"When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us."

— Alexander Graham Bell


Happy new year to everyone. It's certainly been a hot minute between updates - so, my apologies if you have been wondering if this story was ever returning with an update! It's never far from my thoughts, but December and January were a complete disaster with some health challenges in my household. Good news is life is slowly crawling back to normal and I have had some time and a clear head to pull this out again. I had it in a pretty good spot around the time of the last update.


"The stars are quite beautiful tonight, aren't they Fraulein?"

Maria was startled out of her reverie and she turned as best she could to look over her shoulder. Out of the corner of her eye she was pleasantly surprised to see the Captain standing behind her at the gates, flanked by Gustav and Franz in the moonlight.

"Oh, Captain, you startled me!" Maria replied.

"Apologies, Fraulein, I didn't mean to scare you. I'm sorry to interrupt your quiet time, ah...I didn't know you were out here!"

Georg lied. He had known exactly where she was.

"Well, it seemed like the perfect night and the perfect opportunity to unwind," Maria replied with a sigh. "The children didn't take long to settle tonight; the ride back from Innsbruck certainly tired them out. Well, that and the added excitement of learning about a trip to the opera for Liesl, the arrival of the puppets, and the ballroom being open! Oh Captain, the children were so happy! I was so happy for them all!" Maria gushed.

Georg chuckled to himself. He had noticed that the children were beside themselves. All of them had rushed him the moment they returned to the villa to find the ballroom open, a huge puppet stage, and an equally impressive set of puppets ready for them to play with.

"Uh, may I?" Georg asked as he unlatched the gates and pushed them aside.

"Oh, of course, Captain, please join me!" Maria said as she scooched over and taking her shoes with her, her toes skimming across the surface of the cool waters of the lake.

Georg sat down beside her, doing his best to avert his eyes from her legs as they dangled over the edge of the stairs. He left sufficient room for propriety's sake and pulled off his shoes and set them neatly behind him. Next, he rolled up both of his pant legs in turn, and then took off his socks, stuffing them into his shoes behind him.

Maria felt her cheeks go red as she caught her first glimpse of the Captain's feet, her mind catapulting back two days to that fateful moment when she stumbled upon him showering behind the Whitehead's barn.

"Ahhhhwawawaaah," Georg exclaimed as he tucked his feet into the lake. "That's certainly refreshing tonight, and by that I mean chilly. I'm an old sailor, Fraulein and this is a bit much for even me!"

Maria laughed as she gently whip-kicked as she sat, trying her best to get her emotions under control. Not to mention trying to ignore that gnawing feeling she kept having in her belly when he was near. It was like a craving for something sweet, but it could never be cured by sugar alone. She had tried that for the past two days to no avail.

"So, the children are happy, then?" Georg asked suspiciously.

"Oh Captain, you're hardly old, and the children! ...they are so happy. I am not sure what excited them more, the ballroom or the puppets! I have never seen them so full of energy before. I had to use my teacher voice on a couple of occasions to get them to simmer down. They are already planning skits and shows for you." Maria said as paused to gnaw on the end of her pinky finger.

"Something about a lonely goat herd meeting the love of his life. Well, that's Liesl's version," she said with a laugh. "Kurt suggested that the goats should play football, and the younger girls thought the play should be about a tea party. Anyway, I am sure all of their ideas will get acted out in one form or another. I suggested that once they had learned to use the marionettes and tried out a few things, they should work together and plan a show for you, Herr Detweiller, and the Baroness."

"Oh I am sure Max would like that," Georg exclaimed. "Imagine, he could finally exploit my children instead of the groups he finds here and there...you know, take them touring 'on the road' as he likes to call it. He would certainly appreciate the double duty of a talented singing AND acting troupe. He has already tried to convince me that we should showcase them somewhere."

Maria turned her head at the Captain inquisitively, silently asking him if he was agreeable to that. "Oh he may have mentioned something similar to me!" she mumbled.

"No, Fraulein! I told him unequivocally, N-O! You will please make sure he understands that". Georg said firmly.

