"I'm sorry, there is simply no way." Georg's lawyer repeated himself for what had to be the thousandth time, and Maria could tell how frustrated he had become with her questions, but she simply could not accept his words.
"I mean no disrespect."
"Nor do I, Baroness, but you have to understand that you can't simply request a divorce because you're bored in your marriage." She scoffed, more than offended by his insinuation. Georg was running an errand to the bank at the moment. She insisted she could handle it on her own, not wanting him to feel awkward or pressured in any way, particularly since he was the man she was cheating with. Though at that moment, she would have loved to have his authority and strategic mind in the room.
"As I've told you, I had an affair."
"Out of boredom."
"No." She answered firmly, but he didn't seem to care in the least.
"But your husband has not committed adultery?"
"No, not that I'm aware of."
"Then he must be the one to file if this will ever be possible. If he shows he's forgiven you…"
"But he hasn't."
"If he believes the marriage can be salvaged."
"It can't. I swear to you, it cannot be saved."
"Baroness…"
"Alright, what if we file on the grounds of cruelty?" He sighed, running a hand over his face.
"I've told you, if you didn't file charges that night…"
"Please." She took his hand atop the desk, meeting his eyes with sincerity. He sighed, shaking his head. "I don't want to stoop low enough to beg you…I have to get away from him. Please, can you think of any way it would be possible?"
"Do you have any witnesses to the abuse?"
"I…yes, Captain Von Trapp's eldest child. But she must be the very last resort for questioning, if that's what you mean. Perhaps some of the staff in Vienna. The police took photographs of me that night." She shook her head, frustrated by the memory of the doctor insisting that… "I had a concussion. The doctor who examined me said I did."
"Alright, there's something. Do you remember the name of the doctor?" She nodded happily.
"Yes, I have it here somewhere." She began digging through her purse, knowing he had written down an appointment date and time for her on a piece of paper…an appointment that she would miss due to her refusal to return to Vienna, but she supposed she could see Georg's family doctor if need be. She found the paper in her purse, crumpled, but it did have the doctor's name printed on it. She handed it across the desk, and he accepted it with a cringe.
"I will phone him today and get a statement. But please be aware that I can only do my best…there's only so much I can do."
"Thank you, I do appreciate your willingness to try." She smiled in appreciation, knowing he really wasn't too positive about the outcome, but she was thankful he was going to try.
"You used to be a nun?"
"Not quite, but a postulant at Nonnberg Abbey." He nodded, making a note of something on a pad of paper. She supposed that meant he had agreed to take her case.
"The opinion of Mother Abbess will be important to you, if your husband contests the divorce, and we see the inside of a courtroom."
"I will speak to her as soon as possible then. Provided I don't burst into flames when I go to confession." She caught the side of his mouth twitch, and she knew she had him with that comment. She smiled brightly when he met her eyes, and he began to laugh. "I do thank you, very much."
"Please, don't thank me yet. Your husband is quite an established man, and it will take a great effort to get any traction." His words sounded daunting, but she smiled nonetheless.
"I have faith." He smiled in return, unsure how on earth he managed to get talked into working miracles.
xxxxx
Upon their return from town, Maria was swept away by the children for some sort of silly game they had invented that morning. She was quite proud of how creative they were, seeming to think of everything as she quizzed them on the rules of the game. It was amazing how much they had changed since she first met them. Of course they had physically grown, Friedrich was suddenly taller than she, but their minds had expanded incredibly. All they needed was a little nudge in the right direction, which she was grateful to have been a part of.
They played together for hours, not even checking the time or thinking about stopping until Georg appeared on the terrace to announce it was suppertime. The younger children began to run toward the villa, the older ones a bit too old to be in such a hurry, and they walked alongside her instead. She shouted out for them to wash their hands before they changed for supper before she could stop herself. She supposed being a governess to them was engrained in her by then.
She walked past Georg on the terrace, and it took all of her strength not to touch him in any way. She felt the magnetic pull between them, and she could tell he wanted to touch her as well. Perhaps he wanted to place a small kiss to her lips, or wrap an arm around her as they walked. Or would he have preferred to hold hands, she wondered. She smiled to him instead as she passed, knowing that eventually they would be able to show their affection in the open.
"Guess who has been walking around Vienna with a broken nose." Max found himself amused as he joined them all for supper, a bit late from having been on the phone.
