Page 21 of A Lesson in Propriety (Merriweather Academy for Young Ladies #1)

Twenty-One

R henick strode from the kitchen and into the great hall, wanting to make certain it was still raven-free since the last thing he wanted was for Drusilla to find herself confronted with birds again when she returned from getting cleaned up.

Relief was immediate when he spotted not a single bird in sight, the few remaining ravens he’d encountered when he’d first entered the castle having decided to make use of the doors and windows he’d muscled open earlier.

After sending a nod to Mr. Grimsby, who was in the process of showing Rhenick’s footmen how to lay a proper table, something his footmen had not been expecting to ever learn until Drusilla’s butler had decided it would be beneficial for them to expand their domestic knowledge, Rhenick headed back to the kitchen.

He took a second to add a smidgen of salt to a simmering saucepot before he turned to Mrs. O’Sullivan, the Merriweather cook, who was in the process of chopping mushrooms.

“How are you coming with those?” he asked.

She gave the mushrooms a final chop and lifted her head. “That was the last one, so shall I move on to the lettuce next?”

“I think you should sit down and enjoy a nice cup of tea, something I suggested after we unpacked the provisions my mother and I brought.” He smiled. “If you’ve forgotten, you’ve experienced quite the day already, and I’m perfectly capable of pulling a lunch together while you relax and keep me company.”

Mrs. O’Sullivan waved that straight aside. “I’m not one to lounge about, Mr. Whittenbecker, and have always found the best way for me to relax is to work in my kitchen—one that I haven’t neglected to notice you’ve taken over.”

His smile dimmed. “I do beg your pardon, Mrs. O’Sullivan. I’ve just realized that I barged into your domain without a by-your-leave, a true impertinence if there ever was one.”

Mrs. O’Sullivan released a bit of a tut. “I wouldn’t say you were being impertinent, more along the lines of being determined to impress a certain young lady, that idea proven by the food you brought to cook for lunch today.”

“Is it that obvious?”

“It’s not subtle, that’s for sure, since you’re serving baked halibut in a mushroom cream sauce, paired with new potatoes, string beans, shrimp salad, and then strawberry ice cream to top off the meal.”

He winced. “It’s too much, isn’t it?”

“Of course not, because Drusilla will definitely be impressed, which is what you’re hoping to achieve.” She smiled. “I should also mention that she won’t simply be impressed because of the quality of the meal you’re preparing, but because she’s never had a gentleman make a fuss over her before, but...” Her smile slipped from her face. “If it turns out you’re trying to impress her not because you actually find her extraordinary, but because you want to get your hands on this castle, know that I’ve spent years wielding a knife.”

He inclined his head. “Point taken.”

“Glad we understand each other,” Mrs. O’Sullivan said. “With that out of the way, I’ll chop the lettuce for the salad while you finish pulling the tails from the shrimp.”

A comfortable silence settled over them as they returned to work, Rhenick finishing the shrimp before he stirred the sliced mushrooms into the sauce simmering on the stove.

“Have you been the Merriweather cook for long?” he asked as he added more mushrooms to the pot.

“More than twenty years, a good fifteen of those years spent sharing the kitchen with the Merriweather French chef, Monsieur Boulanger. He left the Merriweather service to take up a position with the Rothchild family the second it became known that Mr. Sanford Duncan had absconded with the Merriweather fortune.”

Rhenick abandoned the sauce. “Someone stole the Merriweather fortune?”

“You didn’t already know that?”

“I knew something had happened because Drusilla mentioned a financial catastrophe, but she didn’t elaborate, and she didn’t whisper a thing about a Mr. Sanford Duncan.”

“I shouldn’t have said anything,” Mrs. O’Sullivan muttered as she returned to the lettuce, worried her lip for a moment, then lifted her head. “Since I’ve already let the cat out of the bag, though, and you and your mother are apparently here to help, which is more than I can say about any of Mrs. Merriweather’s fair-weather friends, who didn’t offer her so much as a single coin when society learned what Sanford had done, I’ll tell you exactly what happened.”

As Rhenick stirred the sauce so it wouldn’t scorch, Mrs. O’Sullivan took the next ten minutes to explain the basics of what had transpired with the Merriweather family, ten minutes in which he went from gently stirring the sauce to all but beating it, unquestionably because it was little wonder Drusilla had vowed to never marry, considering that the man who should have done everything in his power to protect her, one Mr. Elbert Herrington to be exact, had abandoned her instead. Elbert had then had the audacity, from the sound of it, to arrange for Drusilla to marry one of several men he’d sought out, even though Drusilla had never met those men.

