A/N: Thanks everyone for their reviews. The response to this story so far has been overwhelming! I thought I'd just make a few comments to address some things that people have raised in their reviews.

Firstly, I think Georg was in denial enough about his feelings for Maria to propose to Elsa in the first place and it was Maria's return that was the impetus for him to realise just how he felt about her and break things off with Elsa. So if Maria had never returned, no impetus hence no broken engagement. Next, please don't hate Georg because he made a mistake (ok, well hate him a little bit then fall in love with him all over again) and finally, yes, we will get to Elsa. She is very instrumental in this story and we will get inside her head soon.

Until then, I hope everyone will stick with this story and enjoys this next chapter. Please review!

When The Lord Closes A Door

Chapter 2

Georg's eyes widened as he realised who the woman standing in front of him was. "Fraulein Maria," he spluttered feeling somewhat in a state of shock. "H-how are you?"

"I'm…" Maria paused for a brief second, "fine." While she was fine in the physical sense, she felt anything but fine. Over the four months since she'd left him and his children she had been mentally preparing herself for the possibility of running into either him or the children in town. Salzburg wasn't that big a city and she had known that it was only a matter of time before she saw him. However, now the moment had come, all that mental preparation seemed to go out the window and she found herself feeling completely shaken.

"Why do you stare at me that way?" his voice suddenly cut through her thoughts and Maria realised she'd been staring at him in the strangest way.

A blush came to her cheeks and she looked away. She forced a giggle. "I didn't mean to stare, it's just I wasn't expecting to bump into you."

"I wasn't expecting to bump into you either," Georg replied honestly. While he didn't want to admit it to himself, he felt more than just a little rattled to see her too.

As several people tried to get past them, Georg quickly pulled Maria by the crook of the arm away from the busy doorway of the pastry shop. "What are you doing here? In town?" He looked her up and down and saw she was wearing a sensible, yet stylish winter dress under her coat. Very different from the expected nun's habit. "A day off from the abbey?" he asked, eyebrows raised.

"The abbey?" Maria repeated a little confused. She hadn't been back at the abbey for months. But of course he didn't know that. "No," she replied in a quiet voice. "I'm no longer part of Nonnberg Abbey,"

"I don't understand," said Georg. He furrowed his brow. He knew he had read the note she'd left over dozens of times, trying to make sense of her decision to leave them and return to the abbey but now she wasn't even there? He was confused.

"When I returned to the abbey," Maria explained, "the Reverend Mother and I decided that the abbey was not the right place for me after all."

"So you're not a nun?" he asked immediately, needing to confirm what he thought she was telling him.

Maria looked down at her hands as she answered, not able to look at him directly. "No, I'm not."

Georg ran his hand over his face, trying to process it all. So she didn't stay at the abbey and she didn't become a nun either. Which meant… Oh god, he thought.

He needed answers.

"You never returned to us," he stated, almost accusingly. Maria shook her head. "You didn't say goodbye. Not even to the children."

Maria looked up into his eyes. "It was wrong of me, forgive me?"

"Why did you?"

Maria swallowed hard. She had been expecting his question and she had already formulated her reply. "Please don't ask me. Anyway the reason no longer exists."

Georg looked at her hard. He knew she was hiding something. "That's hardly an answer. Fraulein.. no, Maria. You seemed so happy with us. You were happy! With the children – everything you did with them: the puppet show, the party, the song you put together for them to say goodnight to the guests… everything! Your leaving just seemed so sudden. It didn't make sense. What happened?"

Maria could feel her heart beginning to race. He was asking questions she wasn't willing to answer. She looked down at the ground again, not wanting to meet his accusing gaze. "Please Captain, don't ask me these questions. Just understand that I felt I had to leave when I did and that I had my reasons for going."

"You said you missed your life at the abbey too much…"

"I did…"

"But you didn't stay there, or become a nun."

"No. I told you before…"

"I know what you said: the abbey wasn't the place for you. Yet, you didn't return to us. The children loved you and we would have given you a home with us. Why didn't you come back?"

"I…" Maria stopped. How could she explain to him that it was her feelings towards him that prevented her from returning? Her eyes flicked to the wedding ring on his hand. "I was sure that the Baroness would make everything fine for you."

