Page 36 of A Lesson in Propriety (Merriweather Academy for Young Ladies #1)
Thirty-Six
Drusilla shifted on the makeshift bench she was sitting on in Seth McCormick’s motorboat, surprised to discover she was wide awake even though she’d not been able to get any of that rest Rhenick had suggested a few hours before.
“I can’t thank you enough for providing us with a boat as well as agreeing to captain for us today,” she said, earning a smile from Seth as he shoved a strand of black hair that was definitely longer than most men were sporting these days out of his face.
“There’s no need to thank me, Miss Merriweather. I’ve been itching to test the improvements I made to the motor but haven’t found the time, as I’ve been tinkering around with a prototype for a water tank that might be able to deliver reliable hot water through pipes and by using only one faucet. This adventure of yours has gotten me out of my laboratory and breathing some fresh air for a change.”
“I’m not certain the air we’re breathing can be considered fresh, considering all the smoke your engine is coughing up,” Annaliese said, her voice rather muffled since she’d wrapped a scarf over her face to avoid breathing in all the smoky air.
“That’s due to the kerosene,” Seth explained. “I might need to refine the filter, but you’ll get a break soon because we need to make it to shore so I can fill up the tank from the cans of kerosene I brought with us.”
“Are you sure traveling with kerosene is a good idea? I’ve always heard that it’s incredibly combustible,” Annaliese asked.
Seth’s brow furrowed for the briefest of seconds before he brightened. “I’ve only caught on fire three, or, eh, maybe it was five times.” He nodded to a stack of floatation devices. “I came prepared, though, so if you do spot fire, just grab one of those and jump overboard.”
Before Annaliese could do more than gape at a man who’d just delivered a less-than-reassuring statement, Rhenick lowered the binoculars he’d been using to scan the water and nodded. “There’s a yacht anchored in that cove up ahead, but we’re still too far away for me to make out the name on the side of it.”
“Perhaps we should put into shore right past the opening of the cove, then go on foot to get a better look since we can’t very well sneak closer since Mr. McCormick’s motorboat isn’t what I would call the stealthiest of machines,” Annaliese said.
“I might have to see if I can weld a muffler onto the motor,” Seth practically shouted as his motorboat began making more noise than ever. “But mufflers aside, I bet someone on that yacht stopped in that particular cove because they know Miss Sally runs a beachside green grocery and lunch counter that caters to the local fishermen.”
“I can see Mother demanding a snack in an attempt to find a way to escape,” Annaliese said. “I can also see Sanford trying to appease her since I heard him mutter something to Mother before he shut me in the dungeon about how much he’d missed her.”
“Then let’s hope that is Sanford’s yacht and that everyone is on shore instead of still onboard since that might make it easier to rescue Mother,” Drusilla said as Seth began steering the motorboat toward a patch of sandy beach that was past the entrance to the cove.
Unfortunately, before they made it to shore, smoke began billowing from the engine, right before flames shot out of it and began licking their way over the side of the boat.
“Everyone out!” Seth yelled, waiting until Drusilla, Annaliese, and Seraphina had flung themselves into the water before he tossed them floatation devices.
Thankfully, the floatation devices weren’t needed since they’d already made it to shallow water. And after turning to check on Rhenick and finding him and Seth in shallow water as well, using two buckets Seth had wisely included on the boat to douse the flames, Drusilla waded to shore. After stumbling her way onto the beach, she took a second to wring water from her skirt as Annaliese and Seraphina did the same beside her.
She gave her skirt a last wring and lifted her head, finding Seraphina smiling brightly back at her.
“What could you possibly be finding amusing at this particular moment?” she asked.
“I’m not smiling because I’m amused. I’m smiling because we finally have a moment to ourselves, and a moment I’m now going to encourage you to use wisely, and by wisely, I mean use it to explain to me exactly what it was that I interrupted between you and Rhenick.” Seraphina plopped down on the sand and patted the spot beside her. “You will also divulge, and in great detail if you please, if I interrupted something romantic in nature, which I’m convinced I did. Then, I’m hoping you’ll tell us that you’ve changed your stance about never wanting a gentleman to court you.”
Before Drusilla could muster up a response to any of that, Annaliese’s mouth went slightly agape as she dropped down beside Seraphina. “You believe my sister was engaged in something of a romantic nature?”
Seraphina nodded. “I do, but I didn’t personally see the romance, which is why I’m now waiting with bated breath for Drusilla to tell us everything.”
“It’s hardly proper for a lady to kiss and tell,” Drusilla heard pop out of her mouth before she could stop the words, words that left Annaliese gaping again and Seraphina looking rather smug.
“I knew it,” Seraphina exclaimed. “But how unfortunate that my evasive driving techniques interrupted you, especially if that came before the two of you declared your affections for each other.”
“There were no declarations of any affections” was all Drusilla could think to say to that.
Seraphina seemed to deflate on the spot. “And isn’t that simply a shame since the two of you make such an adorable couple.”
Drusilla took a seat on the sand beside Seraphina. “I don’t know why you’d think Rhenick and I make an adorable couple.”
