Page 28 of A Lesson in Propriety (Merriweather Academy for Young Ladies #1)
Twenty-Eight
Rhenick settled his attention on Drusilla, who’d closed her eyes the moment they began trundling away from the church in the open landau he’d chosen to bring out today, done so because Drusilla had spent most of the past month enclosed in the castle.
There was little doubt that she was just as concerned as he was regarding their recent exchange with Fenna, that idea reinforced when she took that moment to release a sigh.
Drusilla wasn’t a lady prone to sighing, but that she was doing so now suggested she was currently revisiting everything Fenna had disclosed, as well as revisiting the fact that Fenna, when Drusilla had suggested she travel with them to the castle in order to get to the bottom of the matter with Norbert, had adamantly refused.
Not only had she refused, she’d told Drusilla that she would only step foot in the castle if Norbert was no longer there, or better yet, if he were safely jailed behind bars, where he’d be incapable of doing away with her exactly like Fenna believed he’d done away with Ottilie.
If all that hadn’t been concerning enough, Rhenick, directly after Fenna had accused Norbert of doing away with Ottilie, had spotted the groundskeeper standing on the far side of the churchyard, his eyes narrowed on Fenna. Given that Norbert had last been seen manning the front gate, and had told Rhenick not to worry about the castle as he had the safeguarding of it well in hand, it was clear that something was amiss.
It hadn’t taken long before Norbert realized Rhenick had spotted him, but instead of joining them with an explanation regarding why he was at church instead of watching over the castle, Norbert simply turned and melted into the crowd without a word.
“I’m afraid Fenna Larkin is right,” Drusilla suddenly said, drawing Rhenick from his thoughts.
“About what?”
“That it would be irresponsible for me to open the academy right now, what with the serious allegations she tossed Norbert’s way.” She blew out another sigh. “Even if she’s way off the mark about Norbert having anything to do with Aunt Ottilie’s disappearance, or William Baumgartner’s for that matter, the fact remains that both of them are missing. Add in the notion that someone wants everyone to believe the castle is haunted and I can no longer avoid the fact that this is not an opportune time to invite students into a castle that’s plagued with issues that could very well turn dangerous.”
She caught Rhenick’s eye. “You’re the one who warned me that there are men out there who’ll go to extreme lengths to get what they want, and men who are probably behind the ghost infestation. And while I’m still determined to retain possession of the castle, I can’t open the academy in the hopes that it will simply cause all these developers to give up and leave me alone. What if they’re just biding their time until my defenses are down? If that’s the case, logic suggests they’ll turn more threatening, which means that until we sort out all these mysteries, which seem to be stacking up around us, the Merriweather Academy for Young Ladies will need to be put on hold.”
Seraphina, who was sitting beside Drusilla, took off her spec tacles and tucked them into her reticule. “I hate to have to say this, given how much work everyone has done to get the castle in order, but until we get to the bottom of everything, I don’t believe we should open our doors next week either.”
Drusilla turned her attention to Annaliese, who was sitting beside Rhenick. “What do you think?”
Annaliese tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and frowned. “I think a delay is necessary as well. We certainly can’t expect to run an academy effectively, something we’ve never done before in the first place, with so many obstacles plaguing us, the most troubling one being if we were to discover that Norbert truly is a madman and does something mad while classes are in session.”
Drusilla arched a brow Rhenick’s way. “And you?”
Rhenick raked a hand through his hair. “A delayed opening is probably unavoidable until we get to the bottom of all the mysteries surrounding the castle. I would suggest we start getting to that bottom with Norbert first, since he could be the key to everything.”
“I doubt Norbert will confess to being a murderer.”
“I doubt that as well, but he’s at least a place to start.” Rhenick sat forward. “However, before we get down to figuring out our interrogation technique, I need to ask you a rather delicate question.”
“You want to know how I’m going to deal with Coraline and her friends’ serious breach of etiquette today during the service?”
“That hadn’t even crossed my mind. But now that you’ve broached the topic, how are you going to handle my sister?”
Drusilla shrugged. “I’m not going to do anything about it because Coraline is perfectly capable of behaving herself. Today was the first time I’ve ever witnessed her being overly exuberant.”
“That’s just because my mother has made a point of keeping an eagle eye on Coraline whenever she’s at the castle, but my sister obviously saw an unexpected opportunity today because Mother was preoccupied with Irma, I was sitting next to you, and my father didn’t attend service today since he’s suffering from a bad cold.”
“What did you sitting next to me have to do with Coraline misbehaving?”
Rhenick took a moment to consider the question since he certainly wasn’t going to spit out the entire truth of it to her, not when the truth revolved around the idea that his sisters all knew he was still completely enamored with Drusilla, even though she seemed content to merely maintain a friendship with him.
That enamored state, which his sisters brought up every evening when he returned home from the castle, didn’t seem to be diminishing in the slightest, although ... it did seem to be changing, transforming into something deeper, something Eloise, who fancied herself an expert on romance because she made a point of reading Jane Austen, was convinced was love.
Frankly, he was relatively convinced it was love as well, since he found himself looking forward to seeing Drusilla first thing in the morning, enjoyed every minute he spent with her during the day as they worked side by side on different projects, and then found himself thinking about her whenever he left the castle to attend to other projects that demanded his attention. He’d then taken to returning to the castle after he was finished with his other obligations for the day, making it a habit to take over preparing the evening meal from Mrs. O’Sullivan a few nights a week because Drusilla made a point of cleaning her plate every time he made her a meal, something she told him was rather unladylike, but something she couldn’t help as his cooking was simply far too delicious for her to resist.
