louisa, Friedrich, and Liesl still had their eyes open, they were basically asleep on their feet. Maria started to wake Kurt and Brigitta so they could walk, but Georg shook his head, surprising her when he leaned over and picked them up, letting one rest on each shoulder. "Liesl, can you take Gretl so Maria can get Marta?" he asked. His oldest daughter nodded tiredly, lifting the sleeping toddler and allowing Maria to take Marta.
"Are you sure they're not too heavy, Georg?" Maria asked.
Georg gave a soft smile. "The hotel is right outside the train station, and I have already made arrangements for a suite." He led the way to the hotel where a bellhop already waited with their luggage on an overflowing cart. Once more, Maria marveled over just how smooth money could make things. The bellhop led the way to their suite, and Georg quickly deposited the sleeping children on his shoulders on one of the beds before directing him where to leave the luggage in a whispered voice and taking the offered key. Maria lay Marta down on one of the beds as well and removed her shoes and socks before turning to do the same for the other sleeping children. By the time she had finished her task, the bellhop had left and the oldest three children were also in bed ready for sleep. She said goodnight to them all before exiting the room. Georg gave her a tired smile as he locked the main door to the suite. "There is a master bedroom down that hallway that you can have for the night," he told her, pointing. "I will take the third bedroom near the children."
"Oh, I couldn't! You should-"
He stepped toward her, stopping her words with a finger on her lips. "Think of it as some much-deserved time off before I leave you alone for three days with seven over-excited children in an unfamiliar place if that helps." The reminder that he would leave them soon caused her to frown, and he removed his finger to kiss her gently. "I will be back before you know it," he promised, his breath caressing her lips. "And then we have two whole weeks together." That did sound nice. Before Maria could object anymore, he was gently pushing her back toward the master bedroom. He stopped at the doorway, giving her a last, lingering kiss. "Sleep well," he whispered. With that, he was gone. Too tired to try and find him to argue more, Maria quickly removed her shoes and socks before falling onto the bed still in her clothes. She considered trying to find her nightclothes, but the thought of digging through the large pile of luggage in the sitting room exhausted her, and she soon fell asleep.
Knowing their train would arrive late, Georg had booked a late morning ferry, so they had plenty of time for a leisurely breakfast despite the later than average wake up time. The children's excitement had returned after a full night's sleep, and Maria was beginning to wonder how she was going to keep them from falling overboard in their eagerness to see everything. "Have I been on a boat like this before, Papa?" Kurt questioned as they waited in line to board.
"Once, but you were around Marta's age, so you may not remember."
Kurt furrowed his brow, thinking hard, but he eventually shook his head. "I don't remember."
"Father lost you," Louisa remarked, and Georg frowned at his middle daughter.
"I most certainly did not."
"You did. I remember."
"She's right," Liesl agreed. "Remember, Brigitta was fussing a lot, so Mother went below deck with her, but we all wanted to go up top. You said you could take us, claimed if you could look after a whole submarine of men, how hard could four small children be. And then Kurt followed one of the crewmen to the engine room, and the men there decided to let him stay. We had half the boat looking, but Mother somehow never found out. You swore us all to secrecy."
"Really, Georg?" Maria questioned, watching him carefully. She saw a brief flash of pain in his eyes at the mention of his late wife, but his expression mostly reflected fond remembrance.
"I still do not understand how he managed to get away." The children all laughed at their Father who joined in immediately, ruffling his younger son's hair.
"Please stay near your Father or I this time," Maria told the others, holding Gretl closer as they approached the front of the line. They soon boarded, and Maria and Georg gave into the children's pleas to make the crossing on the top deck. Fortunately, it seemed all of the children had inherited their father's sea legs and took Maria's command to heart, so it was uneventful journey across the channel.
They parted ways with Georg in the train station, for he needed to work the following morning. Maria had already discussed details of the last leg of their trip with him, and she had them all written down on a slip of paper in her pocket just in case. Their train left first, so Georg waited with them on the platform until it arrived. Once he had ensured the porter had loaded their luggage and helped his children into the carriage, he instructed Liesl to watch her siblings for a minute. Grabbing Maria's hand, he pulled her to him, pressing a quick kiss to her lips. It was not the passionate goodbye either wanted, but they knew it was the best they could do given the circumstances. At least they would be together again soon, away from prying eyes. "Safe travels," he told her. "You have the number to call when you arrive."
