When The Lord Closes A Door
Chapter 7
The next few weeks past slowly. True to his word, Georg didn't seek Maria out again. Elsa never mentioned his secret meetings with Maria again and neither did he. It was as if the whole thing had never happened except for some of the subtle changes Georg noticed between him and Elsa.
Firstly, the most obvious: Elsa had stopped making her thrice weekly visits into his bed. Georg assumed she was still mad at him for meeting with Maria behind her back and, if he was being honest with himself, he was more than a little relieved that she no longer expected him to make love to her. It had been hard enough to feign interest and perform for her but now, at least, he could stop faking it.
But secondly, and most importantly, was the unspoken tension that was now between them. Beforehand, despite Georg's obvious frustrations and anguish at knowing that he had made a huge mistake marrying Elsa, he had always got along very well with his second wife. Although their conversations could be shallow at times and he felt like she paraded him around like a trophy husband, they were always very pleasant towards each other.
But now things were very different. Their exchanges were cordial and very polite – almost too polite so that at times Georg wanted to just scream at her to break the tension between them. Fake conversations, fake smiles, fake marriage – and it was becoming too much for him.
Even Max noticed the strain between them when he visited a week later.
"Ah Georg," Max remarked as he settled into the large armchair in Georg's study, a glass of 20-year-old whiskey in his hand. "Observing the two of you together is painful – like pulling teeth. I would have imagined a newlywed couple would act like, you know, you're in love or something. What's going on?"
Georg turned away from Max and merely shrugged as he poured his own drink. He really didn't want Max prying. "Just a few newlywed teething problems, I suppose," Georg deflected. "I would image most couples go through this stage in their first year of marriage."
"Teething problems?" Max continued to probe, sitting forward in his chair. "They wouldn't, ahem… have anything to do with a young lady who has decided never to be a nun, would they?"
For a moment, Georg was caught off guard. He hadn't expected Max to know anything about Maria. But then again, Max and Elsa were as thick as thieves. There was nothing that she didn't tell him.
But when Georg didn't reply immediately, Max poked him further. "Don't pretend you know nothing about what I'm talking about Georg…"
Georg turned slowly around to see Max looking like the cat that caught the cream; practically salivating at the idea of a bit of juicy gossip. Georg knew he had to be careful. He narrowed his eyes. "Obviously Elsa has been talking to you," he replied coolly. "What did she say?"
"Just some stories about you sneaking around meeting up with the young fraulein without her knowledge."
Georg let out a small laugh as he turned back away, wrapping his fingertips on the nearby desk. "Max, I'll tell you what I told Elsa: We're just friends. End of story."
Max frowned, not quite buying Georg's explanation. "Surely there must be more to it than that?" Max argued.
"Should there be more to it?" Georg replied offhandedly, trying desperately to put him off.
"Georg," Max said seriously. "I saw the way you used to look at Maria. And I know Elsa saw it too. You're treading on dangerous ground, my friend."
"Well not anymore," Georg sighed. "Elsa has asked me not to see Maria and I haven't been."
Max paused and scrutinised Georg, trying to work out whether there was anything else his friend wasn't telling him. "And that's it?"
"That's it," Georg confirmed, taking a sip of his whiskey.
"Alright," Max finally said. "I believe you. You aren't the sort of man who would lie to his oldest and dearest friend…"
"Dearest friend…?" Georg scoffed. Max really was outrageous.
"…But I'm not sure whether Elsa believes you." Max paused, trying to gauge Georg's reaction. "And she's not happy."
"I know she isn't," Georg muttered under his breath as he took another swig of whiskey.
XxXxXxXxXx
Apart from Elsa being unhappy, Georg started to notice other subtle changes in his wife over the next month. Although she was still the life of the party when they went out to their various social events, she became quiet and withdrawn when they were alone. Elsa would retire to bed early most evenings when they didn't have an engagement, claiming tiredness. Occasionally he'd hear her coughing in her room but she always quickly dismissed his concerns. Also, she would quite regularly excuse herself from his presence, even during dinner, to visit the bathroom or quickly go outside to the patio where, he assumed, she would have a cigarette before she returned inside.
