"Otto, stop!" She yelled as he grasped her shoulders, shoving her back into the study and slamming the door behind them with his foot. His grip was tight upon her arms, and he shook her in his anger. Her body couldn't keep up with his movement.
"What the fuck did I just hear?"
"I don't know, I…" He shoved her against the wall, and she gasped as the breath was knocked out of her body.
"You lying, promiscuous little bitch!" She had no idea what had come over him, what she had done to set him off. They hadn't even spoken.
"Please, tell me what I've done." He quickly stepped closer, his face only inches from her own.
"Don't you mean 'who' you've done?" How could he have known a thing, she wondered, her eyebrows knotted in confusion. "I listened on the other phone just now."
"Oh, no…Otto, I can explain. You see, I…" He grasped her shoulders in his hands again, slamming her against the wall as he held her firmly in place.
"You can't explain without a lie coming out of your mouth." Her breathing was heavy as she tried to determine her best course of action. While his treatment of her was sobering, she still felt quite drunk from the wine in her system.
"If you will listen, please, let's calm down and talk." She was trying her best to pull him out of his rage, to help him see reason, but all he saw was red.
"Calm down and talk? You're fucking that old man!" She shook her head, ready to lie to him once again, excuses ready to spill from her lips, but she just couldn't do it anymore. She didn't care about the consequences anymore, she was so tired of lying.
"Yes." He slapped her hard across the face, and she cried out in surprise. She shouldn't have been surprised at all, she knew, but the fact still didn't make it hurt any less. Her face felt hot, her skin stinging as she clinched her teeth against the pain.
"And it seemed you loved every minute of it. Even him talking you through defiling yourself over the phone…you sounded like a common whore."
"Stop, please." She cried, unsure what she could do to get away from him. His fingers were digging deeply into her arms, and she was afraid of his next move.
"I don't even know who that woman was talking to him! I've not met her before!" She couldn't stop the tears falling down her cheeks, unable to look him in the eyes as he shook her in frustration. "You told him you love him…and you do?"
"Yes, I do." He shook with anger, and she swallowed hard, awaiting her next slap to the face, though it never came.
"When?"
"When…"
"When did it start? Look at me, damn you." He roughly grasped her chin in his hand, forcing her to meet his eyes. She didn't recognize him, his face angrier than she had ever seen.
"The second night we were in Salzburg, I went to bed with him. That was all."
"Oh yes, just the once. What a difference that makes!"
"You had just bruised my wrist, I was very vulnerable…"
"Fuck you and your excuses, Maria." He shoved her once more, her back hitting squarely against the wall. He stepped away, pacing about the room, and she decided that his moment of distraction was her moment to escape. She knew in her heart that she needed to get away from him immediately. She began inching away from the wall, slowly preparing herself to begin running. "Where do you think you're going?"
He walked toward her swiftly. She panicked, using his moment of unpreparedness to her advantage, and she punched as hard as she could, her fist colliding with his nose as he jumped backward in pain. She hurriedly ran to the door, grasping at the knob and swinging it open quickly, before she felt his arms wrap around her waist from behind. He lifted her from the ground, and she kicked and screamed for him to let her go. It frightened her how much stronger he was than her, and she began to fight as if her life depended on it. She was able to kick him in the shins, which sent them quickly to the ground. She immediately felt lightheaded as her head hit hard against the wooden floor, and she prayed she wouldn't lose consciousness. He grasped her shoulders, shouting and yelling profanities in her face, violently shaking her with each rise and fall of his voice.
"Let me go!" She struggled against him, slapping and kicking him anywhere she could while he continued to pin her to the floor, yelling and screaming in her face. The blood streaming out of his nose dripped all over her, sticky and warm against her skin. "Please."
"You sound ridiculous, you vile woman….you whore. I can't stand to look at you!" His hands wrapped around her throat, and she gasped in complete fear before she was unable to breathe. She kicked harder, hoping to make any kind of contact with his body, as she clawed at his wrists. He held her tightly in place, his anger taking him to a place he had never been before. She felt weak, her eyes failing her as she began to see darkness hindering her vision, her hands unable to squeeze or fight him any harder. "I hate you!"
"Stop this, now!" He looked up from his position on top of her body, his gaze toward the door, and she gasped for air as he finally removed his hands from her throat and lifted his weight from her chest. She coughed and panted as the air rushed into her aching lungs.
Liesl stood in the doorway, tears falling down her cheeks, and a large candlestick gripped in her hand. She was ready to fight as well, certain she didn't know how, but she would do anything she had to do in that moment. Otto stood, giving Maria one last look of disgust, before he quickly exited the study, blood streaming viciously from his nose. After he passed, Liesl didn't hesitate to rush into the room, slamming and locking the door behind her as she knelt above Maria.
"Liesl, I'm so sorry." She could barely speak, unable to stop crying, as she hurried to try sitting up to pull the girl into her arms in comfort, but Liesl surprised her by wrapping her own arms around her former governess and holding her tightly. They remained upon the floor together, calming down the best either of them could. Her entire body was shaking without her control, and she wondered if she was in some form of shock.
"Did he hurt you badly? Should we call an ambulance?" She could feel her cheek burning, her throat feeling as if it were about to collapse, but she was certain she was fine enough. Her ears were still ringing from how he yelled, her head throbbing violently from being slammed against the floor.
"No…I…" She couldn't speak, her brain rapid firing in all directions. "I'm fine."
"What are we supposed to do?"
"I don't know." She wished she could stop crying, desperately wanting to be stronger for her former charge.