The two chuckled for a moment and then descended into somewhat uncomfortable silence. What was going on, they both wondered to themselves? Before Innsbruck it had been so easy to talk to each other.

Trying to break the silence, Georg decided to see how Maria was feeling about everything.

"And you, Fraulein, are you excited about the opera? The puppets were hardly a surprise for you today, apart from the chaos my children caused in their wake."

"Oh my goodness, of course, Captain! I mean, I still don't think it's my place to attend a high society opera, but since you have insisted, and Herr Detweiller wants me to be his double date with Liesl, I don't feel I have much choice in the matter!" Maria replied with a sheepish smile.

Georg nodded with a sinister grin on his face, almost as if he'd managed to pull off the nation's greatest bank heist.

"But Sir," Maria continued. "I mean, I really have no place there, you do realize that. I am just an unrefined mountain girl. And you know I don't have anything suitable to wear. I mean, I might be able to finish my dress before then, but I think I need a bit more time. The weekend is coming quickly!".

"Fraulein!" Georg interrupted, his big hand coming to rest atop her smaller one. He looked her in the eyes before continuing, which was a bad idea. The moonlight was playing off her eyes like diamonds in the darkness and he almost forgot what he wanted to say.

"We discussed this at length before dinner. You don't give yourself enough credit, Fraulein; you handled yourself quite well at my in-laws - Bertie and John welcomed you with open arms, you had no social gaffes while we were away, and you fit into their upper class world like you had been apart of it all your life. In fact, I find you are much more refined than John is most days!" Georg chortled.

"Besides," he added. If you can clean up as well as you did in your riding gear the other morning, you won't have any problems looking lovely at the opera!"

Maria hesitantly nodded her agreement with the Captain. Yet, she remained a little confused by his comment. Cleaned up well for riding? What on Earth was he getting at?

Georg watched Maria's expression as she struggled with the meaning of his words. He cleared his throat when he realized he may have overstepped. Again.

"Listen!" Georg chirped. "Tomorrow I will take you and Liesl into town and Frau Heineman will help get you both fitted for the weekend. And no, before you say anything, you will not be inconveniencing me. I have to go and pick up Elsa from the train, anyway. She sent a telegram just before dinner expressing her desire to return to us. I telephoned her to inform her that I was not interested in another long drive so soon after returning from Innsbruck, but that I'd be happy to get her at the train station. I dare say that she was not overly pleased with me, but since she managed to get there quite well on her own to avoid my in-laws, I think she will be able to get along just fine...but anyway!"

Maria watched Georg's countenance stiffen; she recalled the night in the library when he had told her that Bertie and the Baroness did not get along. It was obvious their relationship, or lack thereof, troubled him.

Georg shook himself out of his thoughts.

"Where was I going with this? Ah, yes, the opera. Remember what we agreed, Fraulein? We are going to make the most of your time in the outside world before fall comes."

Georg fixed Maria with a stare and a gentle smile that made her insides quiver. There was that feeling again.

"I am sure there's no benefit to be gained in arguing with you, Captain." Maria replied. "I mean, there is usually a good reason to argue with you, and sometimes it's fun, but this time I promise you that I will count my blessings and appreciate yours and Herr Detweiller's generosity. Herr Detweiller pulled me aside before dinner and told me that arguing with you was futile. I laughed at him, of course and asked him to tell me something I didn't already know!"

Maria broke into fits of laughter and Georg soon joined in. This was more like it, they both thought. The two of them enjoyed the banter between them, and neither was no longer afraid to poke fun at the other.

"Captain, is it true that you two hatched the plans for this adventure before we left for Innsbruck? I trust that was the 'secret' you would not share with me when we were riding?" Maria asked.

"Indeed it was!" Georg responded with a laugh. "But since you didn't win that race back to the stables, it was my secret to hold a bit longer. Max apparently managed to get an entire set of box seats from Herr Reinhardt..."

Maria was no longer hearing the Captain's words. Something about Herr Reinhardt? She was not sure, she was too preoccupied with the memory of that moment at the Whitehead's when the Captain challenged her to a race: her mountain, the mist on a cool, high altitude morning, a beautiful horse, and the Captain as her riding partner. Oh, she had created so many wonderful memories this past weekend... and summer wasn't over yet!

