Page 35 of A Lesson in Propriety (Merriweather Academy for Young Ladies #1)

Thirty-Five

“While I understand that it’s after midnight,” Drusilla began as the carriage careened wildly down the road, which wasn’t exactly a surprise with Seraphina driving again, “one would have thought, when we stopped at the police station, that they would have at least sent a single officer to accompany us back to the castle, as we do have a criminal stashed in the dungeon.”

“Agreed,” Rhenick said. “However, I suppose they figured, since it is after midnight, and since you happen to have said criminal tucked safely away in an honest-to-goodness dungeon, that there was no reason to send anyone tonight, as Sneaky Pete will still be in that dungeon come morning.”

Drusilla opened her mouth, but not a word came out, because the carriage took that moment to make a sharp turn to the right, which left Drusilla sliding across the carriage seat and bouncing off the carriage wall. She pushed herself upright, but then went sliding to the left a second later when the carriage made another abrupt turn.

“Perhaps we should share a seat as that might allow both of us to avoid finding ourselves on the floor,” Rhenick suggested.

“That’s an excellent idea considering Seraphina seems to be putting her evasive driving skills into play, as she’s worried Loughlin MacSherry’s men might be following us.” Drusilla patted the seat beside her.

An immediate response was impossible to get out of his mouth after Rhenick had to all but launch himself in the direction of the opposite seat, barely managing to sit down before the carriage took another fast turn. “Sweet Pea is undoubtedly delighted to have Seraphina at the reins because he’s a horse that loves galloping whenever possible. With that said, though, I didn’t notice anyone tailing us earlier, or notice any suspicious carriages parked outside Umberto’s house, so our current speed might be a little excessive, especially when I swear that last turn Seraphina made left us tooling along on two wheels.”

Drusilla grinned and then released what sounded like a snort when the carriage careened over a pothole that left her bouncing right up against him. She shoved herself away, leaving him rather disappointed, before she pushed hair that had had the audacity to slip from her chignon out of her face.

“Considering that Elena seems terrifying in her own right, even if the Zambarello family has gone completely legitimate, I doubt there are many people, even Loughlin MacSherry, who’d risk incurring the wrath of that lady by skulking around her residence, even if someone had been following us after we left the castle.”

“She’s definitely not a woman to cross, which makes me wonder how you’re going to handle her interest in getting her daughters enrolled in your academy.”

“Since I told Elena, if she’s able to get the developers to abandon their interest in the castle, that I would see her daughters promptly enrolled, that’s exactly what I intend to do.”

Rhenick frowned. “Surely you must know that you’ll face indignation from other parents if you admit the Zambarello sisters, given that their father was, until recently, involved in the criminal underworld.”

“Of course I know that, but it would hardly speak well of me if I start discriminating against future students simply because of their backgrounds.” She looked out the window, although there was nothing to see as it was completely black outside. “If you think about it, Reverend Michaelson’s choice of Scripture from the book of Romans that we heard only yesterday, although it seems as if that service was at least a month ago, could have been hand-selected for me as it dealt with how we’re expected to live peaceably with one another. It would hardly be living peaceably with anyone if I exclude young ladies from the academy simply because of who their parents are.”

She returned her attention to him. “Truth be told, I’ve been thinking that there’s a reason for why my life went off the rails, a reason He Who Shall Not Be Named tossed me over, and a reason I was forced to come to Chicago. What that reason is exactly, I’m still not sure, but one thing I am certain about is this—I’ve been given an opportunity to not only claim a sense of independence I never would have known if I’d entered into what amounted to nothing more than an arranged marriage, but I have also been given an opportunity to help other young ladies gain an advantage in life, even if it’s an advantage simply gained by learning how to properly comport themselves. That could very well allow some of these ladies to lead a life they never would have imagined, but that won’t happen if I set superficial boundaries in place regarding who may attend my school and who may not.”