"Stay safe as well." He gave her a final kiss before dropping her hand, letting her board the train with his children. All eight stood at the window, waving until he was out of sight. Parting from their father did dampen the children's enthusiasm somewhat, but they cheered up relatively quickly once Maria mentioned that he would return in a couple days and reminded them of the fun they would have in England.
Georg's friend's butler was waiting for them at the station in a car large enough to—surprisingly-fit all eight of them and their luggage. They drove for nearly an hour before reaching a house that was even larger than the von Trapp villa. As they piled out of the car, Friedrich noticed the most important detail in his mind immediately. "Just look at that lake!" he shouted, running towards the body of water.
"Wait!" Maria called, taking Gretl into her arms and grabbing Kurt's hand to keep him from running after his brother. Marta and Brigitta fortunately stayed near her, so she did not need to worry about them. Kurt, however, loved to follow his older siblings everywhere.
Friedrich, unfortunately, did not listen. Beside Maria, Liesl sighed. "I'll get him, Fraulein," she said before sprinting after her brother. Maria glanced over to see the butler watching the two children, looking shocked. He muttered something in English before walking to the back of the car. Maria turned to Louisa, the only one of the children still nearby who spoke some of the foreign tongue.
"I don't know that you ant me to translate that," she informed Maria, looking a bit smug. Given the butler's expression, Maria decided to trust her on that front.
Maria made her way down to the lake more slowly than the oldest two children; by the time she reached the shore, both had already rolled the cuffs of their pants up and were in the water splashing each other. Louisa and Kurt immediately followed their example and, after a few moments of hesitation, Brigitta did as well. Maria sighed, noting that they were at least happy. "Just don't go in past your knees," she told them.
By the time they entered the house for the first time, everyone was dripping wet, for the children had brought the water fight to the shore at one point, soaking even little Gretl. A maid met them in the foyer, her face severe, and Maria realized they were likely making a good deal of work for her. "Oh, I can clean this up once we're cleaned up. I just need some towels and rags and. . . you don't speak German, I guess." The maid's frown deepened. Fortunately, Liesl came to her rescue, translating Maria's comments. With a single nod, the maid disappeared, returning a couple minutes later with the requested towels and rags. Maria thanked her, stumbling a bit over one of the only English phrases she knew, before shooing the children to the stairs. At the last minute, she realized she did not know where they were staying and turned back to the maid. The older woman had a quick conversation with Liesl who informed Maria, "She said we're down the hallway to the left, the first three doors on the right."
Maria followed the instructions and found their luggage fortunately already waiting in the rooms. She left the oldest five children to change while she helped the youngest two and changed herself before returning to the foyer to clean up the mess they had made. The maid was still waiting there, and she nodded approvingly as Maria began to mop up the water. Her time with her uncle and then at the Abbey had taught Maria how to scrub a floor well, and she put those skills to use now. When she was finished, the maid actually smiled slightly, reaching out to take the dirty rags from Maria's hands before disappearing. Thankful she had avoided the other woman's reproach, Maria returned to the rooms they were staying in where Liesl was supervising the unpacking. Seeing that everything was going smoothly, Maria left to try and find a telephone and make the promised call to Georg. She walked downstairs, planning to try the foyer, when she nearly ran into a maid who looked to be a couple years younger than Maria herself. "Oh, I'm sorry," Maria apologized automatically in German.
"It's no problem," the maid replied in that same language, surprising Maria.
Deciding to take advantage of her good fortune at finding someone who spoke her native language, Maria asked, "I was actually hoping to find a telephone to make a quick call. Can you help?"
"Of course." The girl led Maria to a sitting area off the foyer, pointing to a corner table with a phone. "Can I help with anything else?"
"No, thank you." Maria pulled the paper out of her pocket, dialing the number Georg left her. The person she spoke to tried to ring Georg's room directly before informing her that he was out. Maria left a message that they had arrived safely, feeling oddly disappointed as she hung up. She had been hoping to hear his voice, even if only for a moment.
Dinner was pleasant and boisterous, obviously more so than the staff had been expecting. However, by the end of it, Maria thought she saw a small smile on the footman's face as he served dessert. Despite their excitement, all the travel had worn out the children, and half of them had fallen asleep before Maria even finished the nightly reading. She said goodnight before retiring to her own room, soon falling asleep herself. The children were not the only ones who had traveled far.