Feeling the intensity of the Captain's gaze without looking at him, she focused her attention on the lake. After all, Maria had lost track of everything he was saying to her while she was caught in her memories. She watched the dancing reflection of the moon on the surface, shimmering and distorting as the water moved gently in the evening breeze.

"It was the Patscherkofel you were looking at that morning, wasn't it? That's why you could not race me?" Georg inquired gently.

Maria turned to the Captain and her eyes met his, nodding tightly. She felt her heart sink. She knew this moment would come, but she still was not ready. She looked to the Heavens for support, squeezing her eyes shut tight as she tried to decide where to start.

"Captain. I have to apologize to you, and to your in-laws of course, for my carelessness yesterday. I'm a mountain girl and I have no idea how I managed to misread the skies so terribly," Maria sighed. "I am embarrassed by my actions. I was so irresponsible and I'm so sorry I worried you all"

Maria took a deep breath and locked eyes with the Captain momentarily before letting them drift down to the top of his collar and tie. Sometimes he looked at her in such a way that she could hardly breathe; his necktie was a much safer focus. She saw the Captain take a cleansing breath of his own, and his shoulders noticeably relaxed, but he remained mute.

Maria dared to look at his handsome face once more, and what she saw there took her breath away. She could not describe it, but it was a heady mixture of encouragement, understanding, and something else. Was it awe? Caring? Concern? Love? Impossible! But, whatever it was, it gave her the strength she needed to continue.

"I was born on a train, Captain." Maria said with a sigh.

Georg immediately straightened and looked down at her hands which she was wringing together. He covered them with his own and squeezed gently, offering his encouragement without needing to say a word.

"My parents knew I was to be born soon, and my mother had been suffering from 'spells' during her pregnancy. The local traveling doctor said it was something to do with how hard her heart had to work. She had a terrible bout of rheumatic fever as a child, and it affected her for the rest of her life...Anyway, where was I? The doctor didn't think that childbirth in the mountains was a safe option for my mother, so he recommended that they travel to Vienna for the delivery. My parents had planned to stay in the city with my father's cousin until my mother went into labour, then they would visit the doctor's home for expectant mothers."

Maria felt a smile grace her features, which seemed at odds with the depths of emotions she was feeling inside.

She tucked her hair behind her left ear before she continued her story.

"Well, as you can understand, Captain," Maria said with a giggle. "Even then I didn't take orders well, so I decided to arrive much earlier than anticipated. My father always told me I was born in Kemmelbach because he remembered that he could see the Danube from the train window. I entered the world howling...singing I suppose, and expressing my feelings about everything. I guess that is where it all started. I was eventually baptized at the Alservorstadt Parish and Maternity Hospital in Vienna."

Maria expected the Captain to chip in with a quip about her behaviour, but he stayed silent. Her eyes met his again before she turned to look over the water to continue.

"My mother died when I was not quite 7. It started as influenza, but apparently it was pneumonia that ended her life. As you can imagine, her heart wasn't the strongest, either."

Georg's eyes widened in surprise. Pneumonia!

Maria nodded and paused. She knew that the Captain was connecting the dots...but if he thought he was surprised so far, there was still more to come.

"My father was devastated." Maria continued.

"He wasn't the same ever again. It seemed I did nothing but bring memories to the surface, things he would rather forget. When I asked him where mother was, sometimes he would say that she was away and would be back soon. Other days he was very angry with me when I asked. I tried so hard to understand.

When he was angry, I was afraid and I didn't want to interact with him. Some nights I would come out of my room and I would see him at the kitchen table, illuminated only by the light of the oil lamp. He was crying and he held a picture of he and mother together. He held his head in his hands and his whole body shook as he cried. Sometimes I could comfort him, other times he got angry and sent me back to my room. I didn't understand, his emotions changed all the time. What frustrated me the most was that there was no one there to tell me why. Even my friend's parents sugar-coated the loss for me."

