Max had attempted to awaken Elsa when they arrived at her elegant home after midnight. He ended up having to assist her through the door, carrying her shoes. The startled housekeeper, Gerti, stared down from the landing, wondering what all the noise was. Seeing the state that the Baroness was in, the loyal servant tiptoed down the stairs in her bathrobe to see if she could be of assistance. Together, she and Max walked the groggy mistress of the house up the stairs to her luxurious bedroom to let her begin to sleep it off. Max made a mental note to give a more tangible form of thanks to Gerti in the morning, making it worth her while to keep what she saw to herself.
After a too-short night's sleep, Max went searching for breakfast. As expected, he found very little fresh food in the kitchen so he dressed and headed to a local market for a few essentials. Upon his return, he encountered Elsa slowly descending the stairs. She looked surprisingly like her normal fabulous self, though her cosmetics could only do so much to disguise her puffy, tired eyes.
"There's my ray of sunshine!" Max chirped, receiving the cold glare he had expected. "Come, sit down and eat something. It will do you good."
Elsa sat down, placed her elbow on the kitchen table and leaned her head into her hand. "I'm not certain that I can or want to," she groaned.
"Come now, you need to get some food in your stomach, just a little. Here, I bought some lovely jam and bread. I'll make us some tea to go with it."
Elsa ate a few bites and drank some tea. She had to admit that she did feel better. As her foggy head began to clear, she glanced up at Max and asked innocently, "Did I, umm, embarrass myself last night?"
Max grinned and replied, "Of course not, darling, why would you think that?" He didn't want to pile humiliation on top of her hangover and heartbreak.
"Oh, I was just afraid that I spilled my guts to you about…why I left in such a hurry."
"We chatted a little. Nothing for you to be embarrassed about. Now you're home and you can get on with your life."
"How long are you staying today? You never told me what Georg said when you asked to borrow the car."
"Mmm, I suppose I didn't."
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"What did Georg say when you asked to borrow his car? When do you have to return it to him?"
Max thought back to the kiss in the moonlight he'd witnessed the night before. He desperately wanted to change the subject. "It was fine. And I'll probably leave within the hour."
Elsa eyed max suspiciously. She remembered how oddly he had acted when he came back from looking for Georg. "Why are you so unwilling to share any details? What aren't you telling me? What did he say? Did he say anything about me?"
Max rolled his eyes and sighed, "No he didn't say anything about you. I didn't talk to him. I chose to just leave a note. I decided that you were right, we should just go." He knew that Elsa smelled a rat.
"Youdidfind Georg, didn't you. And he was withher."
"Yes, but I didn't have the slightest idea that there was anything going on between them when I went looking for him."
"But you knew when you came back and told me it was time to go. You heard something…or saw something." Max just looked at the floor as Elsa stood up and lit a cigarette. "It's all right, I knew he went to find her. But damn it, I wasn't even gone from the house yet."
Max rose to his feet. "I think I should go. Will you be all right here by yourself?"
"I'll be fine. I always am." She softened a bit and said, "Thank you for driving me here. And for listening. And for anything else that I don't remember." She gave him a weak smile. "I'm assuming that my things are still in the car? Let me find Gerti, she can help me with the bags."
As Elsa stepped out of the room to search for Gerti, Max called, "You should thank her as well. She took good care of you when we got here. She cares about you."
When Elsa returned with Gerti, the housekeeper was carrying an armload of flowers. "Where did those come from?" asked Max.
Gerti grinned, "From Herr Leitner, next door. He has come all the way from America to care for his mother, after she had a terrible fall. He's a very nice man."
"That's lovely. All right Gerti, can you help Baroness Schrader bring her belongings in from the car? Then I can be on my way back to Salzburg." Gerti set the flowers on the table, then the three of them stepped out into the sunshine, where Max removed Elsa's bags and placed them on the pavement. Gerti picked up what she could and retreated inside.
Max took Elsa's hands in his and looked into her eyes. "I'm truly sorry things worked out this way. Love is complicated." He smiled at her and said, "If I don't hear from you, I'll worry. Please let me know how you're getting on."
She smiled and promised that she would. "I told you, I'll be fine. Thank you for being a good friend." She kissed his cheek, then he climbed into the car. As Max started to drive away, he saw a tall silver haired man step to Elsa's side and offer to help her with her bags. Elsa smiled and fell effortlessly back into being the wealthy, sophisticated Baroness. He watched her take the man's arm as he picked up her bags. Max was quite sure that she'd just made the acquaintance of that nice Herr Leitner from next door. Yes, she would be fine.