At first Georg didn't think much of it, because of their strained relationship, but then other things started to happen which made him suspicious that there was more going on with her. Firstly, Elsa started receiving regular telegrams. She would calmly take them from Franz's outstretch hand, furrow her perfectly plucked eyebrows as she read the short message then put on a fake smile as she tucked the piece of paper into her sleeve and pretend like nothing had happened.
Next, there were occasions where Georg would arrive home early and he'd walk in on Elsa on the telephone in the parlour. She would be speaking in very hushed tones, holding one hand near the receiver near her mouth, like she didn't wish to be overheard, but then if she saw him, she would instantly begin speaking in a loud voice pretending like she was taking to Hilda, when Georg clearly knew she was not.
And lastly there were the mysterious all day shopping trips to Salzburg where she'd return empty handed, claiming that she hadn't found anything she liked.
Georg would have been a fool not to have guessed what Elsa was really up to and he was furious that she was going behind his back having an affair after the way she carried on about his friendship with Maria. Georg wanted to challenge Elsa about it but he'd been in the interrogation business in the navy long enough to know that it was a dangerous game to make accusations with little-to-no proof and any evidence he had against her was merely circumstantial.
The only time he'd ever seen her with another man, whom he didn't know, was once at a party while Max was visiting. The company of guests had been mingling in the outside gardens enjoying pre-dinner drinks and Georg had been occupied chatting to a couple of associates when he caught sight of Elsa out of the corner of his eye walking away from the party down the garden path with a tall, skinny man with a moustache. They seemed to be in deep conversation with each other and completely oblivious to the party going on around them.
Georg watched as the man reached into his pocket and pulled out something and handed it to Elsa. She smiled and squeezed his hand before giving the man a quick embrace then she turned and quickly returned to the party like nothing had happened. Georg interrupted Max's conversation to quiz him about the identity of the man but by the time Georg looked back up to point the man out to Max, he was gone. For the rest of the party, Elsa was continually occupied by socialising with her friends and so Georg didn't have a chance to speak to her alone.
Feeling more and more suspicious as the weeks past, Georg tried to watch his wife's every move. But apart from that evening at the party, Elsa was obviously very careful because apart from her strange behaviour, there was very little proof that she was actually having an affair.
Until one week late in June. Elsa had requested to go back to Vienna for a few days to spend some time with her cousin before the children were due to return to Salzburg from boarding school the following week. Georg had offered to accompany her but Elsa had dismissed him with a wave of her hand saying that he would just be bored listening to two women gossip for days and she preferred to go alone.
Georg reluctantly agreed and part of him was relieved to be away from her. The quiet in the house was soothing and he was able to finish off several business tasks which he was pleased about knowing that soon the house would be filled with seven noisy children and he would hardly get a moment's peace until the summer was over.
On the second day that Elsa was away, Georg received a telephone call from Elsa's dressmaker to inform her that her appointment had been moved forward several days and they wanted her to confirm that the new time was suitable. Georg assured them that he would be in contact with Elsa about the appointment then call them straight back.
He looked up the number for Elsa's cousin and put the call through. "Yes, hello," he began as the butler answered the telephone. "This is Captain von Trapp. I was wondering whether my wife, the baroness, would be available to speak to?"
However, the butler seemed very confused. "I'm sorry Captain, but the baroness isn't here."
"Oh? Is she out with Countess von Eppan then?"
"No sir, your wife is not with the Countess, nor has she been to visit the manor at all in the last few months."
Georg furrowed his brow. "Are you sure? My wife said she was going to Vienna to stay with her cousin. Perhaps there has been some mistake?"
"No, I don't think so. I'm sorry Captain," the butler replied politely.
Georg clenched his teeth. Elsa had lied to him. He swallowed hard, trying to cover up his embarrassment. "Maybe I've gotten muddled up somehow and my wife meant her other cousin," Georg replied even though he knew Elsa only had one cousin in Vienna. Georg quickly muttered an apology to the butler then hung up the phone.
Georg was now certain: Elsa was having an affair. He was furious: at Elsa for lying to him and at himself for naively believing her when she said she was going to stay at her cousins. He was even more angry at how he had been desperately trying to be faithful to her and his marriage by staying away from Maria but Elsa was flinging it straight back in his face by running off with another man. And he had no idea where Elsa even was to confront her as she wasn't due back home for two days.