Maria felt her tears threatening to escape. She blinked and they jumped out, running down her cheeks.

Georg caught a glimpse of the trail of tears on Maria's cheek as they glistened in the moonlight. Instinctively, he lifted the pad of his thumb to stop their journey. The two locked eyes again for a time. Maria wasn't sure if what she was feeling inside was raging grief or something else. All she knew is that she had never felt that way before.

Reaching for something safer in her heart, she continued.

"My father was taken not too long after my mother passed away, also from Influenza. Personally, Captain, I think he died of a broken heart. He gave up, it is as simple as that." Maria felt the Captain squeeze her hands again and then he lifted them from her touch and ran them repeatedly over his face, eventually sweeping his hair back before looking directly into the stars.

Georg was dumbfounded.

"After he died, Captain, it was determined that I should be placed in the care of my uncle in Salzburg…that's how I ended up in this part of the country. Most of my childhood in his care was wicked, and I got out as soon as I possibly could, but..." Maria said with a sigh.

"Oh my goodness, Fraulein," the Captain cried. "I could have never...but how? Why? No wonder you were furious with me the day I returned from Vienna..."

"I remember the day they buried him, Captain," Maria continued. "In the potter's field further up the mountain from Aldrans, next to my mother. I visited him and my mother yesterday before the rains came. They lie in an unmarked grave, but I still remember the number of steps I took from the church to reach their final resting spot."

Maria closed her eyes tightly, a few more tears squeezing out. She clasped her hands together as if in prayer.

"Once my father was gone, I was completely alone. The monsignor at the church in Aldrans gathered up my belongings and put me on a train to Salzburg one rainy day, stating it would be better to be with family than in a foster home or an orphanage. My uncle picked me up at the other end, gleeful that he had just inherited a home and land on the Patscherkofel. I never saw any of that money, nor was never allowed to return. Almost all of our belongings were sold to pay for my upkeep. I have but a small handful of things I managed to hide away, the most precious one being my mother's watch.

As the money ran out, he drank away the proceeds by the way, he became more and more angry with me. I cooked and cleaned and tended to the animals, but it was never enough. I got in trouble for doing things I didn't do. I got in trouble for singing, for wanting music in my life. I was a shy girl, but once I became a teenager, I started to rebel. Since it didn't seem to matter what I did at home - I still got in trouble - I decided that good behaviour was hardly necessary. Besides, any attention was good attention! I loved school and I did well at school, but I was a flibbertigibbet! I played tricks on the boys, I dipped the girls' pigtails in the inkwells, I broke slates over the boy's heads for making fun of me. I have always said whatever I felt, because who else would advocate for me if I didn't? I had no family. I was wicked, Captain, truly wicked!"

Georg didn't know what to say, but it was obvious Maria was pouring out her soul at that moment, possibly for the first time in her life, so he stopped thinking and just sat back and listened.

"When I was 15, Captain, I finally finished high school. Every day I began to pray to God and with his help, I finally got the nerve to leave my Uncle. I had tried before, but he always caught me and dragged me back to his shack on the Untersberg and the beatings would intensify, and the hard labour got harder. When I was 15, however, I was successful. My friend Charlotte and I escaped to Vienna with the intent of tutoring children who had been staying in hotels over the summer. However, since we were so young, no one took us seriously. Charlotte eventually gave up after a few weeks and returned to her family in Salzburg. She tried to convince me to go with her, but I would not return to a place that was anywhere near my uncle."

"One day, one of the hotel managers pulled me aside and told me that he had a job for me. I was so excited and said "yes" before he even explained what he wanted. As it turns out, he wanted me to be an umpire at a tennis tournament. Tennis, Captain [1]! I did not know what tennis was and I had never played it before! But I was a quick study and after years of dodging my uncle, I was very adaptable. I took the job and made enough money to pay my way through teacher's college. After teacher's college, I was unable to find steady employment. Some fill-in work here and there, and of course, the odd tennis tournament always needed help. I was busy, but I was very lonely."

