When The Lord Closes A Door
Chapter 16
They drove in silence through the darkened streets of Salzburg from the train station which didn't take long due to the lateness of the hour. Very quickly, they were on the country road that led to the house in Aigen, the headlights of the car illuminating the dark road up ahead.
Every now and then, Georg would steal a side-glance at Maria sitting next to him. She stared straight ahead, her hands clasped together in front of her face like she was in silent prayer.
"Are you alright?" Georg asked cautiously.
"Hmm?" Maria turned her head, looking slightly dazed as she'd been in deep contemplation before Georg had roused from her thoughts. "Yes, I suppose so," she answered after a few seconds. "It's just been a long, emotional and exhausting day."
"I know and I'm sorry," replied Georg. He desperately wanted to reach over and squeeze her hand but he knew he needed to maintain his distance. "We're almost back to the house though."
Maria nodded. Even though it was dark, she knew the way to the villa like the back of her hand and as Georg turned the car off the main road, she recognised the tree-lined avenue that lead straight down to the villa. Only a minute or so later, she spied the large, wrought-iron gates of the villa coming up ahead. Georg stopped the car but kept the engine running as he got out of the car to open the gate. A moment later, he returned to the car and shifted the gearstick into drive moving the car several metres past the gate before he stopped the car again to go and close the gate behind them.
Georg drove around the side of the house to where the garage was and parked the car inside. As he turned the engine of the car and the headlights off, they were plunged into darkness. Maria involuntarily let out a loud gasp. This time, however, Georg reached over and placed his hand on hers, calming her. As their eyes adjusted to the darkness, their gaze met momentarily and Maria silently gave a little bow of her head in a silent thank you before Georg removed his hand.
Georg opened the car door then went around to the other side of the car to open the door for Maria. She collected her carpet bag from the back of the car before they walked quietly to the house together, the only sounds heard was the soft crunch of their footsteps on the gravel as they walked.
"Now, Frau Schmidt, as always, has the main guest room set up. You can sleep there," Georg told her in a hushed whisper as they approached the front door.
"That won't be necessary, Georg," replied Maria. "I can just go back to my usual governess room."
"No," Georg shook his head. "That room hasn't been used in months; it's been all closed up and probably extremely dusty. Please, you're my guest. It's more appropriate this way, even if it is just for tonight."
"I still don't feel comfortable about any of this," Maria voiced her concerns. "Everything I said this morning is still valid. I mean, after everything that's happened and the Baroness..." her voice trailed off.
"Maria, that may be true, but at almost 1am in the morning, there aren't any other reasonable options. As I said earlier, we'll sort it all out tomorrow."
Maria gave a faint nod as Georg unlocked the front door. After they entered, Georg closed the door softly behind him and re-locked the door. He motioned for Maria to take the branch of the staircase that lead to the family's suite of rooms plus guest rooms, rather than the other side of the staircase that would lead to Maria's usual governess room.
But as they got to the top of the stairs, they were met by Frau Schmidt rushing down the corridor towards them.
"Captain, you're home! Finally!" Frau Schmidt breathed a sigh of relief as she reached them. But then she did a double take seeing Maria. "Fraulein Maria? I don't understand…"
Georg put up one hand as he began to explain. "Frau Schmidt, something's come up and Fraulein Maria needs a place to stay just for tonight. I assume the guest room is ready?"
Frau Schmidt blinked several times like she was trying to process everything her employer was saying before she nodded quickly. "Yes, yes, of course Captain. But that doesn't matter now… Please come straight away. It's the Baroness… She needs you…"
Georg felt his blood run cold. Immediately, he knew.
While he knew that Elsa had been feeling poorly that day, he hadn't expected to hear that news as he arrived home. He didn't even wait for Frau Schmidt to finish her sentence but began to hurry down the corridor towards where Elsa's room was. However, after only a second or two, he stopped and turned back to Maria who had stayed frozen to the spot. "Please, Maria. Come," he commanded. Somehow Georg knew what was waiting for him and he needed Maria with him for it.
Seeing the desperate look on Georg's face, Maria didn't hesitant to follow him.
Georg reached the door at the end of the corridor and immediately flung it open. He was met by a tall, skinny man with a moustache, who looked very serious. Georg shook his hand as the doctor came out of the room and partially closed the bedroom door behind him.
"Dr Strauss. My wife? How is she?" Georg could feel his heart thudding in his chest as he waited for the doctor's response.