"Well, you were speaking to Elsa?" Max laughed at Georg's suggestion, shaking his head. Maria gave him a smile from across the table. She couldn't imagine Elsa getting herself into any kind of situation that would result in a broken nose. She had never really struck her as a particularly active woman, or one to get herself into any danger.
"Even better. It's Otto." Maria met his eyes in surprise, and he laughed a bit.
"What? From what?" He began to answer, but Louisa piped in with her own question.
"Fraulein Maria, he's your husband. He hasn't told you he has a broken nose?" She shook her head, doing her best to tread lightly.
"Uh...no, I've not spoken to him since I arrived."
"Well, no matter if he's walking around Vienna to show it off then." Georg redirected the conversation, in true Captain fashion, and began discussing the things the children wanted to do with her while she was their guest. She met his eyes briefly in thank you, and he gave her a nod as he continued his conversation.
After the children finished their meals, Georg suggested that they prepare the puppet show for the evening. They had been working on a new routine and were excited to show their former governess what they had arranged. She felt nervous, knowing that Max would give full details of his conversation about her husband, and she wasn't certain she wanted to hear them. She dreaded the day that she would have to face him again, for any reason. Her heart beat quickly in her chest from anxiety, and she took a deep breath as Max prepared to spill his gossip.
"I can certainly see why you didn't want the children to hear this." Max laughed excitedly, but contained himself when Georg gave him a harsh look. "He has been talking a great deal about how he caught his wife in the act of committing adultery, and the man hit him in the face in the fight for her hand."
"That is not true!" Maria spoke harshly, biting her lip when Max seemed surprised by her outburst.
"I'm sorry to say, many people believe him." Georg scoffed, looking about to be certain none of the children were listening.
"Pay no mind to it, Maria. Max has plenty of friends who can help us redirect the conversation."
"I do, my dear. Elsa has even agreed to do what she can." Georg gave a confused look, wondering why on earth she would agree to help. Max rolled his eyes, understanding completely. "Apparently, Maria helped her mend a tear in her dress in the ladies room at a party?"
"Yes…someone stepped on the bottom of it." She barely remembered the encounter, but was grateful she had mended the dress, and apparently her relationship with Elsa.
"I don't understand though, how did he break his nose?" Max asked excitedly, perhaps mystified by the idea of a high society gentleman walking around with a giant bandage on his broken nose. Maria met Georg's eyes, and he shrugged.
"How does it look when someone breaks their nose?" Georg laughed, having seen many of young sailors with broken noses in his day, usually as a result of a bar fight or pure stupidity on their part.
"It sounds awful, and bleeds like you wouldn't believe, though I've never had it happen to me, thankfully." He took a sip of his water, and she bit her lip.
"I may have done it." Both men met her eyes in disbelief, and she felt a bit unarmed. She hadn't told Georg that she'd gotten a hit in too during the argument. It never seemed relevant before. "I was frightened, I don't know. He came after me, and I just…punched him. He bled all over the place, all over me."
"Christ, Maria." Georg laughed, unable to contain his own excitement at the thought that his Maria fought back in such a way. Max laughed as well, shaking his head.
"I didn't mean to." She shrugged, but wasn't necessarily sorry. She wondered if his nose would be crooked, if he would have to live with an imperfection that she caused for the rest of his life.
"No wonder he's spreading gossip. How embarrassing for a man of his position to be hit by his own wife." Max laughed harder, but she frowned.
"He would rather the embarrassment of his wife seeing another man?" Max nodded, clearly understanding the ways of gossip and manipulation.
"Well, yes. In this case, he is the victim in every scenario, and you're the one who looks like the villain." Her stomach dropped at his words, knowing the crash would come, but wishing she would have had just a bit more time to prepare for it.
"Nobody wants to know why he isn't worth being faithful to?" Georg was surprised by her words, realizing in that moment just how deep her anger and hurt was buried. He would have to find a way to help her open up and process everything, he decided. He just wasn't sure how.
"I'm afraid nobody will care about that. You should deny it in public. Or at the very least, remain neutral." She nodded, knowing Max could be trusted when it came to such things, but she also knew she would never be able to lie. She knew that Georg trusted him dearly, and she decided she would do the same. Perhaps he could be of some assistance navigating her new reputation…whatever that would possible be.