"On many occasions, I went to the Stephansdom to pray; I needed a sign from God that he was listening and would guide me. One particular afternoon, the Nuns were singing in the choir loft and it reminded me of how I used to come down the mountain into Salzburg and listen to the sisters at Nonnberg who would be singing on their way to vespers. I'd climb the big oak along the wall and peer over into their garden. They were always together, there was always music, so it seemed to be a natural place for me! I knew it was God's will. I took what little money I had and I headed to Nonnberg. I knew I would be back in Salzburg, but it was a safe place where my Uncle would never find me. I had to work hard to be allowed to join the Abbey. Normally you need a sponsor from a local parish, but I had no one, so I walked up the hundreds of steps of Nonnberg, rang the bell, and asked to talk to the Reverend Mother in person!"

"And well, you know the rest. Here I am. Captain, I am truly sorry for yesterday. I honestly believed I could go and say my last goodbyes to my parents and return to the Whiteheads without any issue. Then God decided to punish me with that storm. I am sorry I worried everyone."

Georg still sat quietly, not knowing what to say. Trying desperately to fill the silence and calm her emotions, Maria continued.

"You know, Captain, I often ran away from the Abbey, and when I returned the sisters were usually angry with me, and they never seemed relieved to see that I had come back. But yesterday, everyone was so happy to see me. I have never felt like that before. You and your family have made me feel like I belong to something bigger than myself for the first time in my life."

Maria took a deep breath and held it for a considerable period, fighting desperately to not crumble in front of the Captain.

"Fraulein." Georg sighed. "I don't know what to say, but I am blessed to know that you have chosen to share your story with me. I am sorry I did not ask you about your life before. It just didn't seem like the proper thing to do. Who am I to pry when you're here to look after my children? You don't owe me any explanations, but I appreciate the trust that you have put in me."

"But Captain," Maria interjected. "That day at the cemetery, with Marta, I almost told you then; but that was your day and your grief and your reconciliation. It was not my place to take that away from you".

"Fraulein, you are the kindest and most considerate and passionate human that I have ever met, and I have met many people," Georg replied. "You need to remember to look after you, Fraulein. Your emotional health and well-being are important. Your ability to live your life to the fullest is integral to everyone's happiness, most importantly your own. But, I will tell you something about you that I do know, Fraulein. I realized from the moment I brought up the idea of a trip to Innsbruck that there was something 'off' in your response. You always do everything wholeheartedly! The day I met you at the fountain, the night in the library before I went and fell asleep on you..." Georg said with a wink.

"Innsbruck created an aura of negative energy that I dismissed, and for that I apologize." Georg said with a warm smile. "Two mornings ago when we went riding and you didn't even try to challenge me when I asked you to race - I sensed it again, but I didn't know what it was. When I returned from the University yesterday and the children asked about your whereabouts, I knew there was more to your disappearance. It's hard for me to explain."

Georg struggled with the realization his failure to act could have brought harm to Maria; he was lucky it worked out as well as it had.

"John tried to convince me it was nothing, but it had to be something. Somehow I must have known all along, and yet I did not do anything about it until it was almost too late! Fortunately, you had trusted my children with little pieces of information that allowed me to cobble it all together into something - so I had an idea of where to search for you. As soon as Brigitta called out 'Aldrans!' I knew why I had sensed something was wrong. You had told me that you were from Aldrans the day after I returned from Vienna, but so much was going on at that time, it really didn't register at the time. I am just so thankful nothing terrible happened. Fraulein - the Sil, the water was raging and the bridge was submerged. The dread I felt in that moment...".

Maria sat slightly dumbfounded. Even in the semi-darkness she could see the worry on the Captain's face. No one had ever worried about her whereabouts before.

"Captain," Maria replied. "I certainly don't have any hostility towards you for not knowing, and I really am so very grateful that you took me to Innsbruck again, and even more so that you came searching for me in that terrible rain. I guess where I messed up everything was not trusting you from the beginning with my story. I had so many opportunities to tell you, but what would a retired and decorated naval Captain want to know about a failed postulant's life story?"