"I'm sorry, Captain," Dr Strauss replied solemnly. "But the Baroness has gone down substantially in the last couple of hours." The doctor paused before continuing. "You must prepare yourself." Georg swallowed hard against the lump that had formed in his throat. He remembered similar words being spoken to him when Agathe lay dying so many years before. But this time, he was prepared for the worst, as hard as he was finding it.
Georg gave a nod as the doctor put his hand gently on Georg's arm. "She's been asking for you."
Georg quickly thanked the doctor then turned to glance at Maria who was still waiting in the corridor with Frau Schmidt. Maria opened her mouth to speak, to politely excuse herself from the situation, but Georg spoke first. "Maria, please come and see Elsa." Maria felt her body starting to tremble, but she swallowed hard to try and compose herself then nodded.
Georg turned and opened the door and entered the room, Maria silently following behind him. The bedroom was dimly lit and Maria could only faintly see a large bed on the other side of the room. A nurse stood over the bed, blocking her view of the occupant. Maria stood back in the shadows as Georg approached the bed.
"Elsa…" he spoke warmly as the nurse moved away so that he could sit down on the side of the bed. From Maria's position near the door, she still couldn't see the Baroness as Georg was now blocking her view. And when Georg began to speak to her, they were speaking so quietly that Maria couldn't hear what they were saying at all.
Lying in the bed, Elsa opened her eyes but took a moment to focus on Georg's face. "Georg, you're back," she crocked faintly. "I waited until you returned."
"I'm sorry I took so long," Georg apologised, taking her hand in his. "But I'm here now."
"And Maria?" Elsa asked pleadingly.
She didn't even need to finished the sentence for Georg to know what she was asking about. "No, she changed her mind," he told Elsa. "She didn't go with them. She's safe."
Elsa let out a raspy breath and tried to smile. "Thank goodness the girl saw sense after all."
"I know," Georg agreed. "In fact, she's here now." Georg gestured behind him to where Maria remained standing in the shadows near the door.
"Can I speak to her?" Elsa whispered.
Georg was ready to protest, about to say that she should save her strength when Elsa gripped his hand more tightly. "Please Georg?" she begged, her voice straining. "I need to talk to her while I can. I don't know how long I can hold out for…"
Georg gave a faint nod before he stood and turned to Maria. "Maria? Please, Elsa wants to speak to you."
Maria tried to get her feet to move forward, but they stayed firmly planted to the spot. She was frightened, not only of the moment she'd equally been dreading and hoping for at the same time: her confrontation with the Baroness. But now she was even more frightened of seeing the Baroness in her dying state. Georg sensed Maria's hesitation so he moved forward and took her hand, gently leading her over to the bed where Elsa lay.
Maria couldn't help herself, but she gasped loudly upon seeing the Baroness and one hand flew to her mouth. Her last memories of being face-to-face with the elegant Baroness was on that fateful night of the party at the villa when the Baroness had confronted Maria in her bedroom about how Maria was in love with Georg. Their conversation that night had replayed over and over in her mind and images of the beautiful and glamorous Baroness, with her platinum blond hair piled elegantly on top of her head dressed in that exquisite golden ballgown, had been seared into her memory forever.
But now, everything was completely changed. The woman lying in the bed in front of her couldn't have been more different to her recollections of the formidable Baroness. Pale and gaunt, almost skeletal with sunken cheeks, the Baroness looked tiny lying in the centre of the enormous bed. Her hair was white and wispy and splayed across the pillow and down her shoulders – a far cry from the sophisticated and coiffed up-dos that she used to style her hair. The woman in the bed in front of her looked a poor and tragic creature that almost paid no resemblance to the glamorous woman she'd met the year before. Never in any of the times that Maria had imagined her confrontation with the Baroness had she thought it would be like this.
Georg guided Maria closer to the bed and gestured that she should sit down next to Elsa.
Maria let out a sob as she did so. She twisted her face slightly to look back up at Georg and he gave her a faint nod of encouragement before he stepped away discreetly to stand only a few paces away.
Elsa strained to lift one hand and she reached for Maria. Instinctively, Maria took Elsa's bony hand and she was surprised just how tightly the Baroness held onto her.
"Maria," Elsa murmured, her voice barely louder than a whisper. "I'm so pleased you're here. I've been wanting to see you for so long. I'm sorry you have to see me like this – I'd wished we could have met again under more happier circumstances." Elsa forced a weak smile.
