Page 30 of A Lesson in Propriety (Merriweather Academy for Young Ladies #1)
Thirty
To say that it had been one of the most unusual days Drusilla had ever experienced was saying quite a lot, given the unusualness of her life in general these days.
“You’re certain you’ll be alright for an hour or so while I follow Mother home in her phaeton, then gather up a change or two of clothing before I return?” Rhenick asked, drawing Drusilla’s attention as she stood in the hallway, getting ready to do a last sweep of the castle to make certain the doors and windows were locked.
She smiled. “I’ll be fine, although I must admit I’m relieved you offered to stay at the castle for the foreseeable future, as it appears we’ve got quite a few threats being leveled against us right now.”
Rhenick returned her smile. “And I must admit that I was surprised you accepted my offer since I know you’re determined to embrace your independence these days.”
“I was rather surprised myself, until it struck me that I’d be a complete ninny if I declined your kind offer because embracing a sense of independence certainly shouldn’t mean I need to refuse assistance or advice from a gentleman simply on principle. Especially not when you’ve been nothing but helpful to me ... well, after you decided you might have made a blunder by telling me we needed to get married.”
“You’ll notice that I haven’t broached that topic again, per your demand, although I have been wanting to clarify something with you.”
“Clarify?”
“Indeed, and clarify that no matter that I did blunder rather badly the first day we met, I’m well aware of the fact that the manner in which I approached the subject of marriage with you was completely beyond the pale.”
“I, ah, see.”
Rhenick’s eyes took to crinkling at the corners. “I don’t think you truly do, so to explain a little more sufficiently, know that, in my mind, marriage proposals should be dealt with properly and not in some willy-nilly fashion. Properly, if you’re curious, involves a gentleman presenting himself to his intended on bended knee, where he’ll then declare an earnest proclamation of his love for said intended, and then ask her to do him the very great honor of becoming his wife.”
For a split second, Drusilla found herself waiting with bated breath to see if Rhenick was about to drop to one knee, and then, when he did no such thing, a smidgen of what felt exactly like disappointment stole through her.
Before she had an opportunity to contemplate the disappointment, though, Rhenick told her he was off to escort his mother home before he turned and strode through a door Mr. Grimsby and Chester, the Whittenbecker butler, were already holding open for him.
“I believe you’re now expected to return with Mrs. Whittenbecker back to Rush Street,” Mr. Grimsby said to Chester, which had the man giving a bit of a start, as if he’d just recalled he truly was supposed to return with Wilhelmine to the house he actually worked in since his butler lessons were done for the day.
As Chester hurried through the door and down the steps after Rhenick, Drusilla turned to Mr. Grimsby, who gave his face a bit of a rub before he shook his head.
“I’m not certain Chester is ever going to be able to grasp the intricacies of what it takes to become a proper butler, but he fixed the fireplace screen in five minutes flat because he spent years working with iron.”
Drusilla grinned. “It does seem as if Chicago might be suffering from a lack of appropriately trained domestic workers. Wilhelmine was saying something to Mother about how Coraline’s lady’s maid singed off a bit of Coraline’s hair the other evening while trying to style it in an upsweep.”
“Isn’t Coraline the youngest Whittenbecker sister, and as such, too young to be wearing her hair in a chignon just yet?” Mr. Grimsby asked.
“Indeed, but she’s rather proficient with persuasion and convinced her lady’s maid that the rules of putting your hair up had changed.”
“You’re certainly going to have some challenges with Mr. Whittenbecker’s sisters, but speaking of Mr. Whittenbecker...” Mr. Grimsby took one last glance out the door, nodded to where Rhenick was already on Sweet Pea and trailing behind Wilhelmine’s departing phaeton, then closed the door and settled a stern gaze on her.
She fought the inclination to fidget when Mr. Grimsby simply continued considering her as his stern expression didn’t waver in the least.
“You wanted to say something about Rhenick?” she finally asked.
Mr. Grimsby gave a bob of his head. “Indeed, although I’m not quite certain how I should phrase what I need to say, so perhaps it might be best for me to simply spit out what I, along with Mrs. O’Sullivan, have been thinking.”
“Why do I get the distinct impression I’m soon to be in for a lecture?”