Maria paused for a moment before continuing, since it was evident the Captain was focused on listening.

"You know, I've never told anyone my story Captain. Well, the Reverend Mother understands the important parts, more-or-less, but I did not tell her everything. While you were away in Vienna, I told the children about my mother's passing and how my father reacted, just so they could understand you better. I think it helped them to be more compassionate of your feelings."

As Maria continued her story, Georg wavered between feelings of his own sympathy and remorse; yet, his heart would sink in sadness when he thought about Maria's childhood. He thought about Agathe, and the pain he felt when she left him. However, he had at least been allowed to mourn her, even if it impacted his seven children terribly. Maria had the worst luck as a child, orphaned at such a young age, and yet she turned out to be such a vibrant and caring person.

Georg understood her moods a bit more now: Maria's spontaneity, her quick temper, and her unbridled joy at the little things. He knew without a doubt that her influence had prevented his own children from being orphans, even if only in the figurative sense. For so long he had been emotionally dead to them, and he was no so thankful to have been given a second chance.

"Fraulein. Thank you," Georg smiled as he covered her hand once more. "Thank you for trusting me. I think it's safe to say that we have become good friends, and I know for certain that my secrets are safe with you, as yours are with me. Listen, it's mid-July, and there's a lot of summer left. Let's make a deal that the next six weeks will be the best weeks we have both had in a long time!" he laughed with a gentle elbow to Maria's ribs. He then extended his hand as an offer to her to make a deal. Maria looked at his face before putting hers in his and shaking on their summer pact.

Georg held on to her hand a little longer than propriety would allow, but neither really noticed. Later on that night in his bed, Georg would be struck by the realization that he could have kissed her in that moment and he doubted neither of them would have been surprised.

"So, tell me something Fraulein. It's been an ear-worm now for days and it's practically killing me!" Georg said with a laugh.

"Your favourite things..do they all originate in Aldrans, by chance?"

Maria laughed out loud, her feet kicking a splash of water forward into the lake.

"Indeed, and you already know that when I remember my favourite things, I don't feel so bad! They are all memories of growing up across the Inn from Innsbruck. Raindrops on roses, bright copper kettles, cream coloured ponies. Those happy feelings, the love that once lived in my house in the mountains. I trust you didn't see where I lived yesterday, Captain? There's nothing left but a stone foundation and a rusted-out pump handle. But as I stood in the middle of what was once my home, I felt my favourite things again. I remembered what it was like to be a carefree child before my childhood was taken away. But do you know what is so special about my life right now, Captain? Your children - they have given me back so much of what I lost. They are my playmates, confidantes, friends to ride bikes with, to sing songs with, to wade in the lake chasing frogs with..."

Georg realized it all made sense now. Why she had thumbed her nose at all of his rules. Why she had dressed him down on the landing. Why she believed so passionately in second chances.

He also knew that he appreciated her all the more now that it had been sprawled out before him - it finally made sense. Although Maria lashed out at him the day of his return, her heart was completely in the right place. She could have trash-talked him to the children while he was away, but instead, she taught them to sing, she mended their hearts through trust and play. Maria helped him to reconnect with them once he returned, and all the while she was received nothing in return other than a sense of family and friendship that she had been denied most of her life.

He had this incredible urge to reach out and hold her...her hand. To tell her she could stay with them forever, but he knew that wasn't to be. She would return to the Abbey in the fall - it was God's Will and he and the children would reap the benefits of her work well after she had left them. A good life would all be thanks to her.

"But, like I asked you on the weekend, won't you miss all of that when you return to the Abbey? Frogs, bikes, songs?" Georg inquired.

"Captain, the only steadfast friend I have had in my life has been God. He was there to guide me, to help me through rough patches. When the Reverend Mother sent me here, I was shocked and perhaps a little bit angry. But then she told me it was the Will of God that I leave the Abbey for a time, only for the summer. When I arrived here, I quickly realized how right the Reverend Mother was. I trust him - if it is God's will that I return to the Abbey, then I will do as He wishes. It's that simple."

Georg was about to speak, but then he paused to turn his head back towards the villa.