The problem with the whole being-in-love business, though, was this—he had absolutely no idea how to address the matter since Drusilla had asked him to never bring up the topic of marriage again, and he had the sneaking suspicion that she probably meant he was supposed to avoid all areas surrounding matrimony, including any talk of romance.
Granted, he hadn’t actually agreed to her request, but he certainly didn’t want to give her a reason to end what had turned out to be a delightful friendship, even if he wanted to turn that friendship into so much more.
Seraphina suddenly cleared her throat in a more-than-telling fashion, which snapped him directly out of what were certainly interesting thoughts. Before he could recall what Drusilla had asked him, Seraphina took it upon herself to answer the question for him.
“I’m sure what Rhenick would tell you about Coraline misbehaving while he was sitting beside you is this—she knows, as everyone else does, that the two of you spend the majority of your time discussing new ways to improve the castle, and when you’re doing that, you’re usually oblivious to everything else around you.”
Drusilla wrinkled her nose. “We don’t spend all our time discussing the castle. A lot of times we talk about his family, or I tell him about my time in finishing school and exactly how it came to be that I earned the title of Far Too Prim and Proper.”
“You were hardly prim and proper when you were dealing with those developers last week, as most exceedingly proper ladies don’t shoot at other people,” Annaliese pointed out.
“That was an extenuating circumstance.”
Annaliese rolled her eyes. “You shot at Rhenick a month ago.”
“Another extenuating circumstance,” Drusilla said before she turned to him. “Weren’t you saying something about having a delicate question you wanted to ask me?”
He grinned. “Not enjoying your sister pointing out specific circumstances where you’re not prim and proper?”
“Not in the least,” she said, although her eyes were twinkling ever so slightly. “So, to avoid additional examples where I’ve set aside my usual adherence to proper decorum, what was your question?”
His grin faded. “I wanted to know if you’ll be left facing another dire financial situation if you’re forced to delay the opening of the academy, as I know you’ve been counting on tuition money to set your finances to rights.”
She worried her lip for a second. “That is a concern, but I believe I’ll have enough money to make do until we can safely open the academy.”
He caught her gaze. “If you find that you can’t make do, I’ll be more than happy to extend you a loan.”
She sent him a rather wobbly smile. “And while that’s very kind of you, know that I won’t be taking you up on your offer, as I have the sneaking suspicion you’d refuse to accept repayment from me since you’ve been a little vague about agreeing to allow me to reimburse you for the cost of all the supplies and labor you’ve incurred fixing up the castle. To remind you, I’m quite determined to learn how to become self-sufficient. But I do thank you for the offer.”
Since there was no doubt he would refuse repayment, and little doubt she wouldn’t react well if he blundered about yet again and blurted out what he really wanted to say—that her financial troubles would be over if she’d simply marry him—Rhenick settled for sending her an inclination of his head as Seraphina sat forward.
“You wouldn’t have to set aside your goal of becoming self-sufficient if someone would simply point me in the direction of a reputable jeweler, and I could finally get around to selling some of my mother’s jewelry,” Seraphina said. “I’m perfectly happy to invest in a venture I know will eventually be a great financial success.”
“You’re not selling your late mother’s jewelry because we’re not going to delay the opening of our academy indefinitely.” Drusilla lifted her chin. “I fully intend to swing those doors wide open come September, which means we need to concentrate our efforts on solving every mystery connected with the castle once and for all, and we need to solve those by the end of August.”
Before Rhenick could ask how Drusilla thought any of them would be capable of solving a single mystery, let alone several, the landau began to slow as it approached the castle gate. Riley Murphy, the Merriweathers’ one and only stable boy, waved to them from the other side as he rattled a set of keys in his hand and went about unlocking the gate.
“It seems as if Norbert didn’t leave the church in such a hurry because he was anxious to return to his post,” Drusilla said as Riley swung the gate open. As he stepped aside to make room for the landau, Drusilla told Rhenick’s coachman to pull the landau over once it cleared the gate. She then hopped to the ground after it came to a stop, not bothering to wait for either of the two groomsmen to assist her—not that they’d made so much as a single move to abandon their positions, probably because both of them had only recently worked in one of the shipyards and weren’t exactly familiar with groomsmen duties in general.
After sending his groomsmen, Jimmy Stillwater and Mannie Bracken, a look, which must not have been a very telling look since neither of them made a move to assist Seraphina or Annaliese from the landau either, Rhenick stepped to the ground, offering his hand to the other ladies. He quirked a brow Jimmy and Mannie’s way, earning some winces in return as his groomsmen evidently finally realized what they’d been expected to do.
Deciding he’d have to make arrangements for Jimmy and Mannie to spend some time with Mr. Grimsby, who’d been downright militant with teaching other members of Rhenick’s staff how to adequately perform their duties, Rhenick strode over to join Drusilla, his attention settling on Riley, who was in the process of shaking his head.
“I wouldn’t say, Miss Drusilla, that Norbert originally intended on leaving the castle today, or intended on asking me to mind the gate. That was just a result of what happened after he spotted a carriage parked a ways down Lake Shore Drive. As soon as he saw it, he called over to me—I was helping him prune some roses by the gate—and told me he needed to go investigate a suspicious-looking carriage. Then he fetched his horse and off he went.”
“Did he say why he thought it was suspicious?”
“He mentioned something about it might belong to one of those developers, but he never told me what he discovered after he returned here about forty-five minutes ago.”
“Norbert’s here?” Rhenick asked.
“He was, but only to fetch Ernie as well as a large rucksack, which left me thinking he might not be coming back for quite some time.”