“It’s not a lecture, my dear, but as you have absolutely no one to advise you, or rather, no one to advise you who possesses years of worldly wisdom as Mrs. O’Sullivan and I do, I feel duty bound to lend you some advice. That advice revolves around this—your determination to keep every gentleman at arm’s length will not see you happy, especially not when a man like Rhenick Whittenbecker would be only too happy to get closer to you.”
“Rhenick is closer to me than any gentleman has ever been because we’ve become friends.”
“After being privy to the conversation you and Mr. Whittenbeck just shared—and no, I won’t be apologizing for eavesdropping as I was manning the door and couldn’t avoid it—it seems to me as if Mr. Whittenbecker was hedging around a little, waiting to see what your response would be to him explaining that a lady like you deserved a proper proposal, but you made no response at all.”
“Because I had no idea how to respond.”
“You could have said that you’ve come to the realization that you may have been a little hasty demanding that he never speak about marriage with you again.”
Drusilla blinked. “That would have been completely untoward, as well as forward of me, and besides that, I don’t recall ever mentioning anything to you or Mrs. O’Sullivan about me changing my mind regarding the whole marriage business.”
Mr. Grimsby moved to where he’d left some polishing rags beside a suit of armor. “The only reason you haven’t admitted that you might have changed your mind is because you’re stubborn and don’t want to admit that you were wrong when you decided to lump all gentlemen into a they’re-all-cads category. Clearly Mr. Whittenbecker is nothing of the sort, just as, clearly, you like him and enjoy spending time in his company.”
“As I already mentioned, we’ve become friends. Of course I like him.”
Mr. Grimsby picked up a cloth, squinted at the suit of armor, then took to polishing what looked to be a fingerprint off it. “In my humble opinion, starting off a relationship as friends is the best way to begin. And how could you not be friends with Rhenick since he’s a very impressive man with ambitions that I know will see him eventually become one of the most sought-after architects in Chicago? More importantly than that, though, and what has impressed me and Mrs. O’Sullivan the most about him is that he’s incredibly caring and protective of his mother and sisters. He’s also a gentleman who respects women in general, and that right there speaks to who he truly is at heart.”
Before Drusilla could respond to that, although she wasn’t certain how to respond as it certainly hadn’t escaped her notice how dedicated Rhenick was to his family, or how he truly did seem to respect her opinions, Seraphina and Annaliese came striding up the hallway, the sound of the bells Annaliese had attached to her ferrets’ collars jingling merrily away.
“I think they’re going to be alright with the bells,” Annaliese said, stopping beside Drusilla and sending a fond look to her ferrets, who were now scampering in and around the suits of armor, looking quite as if they were in the midst of a ferret game of hide-and-seek. “I’m not sure they’ll continue to be alright, though, if we bring the goats back into the house, as Fidget doesn’t seem to care for goats, nor does she care for Mother Goose because I caught her chasing the goose around the backyard the other day, obviously with the intent of chasing her right off the castle grounds.”
Drusilla winced. “Since the last thing we need right now is a goat, ferret, and goose war, we’ll keep the goats and goose outside for now, but I am going to have Riley leave the barn door open at night from this point forward since the goats could alert us if anyone takes to snooping around the grounds.”
“You think Norbert might come back?” Seraphina asked.
“I’m not sure what to think about Norbert, especially after I found his keys on my office desk.”
Seraphina frowned. “That’s rather odd.”
“Everything about our lives seems odd these days,” Annaliese muttered. “But oddness aside, I think I’ll go check in with Mother, who curiously enough, seems as if she’s in good spirits, even knowing Sanford may be on his way to Chicago to do her in. After that, I’m going to head off to bed, as I could certainly use some sleep.”
“I could use some sleep, as well,” Seraphina said. “But given that we seem to be incurring more threats against us on an hourly basis, I’m fairly sure, even with Rhenick returning later to take turns with Riley on patrols around the grounds tonight, I’ll be sleeping with one eye open.”
“One would think,” Drusilla began as she headed for the stairs, Seraphina falling into step on her right with Annaliese doing the same on her left, “given how much we’ve dealt with today, that the odds of us experiencing additional drama would be slim to none, which means we should be able to enjoy a very peaceful night of sleep indeed.”