"I do." Liesl stood and immediately picked up the phone while Maria held her face in her hands, trying her best to sort out her mind. She vaguely wondered if she perhaps had a concussion. Her head was pounding, and she felt as if she would be sick any moment. She felt incredibly dizzy. "Father, we need help. It's Fraulein Maria…"
"What are you doing?" She gasped, tripping over herself to rush to Liesl's side, reaching for the phone, but she wouldn't let her take it.
"She's been hurt, I don't know what to do." Georg felt his blood boiling the moment he answered the phone.
"How badly? Can you put her on?" She handed the phone to Maria, who quickly sat down in the desk chair once more. "Maria?"
"Please don't worry, it's not…"
"Otto?" He could hear her crying, and he began gathering his belongings, taking his car keys from his desk drawer.
"I…yes, he was listening to our phone conversation."
"Yours and mine?"
"Yes." She sniffled, holding back a sob as she was unable to stop crying. She held her hand over her mouth.
"Christ, how much did he hear?"
"I don't know…enough. Anything would have been too much." She could hardly breathe, adrenalin still coursing through her veins. Liesl took a tissue from the desk and reached forward to dab a bit of blood away from the cut upon her cheekbone.
"I'm on my way."
"What? Georg, you don't…"
"Yes, I do. Put Liesl back on." She sniffled, suddenly not wanting to let him go at all. "Maria. I love you, darling. I'll see you soon."
"I love you too." Liesl's eyebrows couldn't have raised any higher at the words, but she silently took the phone back and listened to her father's instructions.
xxxxx
It would have been a very long drive, one that took many hours, but he knew he needed to get there quickly, so he drove as fast as he could to the train station. He was thankful that he was able to board the last train for the night, and he was on his way to Vienna in record time. He hadn't packed a bag, barely left Max with an explanation when he told him to watch the children, and he felt incredibly chaotic for a man who always had things together. He couldn't have cared less, he needed to get to her side as quickly as possible.
The fact that she had been assaulted made him sick. The fact that Liesl had been there, witnessed something, anything, made him sick. He wanted so hard to believe that his instincts were wrong when he sent his daughter with them, but he knew in his heart that it was a bad decision. Though, had she not been there…he couldn't think about that. Maria was fine.
He had instructed Liesl to phone the authorities and tell them the absolute truth, everything she had seen and heard. He only hoped Maria would take her lead and do the same. She always had a tendency of painting over things, making light of difficult situations that required honesty and straightforward thinking. He wasn't sure he could blame Otto for being angry with her, especially finding out she had cheated on him and continuously lied to him about it. Of course, arguing was one thing; he could never condone laying hands on a woman like that, no matter what she had done.
He looked out the window of the train, sighing as he watched the scenery pass. He knew the trip well enough, having been to Vienna many times in his life, but somehow it was taking so much longer than it usually did. He tapped his foot, frustrated by the distance between him and the woman he loved. Had he been there with her…no, had he insisted she stay with him…but he had. He had tried so hard to get her to stay with him, but she insisted that her husband deserved another chance. He scoffed to himself, crossing his arms over his chest at the thought. She was too good of a person, too sweet and forgiving, of course someone like Otto would take such extreme advantage of her. He was disgusted. He knew he should have taken matters into his own hands from the moment the first bruise appeared on her body.
He looked out the window once more, and then he checked his watch. He supposed it would still be at least another hour before he arrived, maybe more. Time seemed to take forever.
xxxxx
She sighed in frustration as the doctor held up a finger in front of her face and instructed her to follow it back and forth. The police were one thing, but she hadn't realized they would call in a doctor as well. He examined her thoroughly, and she felt completely humiliated when he asked her to remove her blouse so they could take account of the bruises forming upon her arms. She felt so many emotions: anger, sadness, loneliness. Everything she could possibly feel, she felt, and it was terribly confusing.
Liesl stayed by her side the entire time, holding her hand or offering encouraging words when she could sense tension or unease. When she removed her blouse, she heard Liesl stifle a gasp, and she couldn't bear to look for herself. She knew where she felt tender, and she knew how hard he had held her. She wasn't sure she could see herself like that. The bruises were fresh, which she knew meant they would only look worse before they looked better anyway. A reminder of her mistakes that would be visible for weeks after.
"Doctor, is this really necessary? I feel fine." He gave her a skeptical look, and she readjusted the blanket over her shoulders. Thankfully her body had finally stopped shaking.
"I believe you have a slight concussion, Baroness."
"Nonsense."
"You did say you hit your head quite a few times."
"Yes, but…"
"But nothing. You'll need plenty of rest, and I want to see you again in a week's time." Every part of her wanted to argue, wanted to tell him how ridiculous he sounded, but she held back. She knew it was only her vulnerability speaking, and she simply nodded in agreement.
She told the police everything she could, minus a few more intimate details of her phone call with Georg, but she laid it all out for them. She admitted to committing adultery, to lying to her husband, and to the words of rage they shared when they argued. She felt herself blushing the entire time, very embarrassed for what her life had become, but she knew she needed to stop lying. She needed to stop lying to others, but, most importantly, she needed to stop lying to herself.
An officer stood watch outside her house in case Otto returned, and she and Liesl cuddled in blankets upon the sofa. They remained quiet, unsure what to even say at that point, but thankful to be together. There were so many questions floating in the young woman's head, but she didn't ask a single one, as she knew there would be time for that later. She was merely glad that her best friend was safe. She was certain she would never get the memory of everything she heard and saw out of her head.
"I hope you don't mind, I let myself in." They both turned to find Georg standing in the entryway, a gentle smile upon his face. Maria began to cry once more, quickly rushing to launch herself into his arms.