He smiled. “Forgive me for questioning your decision because that was a very compelling argument. So compelling, in fact, that I’m sure if you simply explain your stance on inclusion to any indignant parents exactly as you just explained to me, no one will give you any trouble.”

Drusilla returned his smile, but before she could do more than that, the carriage bounced over yet another rut, sending her careening into him, where she promptly grabbed hold of his jacket lapels and hung on for dear life as the carriage veered to the right.

Curiously enough, even though they were in very real danger of being tossed from the carriage altogether if they continued the way they were, Rhenick found all trepidations of their mad midnight ride disappearing when Drusilla looked up, her face mere inches from his.

Instead of pulling back, which was exactly what he expected her to do, her gaze locked with his for what seemed like an eternity, until that gaze shifted to his mouth. Any notion that he might have had about not giving in to the distinct urge he felt to kiss her faded straightaway.

He leaned closer, settled his hand at the nape of her neck, tilted her chin up with his other hand, leaned closer still, and then his lips met hers, the emotions that immediately swept over him surpassing anything he thought kissing Drusilla would be like, and...

The carriage took that moment to stop in its tracks, the sudden lack of motion sending him lurching off the seat and taking Drusilla with him.

A second later, she was sprawled on top of him, an honest-to-goodness grunt escaping her.

“That was quite unexpected,” she muttered as she pushed herself up from where she’d been lying against his chest.

“Unexpected because we’ve now found ourselves on the floor?”

Her lips curved. “Unexpected as it brought a rather abrupt end to our kiss.”

His lips began to curve as well. “And I will now say that I wasn’t expecting you to say that.”

“And to that I’ll say that I wasn’t expecting you to kiss me in the first place, but now that we have, I don’t believe there’s any need for us to pretend it didn’t happen, as it was most enjoyable, and—”

“Got a bit of a situation out here,” Seraphina said as she pulled open the carriage door, stuck her head in, and blinked. “What are you doing down there?”

“Suffering effects of your driving, of course,” Drusilla returned without batting an eye, although she did send him a hint of a wink, the wink suggesting that even though she was, indeed, one of the most proper ladies he’d ever met, underneath that prim and properness might very well be a lady possessed of a mischievous spirit.

He could only hope he’d have an opportunity to explore more of her mischievous side in the very near future.

“It doesn’t actually appear as if either of you suffered overly much from my evasive maneuvers,” Seraphina said, a distinct trace of amusement in her voice.

Drusilla grinned, took the hand Seraphina held out to her, and climbed off of him a second later, sending him an apologetic wince when her elbow dug into his side before she practically fell out of the carriage.

After pushing himself upright, Rhenick climbed out of the carriage and moved to stand beside Drusilla and Seraphina, who were already directing their attention to the castle gate, one that was standing wide open and had no one manning it.

“What do you think the odds are that finding the gate open is not going to be a precursor of yet more trouble?” Drusilla asked.

“Slim to none,” Seraphina didn’t hesitate to say. “And because of that, I think we should leave the carriage behind and approach the castle as cautiously as possible, and with our weapons at the ready.”

It wasn’t exactly unexpected when Drusilla whipped her pistol from her pocket while Seraphina drew out a rapier, holding it in one hand while grasping the blunderbuss in the other.

“You should go first,” Drusilla said, sending him a nod. “That way, if we encounter any trouble, whoever is behind that trouble will be expecting you, as the man, to protect us, but then when you’re engaged in battle, Seraphina and I will swoop in to assist you, taking the miscreants by surprise.”

The sound of jingling reached his ears before he could respond, the jingling explained when Billy the Goat came charging around the side of the castle, Mother Goose squawking by his side, the rest of the goat herd galloping behind them.

“That’s definitely not a good sign,” Drusilla said.

“Nor is it that we’ve yet to get a glimpse of Rhenick’s coachman or his two groomsmen, which suggests that something has, indeed, happened,” Seraphina added.