Was that cigar smoke he smelled?

He turned his body to see Max's shadowy figure beneath the piazza; Max had returned earlier in the morning on the train before they all had drove in from Innsbruck. He had told Georg that he simply could not miss the unveiling of the ballroom and the puppets - and of course, he had to invite Maria and Liesl to the opera as his dates before Elsa was around to kibosh the whole plan.

Georg caught Max's eye in the glow of the lantern in the piazza, and he noted he was headed towards their place on the terrace. Georg deflated like a balloon in that moment, knowing that his conversation with Maria was over for now. He would not betray her confidence inadvertently.

He turned to Maria with a cock-eyed smile and placed his hand over hers, giving it a gentle squeeze; he pointed with his head in the direction from which Max was arriving. Maria turned to see what he was referring to and then nodded with a smile.

"Well, well, well, Georg!" Max called out as he approached the shadows of the Gustav and Franz in the moonlight.

Peering over the landing, Max laughed out loud.

"It appears to me, Captain, that you have lost your shoes?" By this moment, Max was laughing heartily. "Did you park your submarine nearby and had absolutely no choice but to wade to shore?"

Georg turned to him and noted the glowing embers of the cigar as Max took a long draw before returning a laugh in his trademark manner.

"Herr Detweiller, would you believe that the Captain, here, was being lured to the island by a group of sirens?" Maria laughed as she pointed across the lake to the small cluster of marooned trees. "I stopped him before he could make any more stupid decisions!"

Georg felt his face and ears burning. He swallowed hard. Stupid decisions. The Sirens...the copper-haired beauty in his book!

"Well, Fraulein Maria," Max replied. "That does sound like something Don Juan Von Trapp could get himself in trouble with. It's a good thing you were here to keep him on the straight and narrow!" Max laughed heartily as he stroked his moustache, his mind tumbling back to that night in Vienna when Georg in a drunken stupor had told him how he had fallen for the very Siren beside whom he was now sitting, both of them with their feet in the waters of the lake.

Georg pulled himself to standing and then reached down to Maria to offer her his hand and he helped her to her feet. They both bent over to pick up their shoes before turning to climb the stairs through the gates.

"Well Captain, Herr Detweiller. It's been a busy day of travel and excitement, so I think I will turn in for the night. I wish you both a good sleep." Maria smiled at them both, but she paused a moment while she shared a knowing nod with Georg, who nodded in return. With that, Maria turned towards the villa and left the men behind on the landing.

Georg watched Maria's figure wander up the terrace towards the house before she reached the door and disappeared inside.

Max leaned into Georg with his shoulder.

"Here!" Max said, passing the cigar towards his friend. "It looks like you could use this!"

Georg rolled his eyes and took the cigar before placing it between his teeth and wrapping his lips around it. He grasped it and took a long draw before turning his head toward the moonlight, exhaling a plume of smoke into the night sky.

"Thanks, Max." Georg replied.

"Elsa just called, she wanted to talk to you and catch up, but I told her you had already 'turned in' for the night," Max quipped with air quotes. "She told me to tell you that she is looking forward to seeing you late tomorrow morning at the train station."

"Thanks, Max, for taking the call, and particularly for making excuses. I'm glad we had some time to talk just now. After we returned in the rain yesterday, we didn't have the privacy to speak about what transpired. Maria explained everything to me - vis-a-vis what happened yesterday and why..."

"I suspected as much, my friend, hence the teensy-weensy little white lie I shared with Elsa. The little ones did explain to me that their brave Captain-father had rescued the fair maiden from a raging mountain river; did I hear that correctly?" Max replied with a grin.

"Indeed," Georg replied pensively. "However, I think it was a fair exchange given what she's done for us. Come, let's go inside and get us a brandy or two and I will tell you all about the weekend."

[1] Maria's story is a blend of fact and, of course, fiction. I have included some snippets of the real Maria Von Trapp's early years in Austria. And yes, she was born on a train and she did umpire tennis with no knowledge of the game. Credit to Maria's books and to our favourite source of all things, Wikipedia.