"Baroness," Maria choked out, overcome with emotion. "I'm glad that we can speak too. I just want to tell you just how sorry I am for everything…" A tear ran down Maria's cheek.
"Please, my dear," Elsa wheezed, stopping her. "I'm the one who needs to apologise to you… I wish I hadn't said those things to you the night of the party…" Elsa paused as a wracking coughing spasm came over her.
Georg at once stepped forward but Elsa raised her spare hand to stop him. Elsa gasped for breath and took several seconds to recover before she was able to speak again.
"…and Maria, I really wish I had bowed out graciously when I saw just how much you and Georg were in love with each other…"
Maria bit down on her lip as she tried to stifle a sob coming from her mouth. "Oh Baroness," she wept. "We didn't mean for it to happen, we really didn't."
"My dear, I know," Elsa murmured softly as she grasped Maria's hand tighter. "Love can reach us at the most unexpected times in the most unexpected places."
Maria nodded wordlessly, her heart full of emotion. "I thought we could just be just friends," Maria explained, tears continuing to stream down her face. "But it didn't work – it couldn't work, not with the way we felt about each other. And we tried to stay away from each other, until… I'm sorry Baroness: I need to ask your complete forgiveness for what happened between myself and Georg…"
"Maria, you have it. I forgive you completely, like I forgave Georg a long time ago as well," Elsa flicked her eyes from Maria's to meet Georg's gaze. He sucked in a deep breath and nodded faintly.
Elsa closed her eyes momentarily, like she was trying to find the strength to continue. Her chest heaved up and down as she struggled to draw breath. Finally she opened her eyes and fixed her eyes steely on Maria.
"Maria, listen to me," Elsa pleaded, her voice croaky and now almost unintelligible. Maria leant forward slightly and had to strain and listen carefully as to understand her properly. "You have a great capacity for love, and I'm sure God knows how he wants you to share that love." Elsa paused as she laboured to breathe. "But I only have one wish for you: and that is to love Georg with your whole heart and soul. He's a fine man and a brave one and he deserves to be happy and to be loved by you. Please tell me you'll take care of him…"
Maria found her head bobbing up and down as she nodded furiously, her tears continuing to stream down her face. "I will, Baroness, I will… I promise."
"Thank you Maria," Elsa wheezed, barely getting the words out and she dropped Maria's hand that she'd been clutching. Elsa rolled her head sideways so that she could look at Georg and Maria took that as her cue to move off the bed. As she stood, Georg moved towards them and he grasped Maria's hand briefly and they exchanged a fleeting look as he moved past her to take her place on the bed next to Elsa.
"Elsa," Georg crooned lovingly, as he caressed her cheek, sweeping a stray hair from her face. Elsa's lips moved into a weak smile seeing him next to her.
"Georg, darling," uttered Elsa with a great deal of difficulty. "Don't be a fool like last time, hiding away in your study and succumbing to your grief… You need to move on with your life and give this girl the husband she deserves… It's my greatest desire for you... You should have married her and not me. But at least I can now put things right..."
"Elsa," Georg muttered, trying to maintain his composure. "I'm sorry for all of this. You were the friend I needed when I didn't have a hope in the world. You were my saviour, in more ways than one and I do thank you for that. But I am sorry I put you through all of this. You deserved better. And despite everything, I always loved you."
He raised Elsa's hand to his lips and kissed it gently, his eyes fixed on hers. But as he lowered her hand back to the bed, Georg saw that Elsa's eyes had not moved. His gaze moved down to her chest which was now still. "Elsa?" he whispered, yet he got no response. Georg felt his whole body start to tremble.
"Doctor!" Georg croaked and he quickly shifted aside to let Doctor Strauss come and examine her. The doctor lifted Elsa's wrist, checking for a pulse, then bent down and laid his head against Elsa's chest for several moments to listen before he stood up straight. He turned to Georg and shook his head slightly.
She was gone.
Georg let out a moan of despair as the doctor's hand moved gently over Elsa's face, closing her eyes. Turning to Maria in grief, he collapsed into her waiting arms.
A/N: It's not often that I cry while writing but I did during this chapter (and again as I edited it, then once more as I read it again before I was about to post it... I'm such a cry baby...). As much as the Baroness can be nasty, I really wanted to redeem her plus give her and Maria a confrontation that they deserved and closure for everything that's happened between them.
Please review and let me know what you thought of this. Reviews are so important (and very nice to receive!).