He called around but no one knew where she was. There was nothing more for Georg to do but wait for Elsa to return home. So begrudgingly, he went about his normal business and running errands in town to keep himself occupied.
Elsa was due home that afternoon and Georg had just finished his business for the day and was driving back through town towards Aigen around lunchtime. Suddenly he saw Elsa on the street and she wasn't alone! She was with the same tall, skinny man with the moustache that he'd seen her with at the garden party a month before. He had his arm around her shoulders and was whispering something into her ear. As Georg drove past, he saw Elsa place a kiss on the man's cheek before he opened the door to his car and ushered Elsa inside. Georg tried to pull over but the lunchtime traffic prevented him from being able to find a place to park so by the time he could safely stop, Elsa and the man were gone.
An hour later, Georg was pacing the grand hallway of the villa waiting for Elsa to arrive home, trying to get his seething anger under control. He found it almost ironic that he was waiting to confront Elsa over an affair when she had done the very same thing to him almost two months prior after she'd found out about his friendship with Maria. While Georg had a clear conscious that nothing had actually happened between him and Maria, he was sure that it was certainly not the case between Elsa and her gentleman friend.
Finally, he heard a car pull up outside. The front door opened and Elsa walked in, small bag in hand. She smiled when she saw Georg.
"Georg, are you my welcoming home party?" she laughed as she kissed him on the cheek.
"I suppose you could say that," he muttered under his breath. Forcing a smile, he asked, "how was Vienna?"
"Just lovely," she sighed as she placed her bag down. "It's always a whirlwind when visiting Clarisse. So many parties and engagements to attend. I barely had time to breathe."
"Yes, I suppose that's why you weren't there when I called a couple of days ago," Georg remarked drying, watching Elsa closely to gauge her response.
The smile faded from Elsa's face. "You called?" she whispered.
"I did," Georg confirmed. "But the funny thing was, not only did the butler say that you weren't there, but that you were never there…"
"Oh…" a small sound escaped from Elsa's lips as she sunk onto one of the chairs placed at the side of the hallway.
"So where were you?" Georg asked impatiently. "Or, more's to the point: who were you with?"
"Who was I…?" Elsa repeated, sounding confused.
Georg let out a scorning laugh. "Don't try and deny it – I saw you with him just today! The tall, skinny man with a moustache…"
"What…? No…"
"Elsa, I know you're having an affair."
"Georg, I'm not…"
"Don't lie to me. Who is he?"
"Georg, please listen," Elsa pleaded. "I know how this looks, but you have it all wrong."
"Have I?" Georg countered coolly. "So, explain then."
"His name is Bernard Strauss." Elsa paused and took a deep breath. "He's not my lover… but my doctor."
"W-what?" Whatever Georg thought Elsa was going to tell him, that certainly was not it. He was dumbfounded. "I don't understand."
Elsa's voice trembled. "I-I'm s-sick."
Georg involuntarily blinked and stared at Elsa, trying to work out whether this was just another one of her lies. But then he looked harder at her, noticing for the first time the subtle physical changes in her appearance: the gauntness in her face and the dark circles under her slightly sunken eyes, and she had lost weight; so much so that her clothes looked baggy and hanging limp on her thin frame. He believed her.
"I think we need to talk," she said seriously. Elsa patted the seat next to her and Georg, still in shock and not knowing what else to do, dutifully came and sat next to her.
Elsa shook her head like she didn't know quite how to begin. She twisted her handkerchief in her hands as she searched for the right words to say. "It started about a month or so ago, I suppose. I'd had this lingering cough for a while and but then it started to get worse. It seemed ridiculous to worry about a silly old cough but then I bumped into Bernard at that garden party. You remember the one we went to with Max, don't you?" Georg couldn't help but nod knowing how he'd seen Elsa with that man then.
"I've known Bernard for close to twenty years – he was a friend of my late husband, however I haven't seen him for many years prior to that party," Elsa explained. "But as we got to talking, I happened to mention my cough and he said that he could examine me. Usually I'm not one for seeing a doctor, but considering that he was an old friend, I agreed. I thought that perhaps he would prescribe a tonic or something for my cough, but after he saw me in town the following week, he told me he wanted to run some tests."