“And there you have it,” Mrs. O’Sullivan finally said, wiping her hands on a towel. “The Merriweather ladies have certainly had a difficult time of it, Miss Drusilla more than her mother and Annaliese. To give that young lady credit, even though she’s been given trials that would leave most women curled up in a ball and refusing to get out of bed, she’s risen magnificently to the challenges she’s been facing.”

“And you believe it won’t be too much of another challenge for her to open up an academy?”

“From what I’ve seen since her father died, Miss Drusilla is capable of handling anything that’s thrown her way. Nevertheless, I can’t say I wasn’t relieved when I overheard your mother mention that bit about you and your family offering your assistance to get the academy doors open.” Mrs. O’Sullivan caught Rhenick’s eye. “Just between you and me, Miss Drusilla’s been worried about the state of their finances because, even though she managed to get that no-good Elbert to pay her for the return of the Herrington diamonds, that money isn’t going to last long. Having you help her open the academy sooner than later will surely take some of the weight off that poor dear’s shoulders.”

“ If she agrees to let us help her, something she’s yet to do.”

Mrs. O’Sullivan smiled. “Oh, don’t you worry about that. Drusilla is practical to a fault, and I can guarantee that she’s already decided your offer is a godsent opportunity she can’t ignore. But speaking of God...” She set aside the towel and moved closer to him. “I also overheard your mother and Norbert talking about the church you attend, and I would look upon it as a great favor if you could make a point to invite the Merriweather ladies to attend a service with you at some point. As I said, Mrs. Merriweather’s friends, if you can even call them that, lifted not a single finger to help her, although all of them sent their agents around when the Merriweather possessions were put up at auction to pay off the exorbitant debts Sanford ran up in Mrs. Merriweather’s name. Betrayals such as that are difficult to overcome, but I believe the ladies, along with Miss Seraphina Livingston, of course, would greatly benefit from making some new friends, and hopefully genuine friends at that.”

“I’ll be certain to ask if they’d care for me to escort them to a service soon, and you and Mr. Grimsby, as well as any other members of your staff, should know that you’ll be welcome to attend as well.”

Mrs. O’Sullivan stepped closer and gave his cheek a pat. “You’re a good man, Mr. Whittenbecker, and—”

Whatever else she’d been about to say got interrupted when the sound of shrieking somewhere outside the kitchen captured their attention.

Rhenick was out of the kitchen in a heartbeat and running though the great hall, where he immediately caught sight of Irma, who was racing down the staircase as if something was chasing her. After jumping from the last step, she slid a good distance across the stone floor before she gained her balance, then took off for the front door, yelling over her shoulder that everyone needed to immediately abandon the castle as it was most assuredly haunted.

He didn’t hesitate to run after her, although catching up with her turned out to be rather difficult because Irma Merriweather was unexpectedly fast on her feet.

“Mrs. Merriweather! Wait up!” he shouted when he got within a few feet of her, which had Irma stopping in her tracks, spinning on her heel, and then rushing directly for him, flinging arms that were decidedly shaking around him the second she reached him. She then buried her head against his chest and clung to him as if she was never going to let go.

Given that he was quite accustomed to members of his immediate and extended family throwing themselves on him whenever life seemed too difficult to bear, Rhenick gave her a few pats on the back, knowing there was little point in questioning her until she regained her composure.

“Step away from Mrs. Merriweather and then put your hands in the air where I can see them.”

As Irma released her hold on him, Rhenick raised his hands and turned, finding the woman he’d first seen wearing a cloak standing in the middle of the drive, pointing a blunderbuss at him.

“I’m not here to harm anyone,” he said, earning a grunt from the woman in return.

“Good to hear, but I imagine you are here in another attempt to relieve the Merriweathers of their property.” She tilted her head and didn’t bother to lower the blunderbuss. “I find myself wondering what unusual ploy you’re intending to use this time since a marriage proposition didn’t work out well for you last time.”

Before he could state that he didn’t have a ploy, Irma stepped forward. “For heaven’s sake, Seraphina,” she began, “put that gun away. Rhenick wasn’t in the process of anything dastardly. He was simply consoling me.”

Seraphina’s brows drew together. “Consoling you because ...?”

“I’ve just suffered yet another hair-raising incident, but before I get into that...” She turned to Rhenick. “I must beg your forgiveness, dear. I normally don’t make it a habit to accost young gentlemen, but clearly, as I just mentioned, I’ve suffered yet another fright and I fear I’m simply not myself right now.”

“What type of fright?” Rhenick asked.

“It was of the ghostly variety.”

“And you saw this after you and my mother got Drusilla to her room?”

“We never made it to her room.”

A sense of dread was immediate. “Exactly where would Drusilla and my mother be right now then?”

“I’m sure they’ll be along directly, but after we saw the ghost on the top of the turret, we became separated.”

