Page 17 of A Lesson in Propriety (Merriweather Academy for Young Ladies #1)
Seventeen
Knowing it would be best all around to make a point of dispelling any theories Drusilla had obviously come up with before someone got shot—not that he could actually blame her for developing theories in the first place since he was a grown man who’d shown up with his mother in tow, and after having botched a marriage proposition no less—Rhenick cleared his throat.
“I know the unexpected appearance of my mother probably looks somewhat suspicious, but it’s not what you think.”
She began tapping a toe against the gravel. “Do tell.”
For the briefest of seconds, he found himself completely distracted from the conversation at hand because his gaze, on its own accord no less, had taken to lingering on Drusilla’s face, the lingering allowing him to realize that there were so many little things he’d missed the first time he’d laid eyes on her—such as the hint of a dimple that was precisely in the middle of her chin, or the way her eyes seemed to be more along the lines of a greenish-blue shade today compared to ...
“So your mother’s not here to broach the subject of marriage?” Drusilla pressed, snapping him from his perusal of her face, although he couldn’t help but notice that her eyes were flashing more intensely than ever, leaving him with the sneak ing suspicion that he might already be making a muddle of things, but it was hardly his fault he found her face so compelling and...
“Your lack of response has left me believing that your mother is here to convince me to marry you, isn’t she?”
Realizing he was definitely floundering, something he’d hoped to avoid this time around with Drusilla, Rhenick summoned up a smile, one that, unfortunately, wasn’t returned. “Perhaps it would be best if I let my mother explain the particulars.” He strode into motion, not stopping until he was directly beside Wilhelmine, who immediately settled a rather pitying look on him.
“Things not going well with Drusilla, dear?” she asked.
“Not going well is an understatement, which is why I’m now going to turn this delicate situation over to you, although be warned—any mention of marriage might put a rapid end to our visit and could very well see a rifle coming into play again, so I’d avoid that word at all costs.”
It spoke volumes about his mother’s no-nonsense attitude when she didn’t bat an eye over what most people would find concerning news, instead sending him a nod before she took hold of his arm and pulled him into motion, reaching Drusilla a moment later.
Wilhelmine immediately dipped into a curtsy that left her knees creaking when she straightened, the creaking a direct result of the fact there weren’t many people she bothered curtsying to and her knees were out of practice. To her credit, though, she ignored the creaking as he introduced her to Drusilla and Irma, Irma taking over the introductions when he reached Drusilla’s sister and realized he had yet to be formally introduced to her.
After presenting Annaliese with a bow, it was a less than encouraging sign when she simply responded with a thinning of her lips, which suggested that she, unlike her mother, didn’t trust him in the least and probably wouldn’t have any qualms about summoning her ferrets. Before he could think of anything that might soften her opinion of him, though, his mother ever so casually nudged him aside, then inserted herself between him and Drusilla’s sister.
“Now that we’ve gotten introductions out of the way,” Wilhelmine began, “it would probably be for the best if I got right down to why we’re here since...” She abruptly stopped talking as her gaze settled on Drusilla. “Good heavens, Miss Merriweather, here we are, standing around chatting as if we’re at some type of social event when you’re bleeding from the head.”
Before Drusilla could say more than “raven attack,” Wilhelmine whipped a clean handkerchief from her sleeve and immediately took to dabbing Drusilla’s forehead with it.
“I’ve never heard of an attack by raven before, but how unfortunate that you’d suffer such a thing upon your arrival in Chicago, which probably hasn’t left you with a favorable impression of our city,” Wilhelmine said, moving Drusilla’s head to the right before she frowned. “However, you have more than a few wounds that need to be properly attended to, which is why I’m going to suggest we put all talk of what Rhenick and I are doing here on hold until after we get you inside and cleaned up.”
Even though Drusilla was looking a tad bewildered, probably because a woman she’d just met was now trying to rub what appeared to be a particularly stubborn smear of blood mixed with soot from her cheek, she smiled. “While I appreciate your concern, I’m afraid it’s not safe for us to move inside just yet since I’m relatively sure there are some ravens still running amok in there.”