Georg instantly noticed the bitterness in her voice when she spoke about his wife and he wondered whether her leaving had anything to do with Elsa. But no, Georg reasoned to himself, Elsa had barely had anything to do with Maria during her whole time at the villa so of course Maria wouldn't have left because of her.

So then it suddenly struck him that perhaps he was the reason she'd left. He'd been aware of the growing attraction between Maria and himself over the weeks and months she'd been with the family. But he'd seen the confusion and even a hint of fear in her eyes as she backed away from him during the last few moments of the Laendler. Had he scared her off? He needed to know.

"Maria," he said so softly that she looked up right away. "Was there anything… I mean did I do something that made you leave?"

"Yes, uh… I mean no," Maria looked away again, trying to blink back the couple of tears that had started to form in her eyes. She swallowed hard. There was no point bringing up feelings that could never be reciprocated. "No," she repeated again.

Georg scrutinized her carefully. There was something she was still hiding from him. He probed further. "But was there something that I did that stopped you from coming back?"

She shook her head sadly. "No Captain, you did exactly what you were meant to do. You married the Baroness and I… well, I was just the governess that had no place with your family anymore."

Her words pained him. Didn't she know just how much of a place she'd had with his family, and in his heart? "Maria, you were never just the governess. Not to me, anyway."

At hearing this, she looked up once more and locked her gaze with his. The way he was looking at her and the intensity and longing… oh, she could hardly breathe! "So I didn't imagine it?" she whispered, almost to herself. "This feeling between us. You felt it too?"

Georg nodded slowly. "Very much so," he answered quietly, his eyes never leaving hers.

"Oh," she breathed out, feeling like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Ever since she'd fled from the party, she'd thought and analysed over each and every moment she'd shared with the Captain, wondering whether she'd read too much into his actions and imagined something that hadn't ever been there. But now she knew that he'd felt something for her too.

"Captain…" she began, but Georg quickly put a hand up to stop her speaking. He glanced down the busy street, realising for the first time what a public place they were in to have such a discussion.

"Shall we go for a walk?" he asked. "I think we should get off this street." Maria nodded and followed him down the street and into the Mirabell Gardens. Georg knew that the gardens would be private enough for their conversation not to be overheard but public enough to ensure that them being seen together wouldn't generate too much gossip.

They walked together in silence for a few minutes. Georg felt relieved that finally he was admitting the truth about his feelings for Maria: to himself and to her. "I think the time I first knew how I felt about you was that night at the dinner table when you sat on that ridiculous pinecone." He chuckled.

"What?" Maria gasped with a small giggle. "I knew when you blew that silly whistle."

"Oh, my love," sighed Georg thoughtfully before he then asked gently, "Is that why you really left?"

Maria nodded sadly. "I was frightened of how I felt – I'd never felt that way before. I thought at the abbey I'd be away from it all; that I'd be safe. But then the Reverend Mother told me that the love between a man and a woman was holy too and she convinced me to go back."

Georg immediately stopped walking and sharply turned his head towards her. "You were going to come back? But you didn't. Why not?"

Maria breathed in. "I was halfway back when I saw your engagement notice in the newspaper so I turned around and returned to the abbey."

Georg swore under his breath. "Damn Elsa and her engagement notice! Did you know she put that in without my approval? If only she hadn't put that in, you would have come back."

"But what then?" Maria asked abruptly. "You had still proposed to her. You were still engaged to be married. I wouldn't have had a place in your life even then."

"But at least I could have ended…" Georg began then stopped. "I should have gone after you. The abbey. I should have gone there, talked to you, found out why you'd left, how you felt…"

Maria shook her head. "It wouldn't have been possible." When Georg frowned with confusion, Maria went onto to explain. "The nuns, they wouldn't have let you in to see me. They're cloistered so they don't see anyone from the outside world or let anyone into the abbey. They wouldn't even let the children in to see me when they came to the abbey."

"The children? They came to see you?"

Maria nodded. "Apparently, they came one afternoon a few days after I had returned there while I was in seclusion. Sister Margaretta was very friendly but sent them on their way immediately."

"I never knew," Georg muttered to himself. "Although it all makes sense now." He snorted. "Ha! Blue strawberries, indeed!"

"Blue strawberries?" Now it was Maria's turn to be confused. "What?"