Waiting until the goats and Mother Goose hurried past them, Rhenick stayed to the shadows as he made his way to the front steps, then crept up them with his back to the wall, apprehension sliding over him when he realized the castle door was wide open, something Mr. Grimsby would have never allowed to occur.

He stepped into the entranceway, where he was promptly met with the sight of Fidget scrambling down the hallway, emitting sounds that Annaliese had told him were called donks , something she’d also told him ferrets used to communicate with one another.

Unfortunately, Wiggles and Pippin were nowhere to be found, but that didn’t stop Fidget from continuing to chatter about as she scurried up to Drusilla, stood on her hind legs, and gave Drusilla a bat with a front paw. She then dropped to all fours and began gamboling down the hallway, releasing little yips as she went.

“I think she wants us to follow her,” Drusilla said, lifting up the hem of her gown before charging after the ferret.

Striding after her, Rhenick soon found himself winding his way down curving stone steps that led to the dungeons, Drusilla coming to a stop once she stepped off the last stair, her eyes narrowed as she glanced around the room. “There’s no one here.”

“In here” came a voice from behind the door where they’d stashed Sneaky Pete a few hours before.

“Annaliese?” Drusilla called.

“Yes. It’s me. We’re locked in here,” Annaliese called back.

“Hold on. Let me find a key.”

Five minutes later, and after Drusilla had dashed up to her room to retrieve her key ring, she was swinging the dungeon door open, Annaliese stumbling out a second later. She was followed by Mr. Grimsby, who was sporting a cut on his forehead; Mrs. O’Sullivan, who was nursing a bloody lip; Miss Tremblay, the lady’s maid, who was sniffling into a handkerchief; and Riley, who looked as if he wanted to punch somebody.

“Where’s my coachman and groomsmen?” Rhenick asked after sticking his head into the dungeon and discovering it empty.

“I think they’re tied up in the carriage house,” Riley said. “I’ll go check now.”

As Riley hurried away, Drusilla peered into the dungeon, then backed out and arched a brow Annaliese’s way. “Where’s Mother?”

Annaliese released a shaky breath. “I’m not sure where she is, but I know who she’s with ... Sanford.”

“What?”

“He showed up about an hour ago after he took the coachman and groomsmen by surprise. He then relieved them of the set of keys they’d been given so they could open the gate, which Sanford had bypassed because he was able to breach the grounds by coming here by way of the lake. Then, if I’m piecing events together properly, after securing Rhenick’s men, he walked through the front door as bold as you please and kept right on going until he found me and Mother in the parlor.”

Drusilla frowned. “What did he say when he walked into the parlor?”

“He wished us a good evening, told Mother that she was looking as beautiful as ever, then told her that he was certain she’d had enough time to come to her senses and should be all too willing to marry him now. He then went on to say that after they were wed, he’d be happy to return all the Merriweather money he stole, plus hand over the yacht to her.”

“What did Mother say to all that?”

Annaliese’s eyes crinkled at the corners. “She told him that she would rather face life as a complete pauper than ever consider marrying a scoundrel like him. Clearly, that didn’t go over well with Sanford, who then told Mother that they were going to go off on a little trip together to give her time to consider the matter more thoroughly. I had a feeling he was going to turn nasty when Mother told him she wasn’t going anywhere, so I whistled for my darlings, but before Pippin and Wiggles could do more than run into the room, fangs bared, events took a turn for the curious.”

“More curious than Sanford showing up?”

“Indeed, because right as Pippin set her sights on Sanford, the ghostly figure that Mother saw when we first moved here came waltzing into the room, sporting a pistol in one hand and a rifle in the other.” Annaliese shook her head. “Before I knew it, the ghost was threatening to shoot Pippin and Wiggles, which meant I had no choice but to scoop them up. While I was doing that, the ghost began brokering a deal with Sanford.”

Drusilla blinked. “Brokering a deal?”

