cap 28: "I shouldn't be saying this to you..."

Somehow I get the feeling that he is quite decent with his staff; if he had been in the Navy, he would be used to being fair with subordinates, so I would hope that he is likewise with his domestic staff, especially as he is so dependent on them.

However, I think inevitably things must be easier when he goes away,and the kids would push the bounds more, so maybe Franz likes it better when he is there, meting out his discipline!

I wrote a piece on Fanfics called Gone, which drew an unusual relationship between Georg and Frau Schmidt (as I worked out that, with their age difference, she could have looked after him as a child). Given the possibilities of that relationship, her reaction could have been very different when he left!

Seeing that Elsa has never visited the villa before, how does Frau Schmidt know the baroness enough to have these opinions about her? Does she just think that a wealthy childless aristocrat from Vienna that takes the captain away from his family so often can't be the right fit? Or does she have some gossip from another source? She seems certain of the impeding wedding - what is she basing this off of?

Do you think Frau Schmidt gossips with all of the new governesses, or does she already know that Maria is different? 

She says "He's thinking very seriously of marrying the woman before the summer's over". Marrying. Not getting engaged. Marrying. Before the summer's over. Seems too rushed if we know it is already the summer holidays for the children. Was she just saying he is getting serious with her, or did she really think a wedding could be happening in the next couple months?

This, plus the continued political unrest. Marrying sooner rather than later would have been advisable.

I have often wondered what/if anything Max had to do with FS's statements. This is the first time Elsa has been to the villa, so it's not like she has met her. The Captain is hardly the type to chat about his love life, but Max seems to have an insider's view and likes to gossip.

This leads to another "hmmm..."

Can you imagine the conversation(s) they (Max/FS) have had? I imagine there's Max who wants to keep all the lovely money in the family...but he has probably woven some stories about Elsa and her habits, her social life, what she and Georg do in Vienna, maybe even talk about boarding school. Max would probably be the first to admit Elsa is not motherly. (I always love his comment about a "fiendish delight" at seeing Elsa as the mother of 7 children!)

And there's FS who is probably not in the least impressed with the Captain abandoning the children (but being somewhat empathetic at the same time); I think she is forlorn with the idea of what the late Baroness would think of it all and how it affects the children. The frequent changing of the guard in the governess world obviously impacts FS as I bet she is the stand-in parent when the governess flees the villa.

The "woman" is an interesting reference as you have said indigoblue, so FS seems to have pegged her already as poor motherly material, and not worthy of respect, which would certainly be gleaned via be second-hand information.

I wonder, also, if the Captain is famous in Austria, the people he keeps in his company are also well-known. There could be gossip in general that makes it back to the villa.

Do the children only have a governess during the summer months? Seems like 12 is A LOT of goverenesses to run off in just a few summers, but maybe not. I'm just wondering why Maria is only needed until September. Is this because the children will be back in school and no longer will need a governess? Or does this tie back to what FS is saying about the captain likely getting married before the summer is over (therefore Maria would not be needed because the children would have a new mother to take care of them.) Maybe Georg asked RM for someone until September because he knew he was going to propose/marry to Elsa before then? 

This would be a fun fanfiction. The two of them together, maybe with a drink to loosen their tongues, and then out with the all the dirty laundry on everyone. I'm sure they both know way more than they let on..

I doubt that Georg would say any specific reason to RM on his September timeline, especially if it involved hinting at a wedding that he hasn't even proposed for yet. I like that you point out that even in September in years past, some of the kids wouldn't be in school.  Though, this year, Gretl would likely be in kindergarten, so maybe this was the motivation this particular year? The kids are going back to school, so they won't need quite as much supervision, plus, they will have a "new mother" to care for them when they get home?

Though, Georg has to know that Elsa is not going to be very mothering. This is obvious even to people that haven't even met her yet (like Frau Schmidt).  

That's an interesting angle! Maybe RM did set the timeline. After all, she couldn't be expected to send one of her postulants away indefinitely, and the captain was desperate for help, so he wasn't in a position to argue with whatever time frame she saw fit. It's certainly possible.

I support the motion!
RM "offers" M to the Captain until September, it is like a test for her and a favor for a desperate widower to find a governess. It totally makes sense.

I also find the gossiping between FS and Max very plausible, and it is to be assumed that Max goes to the Trapp Villa relatively frequently since the children get so excited when CvT announces that he will bring him with them.

The telegram the Captain receives? I can easily imagine that it is from Elsa announcing that, finally, she accepts the visit to Salzburg but asking G in return for an anticipated favor, which is to accompany her to one of her social commitments in Vienna, hence the urgency of leaving the next day and then his sarcastic words during the lake walking: "your glittering salons, gossiping gaily with bores I detest, soaking myself in champagne, stumbling about to waltzes by Strausses I can't even remember? Is that what you're saying? -Yes. Now whatever gave you that idea?"

EVERYTHING FITS!
(sorry when it is about quoting some lines I just get going and I can't stop!)

Hmm, yes it seems likely that FS threw Maria a fish, both to keep her informed of the situation (which was quite right), but also to test whether she had any corresponding gossip to offer in return, most likely from another place of employment. So my thinking is that FS didn't know Maria was from the Abbey.

So when did FS cotton on that her employer had the hots for this new nun?