Seraphina frowned. “Why were you up in the turret?”

“That’s where the footprints led us,” Irma said, quite as if that made perfect sense. “However, when we opened the door after we reached the top of the servant stairs that led us outside, a ghost materialized directly in front of us. I was behind Wilhelmine and Drusilla, you see, and the second I caught sight of the ghost, I started screaming.” She shook her head. “One would think that even in the afterlife a ghost would be affected by bloodcurdling screams, but it just continued floating about, which is why I’m sure you can’t blame me for heading down the servant stairs as fast as I could. Unfortunately, I didn’t have access to a candle, as Drusilla had been the one carrying it up the stairs, which meant I couldn’t see a thing and had to feel my way along.” She gave a bit of a shudder. “I thought for sure I’d be set upon by additional ghosts, but I finally managed to find a door and stumbled through it and then, I kid you not, I found myself in a room filled with mummies.”

Seraphina’s eyes widened. “Do not say you were set upon by mummies next.”

“Not set upon, thank goodness, although I swear I thought I saw one of them move, but I wasn’t going to linger around to make certain of that.”

Seraphina was in motion a second later, striding for the house even as she said something about him looking after Irma while she went and tracked down Drusilla.

Knowing he couldn’t very well leave Irma on her own so that he could help look for Drusilla and his mother as well, Rhenick offered Irma his arm and, after moving with her to the bench Drusilla had made use of earlier, helped her find her seat. He then sat down beside her, pleased to see her cheeks weren’t nearly as pale as they’d been only moments before.

“I think it was the same ghost I saw in my bedchamber the other night,” Irma said as she dusted what appeared to be cobwebs from her sleeve. “And now that your mother and Drusilla have seen it as well, there can be no doubt that the castle truly is haunted. That means we certainly can’t live here, let alone open an academy, as I doubt any mother will allow her daughter to attend a finishing school in a place that has ghosts running amok and mummies cavorting about.”

“I’m sure none of the mummies are doing any cavorting, but even if we determine there’s something of a ghostly nature transpiring within the castle walls, I get the sneaking suspicion that isn’t going to deter Drusilla from wanting to open her academy.”

“That might not deter her, but I imagine, after what Wilhelmine just saw, she won’t be keen to enroll your sisters in a haunted school. Since she’s the one who found those fifty-something potential students, I doubt, once the other mothers learn your sisters won’t be attending classes here, they’ll enroll their daughters either.”

“I don’t think you understand how determined my mother is to assure my sisters receive their fair share of lessons pertaining to propriety,” Rhenick countered. “A few ghosts, or even mummies, aren’t going to scare her off.”

Irma’s shoulders slumped just the slightest bit. “That’s unfortunate.”

Knowing there was little he could say that would cheer Irma up, he spent the next few minutes simply sitting beside her in silence, that silence only broken when Irma would release somewhat dramatic sighs, until she sat forward.

“Looks like Drusilla and Wilhelmine escaped from the ghost,” Irma said with a nod toward the castle.

Rhenick glanced to the castle and discovered Drusilla marching down the front steps, Wilhelmine on her right side, Seraphina on her left, and ... he squinted when he realized Drusilla was carrying something.

Something that was white and looked to be as large as a woman.

Irma drew in a sharp breath. “Good heavens. Drusilla’s captured the ghost, but ... how could she have even done that? Or better yet—why is she heading our way with it?”

Before Rhenick could do more than open his mouth, Irma was on her feet and charging down the drive, her widow’s weeds billowing behind her.

“Mother, stop!” Drusilla called. “It’s not what you think.”

It took Irma a good few yards before she finally stopped, turned around, then took a few hesitant steps toward Drusilla, who took that moment to toss whatever it was she was holding to the ground before she gestured Rhenick forward. “Look what we found on one of the turrets.”

“What is that?”

“Someone’s attempt at making everyone believe Aunt Ottilie is haunting the castle.” She nodded to what seemed to be a rag doll, although a life-size one that was draped in a shimmery cloth. “That was hanging on the turret, and not only was it hanging, but someone devised a pulley system that attaches one turret to the other. It’s obvious that the culprit went to all that bother as a way to convince people that this castle is, indeed, haunted.”

“Are you saying I was scared half to death because of a prank?” Irma demanded as she marched up to join them, peering at the heap of white fabric. “That looks exactly like what the ghost that visited me was covered in.”

“I’m sure it was cut out of the same bolt of fabric, but I don’t believe any of this ghost business is a prank, Mother,” Drusilla said. “It’s more of a sign that someone is truly determined to run everyone off this property, but I have news for whoever that is—I’m not going anywhere, no matter how many ghosts they may throw my way.”