“Indeed, and in a feminine voice that sounded, as Mother had mentioned after she’d seen the ghost the first time, as if she had a cold, or was trying to disguise who she really was.”

“But what kind of deal did the ghost want to broker?”

Annaliese gave her nose a rub. “The ghost told Sanford that if he would help her rescue her partner from the dungeon and get all of the staff locked in that dungeon instead, she would show him how to get back to his yacht without him having to go down the cliffs he had to climb to access the castle in the first place.”

“That’s right around the time Mr. Grimsby and I tried to take Sanford and the ghost by surprise by rushing into the parlor, armed with a rolling pin, spatula, and a few knives,” Mrs. O’Sullivan said. “Sanford took me out with one slap to the face, and poor Mr. Grimsby didn’t fare any better with the ghost, who conked him over the head with the rifle.”

“By that time,” Miss Tremblay added, “Riley and I had heard the commotion, so we went to investigate, but we probably shouldn’t have rushed into the room without a plan because we found ourselves threatened with being shot, and a few minutes later, found ourselves exchanging places with Sneaky Pete.”

“Which suggests we were wrong about Sneaky Pete working alone tonight,” Rhenick said.

“He was clearly not alone,” Annaliese said. “I’m sure he and his ghost partner were supposed to divide and conquer, the ghost probably being responsible for setting the stuffed ghost floating over the turret while Sneaky Pete started wandering around the great hall. I think Sneaky Pete’s partner must have taken to hiding after we caught him but then saw an opportunity to escape, as well as rescue Sneaky Pete, when Sanford showed up.”

“Any idea where Sanford might be heading with Irma?” Rhenick asked.

“I heard him ask Sneaky Pete if he knew what the best way was to get back to the Atlantic undetected. Sneaky Pete suggested Sanford wind his way through the Great Lakes, which means, if my grasp of the Great Lakes is accurate, he’s heading north. Sanford didn’t hesitate to agree to take Sneaky Pete and his partner with him after Sneaky Pete told him he was familiar with the waterways around the lakes.”

“What we haven’t been able to figure out, though,” Mr. Grimsby began, “is why Sneaky Pete and his accomplice seemed downright desperate to get away from Chicago.”

Rhenick ran a hand through his hair. “I would hazard a guess and say they’re desperate because we uncovered tonight that Umberto was not responsible for Pete being here. Loughlin MacSherry was instead.”

“The underworld boss you said was ruthless?” Annaliese asked.

“That’s the one, and MacSherry isn’t going to be pleased that Sneaky Pete wasn’t successful in running Drusilla out of town.” He blew out a breath. “It’s going to complicate tracking Sanford down, though, since Pete’s with them. He’ll be familiar with the lakes, given that he’s been working on the water for MacSherry and spent years on the water when he worked for Captain Harvey.”

Drusilla worried her lip for a second. “It sounds like the only way we’ll have a chance to find them is if we can find someone who has access to a boat and knows how to navigate through the lakes.”

In the blink of an eye, the perfect solution sprang to mind, and one that went by the name of Seth McCormick, Norma Jean’s brother and the man his sister Coraline was somewhat infatuated with.

“I might know someone who’ll help us out,” Rhenick said. “He’s an inventor, as well as a friend of mine, and he’s been tinkering around with what he calls a motorboat, a boat he’s somehow managed to get running off kerosene. He’s spent hours on the lakes as he’s done that tinkering, so if anyone can locate Sanford, it’s Seth.” He sent Drusilla a nod. “I’ll go speak to him now, and while I’m gone, I’m going to suggest that all of you try to get a little rest.”

“I doubt any of us will be able to do that,” Drusilla said.

“You can at least close your eyes because, if Sanford realizes that Irma isn’t going to change her mind about sailing off into the sunset with him, the situation is bound to turn concerning. We’ll be much more capable of handling anything concerning if we’re not stumbling about half dead on our feet when we finally catch up to them.”