Georg brushed her comment off. "Never mind, just one of the children's silly stories. Nothing to worry about." He paused. "I'm sorry Maria that I didn't come after you. I knew I should have but I wanted to respect your choice to leave. I just didn't want to be the one who stopped you finding the life you were born to live."

Maria nodded, accepting his apology. "It's my fault too. I was the one who left in the middle of the night without talking to you or telling you how I felt about you. I'm sorry."

"I wish I'd had known how you'd felt," cried Georg. "I wouldn't have proposed to Elsa." It hit him very hard: he knew he'd made a terrible mistake by proposing to Elsa.

"Why did you propose?" Maria asked.

Georg shrugged. "Like you said, it was expected. Elsa and I had had an understanding for a long time and her coming to Salzburg to meet the children was the last thing before our agreed marriage."

"Do you love her?" Maria asked Georg directly. A part of him bristled at her bluntness but the other part of him admired her brutal honesty.

"In a way I do," he replied truthfully. "She's been a big part of my life for so long and I am so thankful to her for many things. But am in love with her? No. I am not." He took one step towards her. "But Maria, there is something I do want to tell you." He reached out to caress her cheek.

But Maria put her hand up to stop him. "Please don't say what I think you're going to say. It won't do either of us any good. You're a married man now and saying it out loud will just complicate things even more than they are now."

Georg nodded faintly. As much as he wanted to tell her how much he did love her, he knew she was right. Instead he continued walking and she obediently followed in step with him. The tension between them was electric as they walked side by side through the gardens in silence.

Finally Maria spoke up and pointed to the large fountain in the center of the grove. "You know I brought the children here when I taught them to sing while you were still in Vienna. We spent many hours running, dancing and singing through these gardens. It was such a special time getting to know them. I miss them very much."

Georg smiled. "They miss you too."

"How are they?" Maria asked.

"They're fine. I hear."

Maria's head snapped around. Georg looked at her guiltily. "They're away at boarding school."

"Boarding school?" Maria gasped in shock. "Even Gretl?" Georg nodded.

Maria opened her mouth to begin to protest but Georg raised his hands in defence. "Please, you have to understand, I didn't want to do that, not at all. But Elsa isn't the mothering type and you yourself know what a handful seven children can be. It just wasn't fair on Elsa to ask her to…" he paused then shook his head. "Anyway, without you around, they were next to impossible to deal with. I even tried another couple of governesses but they lasted even less than an hour each. No one compared to you. In the end, I had no choice."

Maria opened her mouth to object again but Georg beat her too it. "Maria, I know how you feel about the children and we have argued time and time again about my parenting decisions and you are right practically every time. But please, don't judge me, not on this."

Maria bit her tongue. While she definitely didn't agree with his decision, she knew she had to respect it.

They walked a bit further in silence. "So what about you?" Georg asked her, changing the topic. "You said you'd left the abbey but you haven't told me anything about what you've been up to."

"Well," Maria began. "I thought I had nowhere to go but the Reverend Mother arranged for me to become a governess for another family nearby. Even though I was a complete failure as a postulant, it seemed as though I had a talent for being a governess. As the Reverend Mother always says, 'When the Lord closes a door, somewhere he opens a window'," she shrugged. "But they're a nice family and I'm happy. Just three children to look after – two girls and a little boy. It's a bit of a breeze to take care of after your seven," she laughed. "They give me a certain amount of freedom to do what I wish – every Tuesday off and they never seem to mind if I need to take off to my mountain for a bit of fresh air and a song."

"I never gave you any time off!" Georg remarked, pretending to be shocked at the thought.

"Well, maybe you should have!" she joked back.

Just then they heard the clock tower strike 11. Georg glanced at his watch. "I'm sorry Maria, I need to go. I have an appointment that I'm now late for."

She nodded. "That's alright. I have a few things I need to do too."

Suddenly there was an awkwardness between them knowing that they were about to say goodbye, possibly for forever. Georg turned to face her. "I don't know what to say Maria. I really don't want things to end like this between us."

"I know. But there can't really be an 'us', can there? You're married and anything now between us will just end up being complicated." He nodded silently in agreement. "Goodbye Georg," she paused realising she'd just used his given name for the first time. "I really do wish you and your wife every happiness. Please give my regards to the children when you see them next."

Georg opened his mouth to reply but she turned and quickly ran away from him back through the gardens.