Whatever else she’d been about to say got lost when Wilhelmine turned her attention to a stubborn streak of soot that was marring her forehead, the effort with which his mother was now scrubbing at the streak leaving Drusilla wincing as she shot him a look that begged for an intervention.
He fought a smile and cleared his throat instead, which drew his mother’s attention and earned Drusilla a reprieve from the scrubbing.
“Perhaps we should take our leave, Mother, and come back another day when Miss Merriweather hasn’t experienced an unfortunate encounter with aggressive birds.”
Wilhelmine waved that straight aside. “We can’t leave this poor dear here with ravens on the loose and a head that’s all pecked up. We need to sort those issues out for her, but before you go off to chase any lingering ravens out of the castle, be a dear and fetch my medical basket from the carriage.”
The urge to argue was immediate, but since his mother was now sporting what his father always referred to as her stubborn look—an expression that usually meant anyone idiotic enough to argue with her was in for a rough time of it—Rhenick settled for sending her a nod before he headed for the carriage.
It came as no surprise when he had to burrow his way through abandoned slippers, hats, and numerous books littering the floor before he located the basket, but it was a surprise when he started walking back to rejoin the ladies and discovered Annaliese sprinting around the side of the castle, calling something about needing to catch Pippin before another rat got left as a present.
“Should I assume Pippin is one of Annaliese’s ferrets?” he asked, handing his mother the basket and earning a rather dramatic sigh from Irma in return.
“She is,” Irma said. “Unfortunately for me, though, Pippin enjoys bringing me all sorts of surprises.”
“You know Annaliese will eventually figure out a way to train the ferrets to discontinue gifting you unsettling presents,” Drusilla said as she eyed the canteen his mother had just pulled out of her basket somewhat curiously. “But to give the ferrets credit, they’ve been very diligent with hunting down rats, the proof in that being seen by the fact that all three ferrets are already plumper than they were when we arrived here just three days ago. They’ve put weight on so rapidly that Annaliese has been considering taking them out on daily walks to avoid having her little darlings turn overly plump.”
Irma blanched. “You think there are still so many rats inhabiting the castle that the ferrets will be rodent hunting for the foreseeable future?”
“I should have probably stopped with ‘the ferrets are very diligent with hunting down rats,’” Drusilla muttered.
“That might have been prudent,” Wilhelmine agreed, taking a second to soak a piece of gauze with water from the canteen before she began blotting one of the peck marks on the side of Drusilla’s neck.
“Speaking of being prudent,” Drusilla began as Wilhelmine moved the gauze to another spot, “perhaps it would also be a prudent use of our time if, before your son goes off to address the raven situation, you explain why you’re here.”
“I’m certainly not here to convince you to marry Rhenick, if that’s what you’re thinking.” Wilhelmine smiled. “Truth be told, I’m not even supposed to voice the word marriage , as Rhenick thinks it’s a touchy subject with you. Nonetheless, because I’m sure he’s right and it is touchy, I say instead of avoiding the elephant that’s obviously in the room, we address the matter before we discuss anything else.”
Wariness immediately clouded Drusilla’s eyes. “I’m not certain there is any need to discuss what happened with your son the other day.”
“Of course there is,” Wilhelmine countered. “Being the mother to four daughters, I have an above average grasp of the way in which young ladies think, and I think you came to a completely erroneous conclusion regarding why Rhenick made that ridiculous suggestion of marriage to you.”
“He made the suggestion because it would be the best way for him to gain possession of half the castle and surrounding lands since a woman’s property becomes her husband’s property the moment vows are exchanged.”
“And I can certainly understand why you’d believe that because Rhenick explained to me how numerous developers have their eyes on your land. But that’s not why he brought marriage into a conversation with you. Instead, he offered that rather unusual solution to keep you and your family out of harm’s way simply because he completely took leave of his senses the moment he clapped eyes on you.”