"Tests?" Georg queried.
"Yes," Elsa sighed. "Over the last month I've sort of lost track of all the various tests either Bernard or his colleagues have done. So many tests, I don't know…" her voice trailed off. "The telegrams and the telephone calls trying to follow up the results, it's been exhausting."
Georg closed his eyes and swallowed hard. He realised he'd been very wrong about Elsa and the supposed affair. "I had noticed the telegrams and the telephone calls," he told her, "and all this time I thought… well you know what I thought," he ducked his head sheepishly.
"I understand, darling," Elsa squeezed his hand. "I would have thought the same."
"But," he looked her in the eye, "it still doesn't explain where you've been all week."
Elsa took a deep breath. "The last lot of tests were this week. I needed to go to the hospital in Vienna for them. Bernard came with me, of course. I couldn't tell you Georg what I was really up to so I made up a cover story about visiting Clarisse. Then Bernard brought me back to Salzburg this morning. That's when you saw us together."
"Why didn't you tell me what was happening with you? It didn't have to be a secret."
Elsa let out a weak laugh. "Oh Georg, darling. You know how things have been between us recently. At first I was so angry with you after finding out about you and Maria that I didn't want to tell you, but then as Bernard did more and more tests, I didn't know how to tell you."
"But you're telling me now," Georg stated softly. Elsa nodded silently. "So, what did they find out?" he asked hesitantly.
Elsa's hands began to tremble as she spoke. "It's, uh, some sort of mass in my chest. A tumour in my lungs," she paused and swallowed hard. "Perhaps I should have listened to you all long about giving up those blasted cigarettes," she forced a small laugh.
Georg could feel his heart begin to thud in his chest as he asked his next question. "How are they planning on treating this? Medicine? Surgery?"
Tears welled up in Elsa's eyes. "They can't," she whispered. "There's nothing they can do. I'm sorry."
Georg felt like he'd been struck hard in the chest as a memory from years past flashed past his eyes. A memory he thought he'd blocked out forever.
"There's nothing I can do. I'm sorry," the doctor said.
"What do you mean?" Georg replied. "There must be something more you can do."
"Captain, your wife has scarlet fever. She's very, very ill. It's fortunate your daughter only had a mild dose and recovered quickly, but your wife… well, sir, I've never seen such a severe case as hers. She's not responding to treatment. You must prepare yourself."
Georg felt his throat tighten like someone invisible was strangling him. "How long?" he choked.
"How long?" he choked, as his mind ticked back to the present while memories of the past still swirled at the forefront of his mind.
The doctor placed one hand on his shoulder. "Not long, Captain. Hours, days at the most."
Elsa placed one hand on his. "Not long, Georg. Weeks, months at the most."
Suddenly it felt like the walls of the grand hallway were closing in on him and he couldn't breathe. He found himself standing up and backing away from Elsa as she reached out for him. "Georg…"
But all he could see was the vision of his late wife lying on her deathbed: thin, sick and pale with barely enough strength to take the next breath as she battled on until the very end. And now it was happening again. His second wife was dying and he was not sure he had the strength to face watching a wife of his die again.
Elsa took an unsteady step towards him and held out her hand again. "Georg…"
Georg shook his head to her unspoken question as he took several more steps backwards towards the front door. "Elsa, I'm sorry," he managed to splutter. "I can't…"
Before Elsa could say anything else, Georg turned and fled the house. Seeing his car parked out on the front driveway, he jumped in and started it up. The wheels spun on the gravel as the car took off and the car skidded as he took the sharp turn out of the gates and out onto the lane.
He didn't know where he was going, but he knew who he needed to find.
A/N: Whenever I write a multi-chapter story like this, I plan the entire thing from start to finish even before I start writing so this was always the plan to have Elsa become sick at this point. While I actually wrote this chapter late last year, I haven't had a chance to edit and post due to the busyness of life and so the chapter has been sitting forgotten somewhere on my computer for months. It was only a strange twist of "fantasy turning into reality" with my own young daughter being diagnosed with cancer a couple of weeks ago that reminded me that I still needed to post this chapter. There is lots more to come in this story but it may be a bit of time between updates as I take time out to care for my little girl. Please review!