Maria and the children spent much of the next two days down by the lake. Friedrich had begged Maria to let him take the sailboat out, but Maria had insisted he wait for his father. She had never been sailing before, and the craft in question was a good deal bigger than the boat Friedrich used at home. Maria would hate to be the one responsible for crashing the beautiful boat. Friedrich sulked a bit but recovered when Maria did agree to let them all go out on the rowboat. During the rowboat trip, however, Friedrich had grown a bit too bossy with his siblings, and Louisa called him on it. Their fighting had resulted in an unexpected dip in the lake for Louisa who then took over the sulking for the rest of the day. Maria tried to cheer her up by suggesting a hike, normally a favorite activity of hers, but Louisa rebuffed all of her attempts. Maria sighed. She had attempted to talk to Louisa after the ball, but she had still not warmed to the idea of Maria marrying her father.
Though Maria had not had much success with Louisa, she had managed to befriend the German-speaking maid, a girl named Emma who had grown up in Switzerland. Emma had shown Maria a back entrance which let them enter after swimming without dripping water in the main areas of the house, and she had also explained many of the household routines to Maria. In addition, Maria found her a pleasant companion; on her second night there, Maria had gone down to the servant's quarters after putting the children to bed, and the two had stayed up late discussing everything from the differences between England and the continent to places they hoped to travel one day. Though they were not as nice as her late-night talks with Georg, Maria did enjoy talking with Emma, and she found herself seeking her out on their third night as well.
On their third full day at the house, Maria could feel the children growing more excited, and she knew they were anticipating their father's arrival almost as much as she was. She saw their eyes continually dart towards the drive while they played in the lake, the disappointment clear on their faces every time they found it still empty. By late afternoon, she was starting to wonder what was keeping him, and when he still had not arrived by dinnertime, she was truly worried. She knew it was possible that he was held up somewhere, but surely he would have called to inform them of that if so. She tried not to let the worry show when the children questioned her on his absence, but she did not know that she was very successful on that front.
When she met Emma later that night, she was no longer able to hide the worry, and the other woman noticed immediately. "What's wrong?" she asked.
Maria considered brushing her off or telling a lie, but she had never been good at either. Eventually, she admitted, "Ge-Captain von Trapp was supposed to be here today, but he has not arrived."
"Perhaps he was delayed."
"Maybe, but why did he not call?"
"Well, he might have been otherwise occupied." Emma gave her a significant look. Maria frowned.
"It's not like him to worry his children unnecessarily." Or her, she added silently.
"He may not have been thinking of his children."
"Oh, he's always thinking of the children."
"There are certain situations when. . . you know, Maria, I had a hard time believing you were almost a nun when you first told me, but now I'm beginning to understand." She stared again at Maria, and Maria colored as she realized what the other woman was implying.
"Oh, it's not like. . . he wouldn't. . . I'm sure. . ." Maria trailed off, her face burning.
Emma laughed. "Your naivete is a breath of fresh air, but if Captain von Trapp is anything like other noblemen I know, he most definitely would." Emma peered more closely at Maria. "You do know where the master and mistress of this house are, don't you?"
Maria's blush deepened. "I do, but that doesn't mean. . ." Maria trailed off, suddenly realizing that she could not be sure Georg had not been detained for the reasons Emma implied. After all, if he could speak so casually about his friend visiting a mistress, why would he balk at doing the same? They were not even married. And as much as it pained her to think of him with another woman, she would prefer that to other alternatives—ones where she would never see him again, and try as she might, Maria could not think of anything else which would have kept him from calling.
"Oh, I didn't realize!" Emma suddenly clasped a hand to her mouth.
"Realize what?"
"That you and he. . . please tell me that you did not give yourself to him yet! No good ever comes of relationships between employers and employees. Why, there was a maid here just a year or so ago who got a bit too close to the Earl. Needless to say, she got herself into all sorts of trouble and was sent away pretty quickly."
Maria's stomach rolled, and she swallowed hard to quell her sudden nausea. Surely her relationship with Georg was not like that. He had said he wanted to marry her! But perhaps he was just saying that because he knew she expected it. After all, she really did not know much about the upper class. Standing, she said, "I'm feeling rather tired, so I think I will retire for the night."
"Maria? I didn't mean to offend. I'm sure-"
"You didn't offend. I am just tired, and I am sure I will be up early with the children tomorrow given how worried they are. I will see you tomorrow." With that, Maria left.