“Please,” Seraphina returned with a wave of a sandy hand. “The man absolutely dotes on you, looks at you as if you’re the most beautiful woman in the world, and would give you the moon if you ask for it.” She smiled. “That is completely adorable behavior, and you cannot tell me that you’re immune to Rhenick’s charm, as you seem to always be smiling when you’re in his company, which is also adorable.”
“She does seem to be smiling a lot of late,” Annaliese agreed.
“She’d be smiling even more if she’d simply set aside her stubbornness and admit that her vow to never consider marriage was made in haste.”
“I’m sure you’d swear off any romantic encounters as well if you’d endured what I did at the hands of He Who Shall Not Be Named,” Drusilla muttered.
“Undoubtedly, but since you’ve now learned that all men are not like that dastardly scoundrel, and that there are men like Rhenick out there, who, again, adores you, don’t you think it might be time to reevaluate your stance on romance in general?”
Drusilla blew out a breath. “I suppose I’m not completely opposed to doing some reevaluating.”
“Excellent,” Seraphina exclaimed. “Just as it’s excellent that I get the distinct feeling that you, my dear Drusilla, might have enjoyed that kiss you admitted you shared with Rhenick. And, to point out the obvious, when a lady enjoys kissing a gentleman, that’s a sign there’s a budding romantic relationship on the horizon—and the near horizon, at that.”
Drusilla found she didn’t have an argument readily available to that because ... she had enjoyed Rhenick’s kiss.
Truth be told, she enjoyed quite a bit about Rhenick these days, and that was presenting her with quite the conundrum because she had vowed she would never become involved with a gentleman again as she was determined to embrace a sense of independence.
The problem with her vow, though, and why she might need to reevaluate her decision, was this—Rhenick wasn’t like any gentleman she’d ever known.
Yes, he’d made a muck of their first encounter, but then, after they’d begun working together, he’d started to become her friend, and a friend who respected her opinion and didn’t expect, simply because he was a man, that his opinions were more valuable than hers.
Besides respecting her opinion, though, Rhenick was an enjoyable gentleman to spend company with. Conversations were never forced between them, and he had an easy manner that left people disclosing their problems to him, something she’d seen his sisters do on numerous occasions.
“You might not want to let Mother, when we retrieve her, or Wilhelmine either for that matter, learn about the kiss,” Annaliese said, pulling Drusilla from her thoughts. “They’ll be planning a wedding before you can stop them, and I don’t think you’d stand a chance of protesting a wedding if Mother, Wilhelmine, and Rhenick’s delightful sisters decide that the two of you share a mutual affection for each other, and not simply of the friendly sort.” She smiled. “And while I’m no expert when it comes to the matter of kissing, I’m relatively sure that most friends don’t kiss each other in a romantic fashion.”
Thankfully, before Drusilla had to come up with something to say to what hadn’t exactly been a mistaken opinion on her sister’s part, Rhenick and Seth came striding up to join them, their faces blackened from the smoke the fire had caused and their clothes soaking wet.
“We’re going to have to find another ride back because the motorboat isn’t going to stay seaworthy for long,” Seth said before he dropped the two large rucksacks he was carrying on the sand. “I managed to save the bag of weapons you brought, as well as my own.”
Annaliese tilted her head. “What type of weapons did you bring?”
“Just some prototypes I’ve been working on.” Seth rubbed a hand over his face, smearing soot in the process. “I included my latest invention, something I’m currently calling a flamethrower, which I think might come in handy because I’m sure it’ll stop everyone in their tracks once I fire it up, which will make rescuing your mother easier.”
Annaliese blinked. “And while a flamethrower sounds downright enticing, you might want to show some caution when wielding it, especially if we make it onto the yacht my mother’s money paid for. I’m sure Mother would love to be able to enjoy a few abduction-free rides on it after we rescue her before it goes up in flames.”
“Duly noted,” Seth said before his eyes went a little distant, then he blinked and focused on Annaliese again. “Rhenick told me how Sanford made off with your fortune, but if we’re successful capturing him, do you think your money will be returned to you?”
“Not a question I was expecting, but I suppose, since Sanford told Mother that he’d return the money if she married him, if we do capture him, there is a chance our bank accounts will be sufficiently plumped up in the near future.”
“That’s what I’m thinking as well, which leads me to another question.”
Instead of asking that question, though, Seth leaned toward Annaliese and began perusing her face, his brow furrowing in the process.
Annaliese shot a glance to Drusilla when Seth didn’t bother saying a word, simply continued staring at her for what was beginning to turn into a very long moment.
Having no idea why Seth was considering Annaliese so closely, although he might simply be doing so because Annaliese was unusually beautiful, even when in a bedraggled state, Drusilla settled for sending her sister a shrug.
“Hardly helpful,” Annaliese muttered before she returned her attention to Seth, then gave a snap of her fingers, something that left Seth blinking a time or two back at her.
“You said you had another question?” Annaliese prompted.
“Has anyone ever told you that your face is oddly symmetrical?” was Seth’s unexpected response to that.
“They have not, but is that a good thing?” Annaliese asked.
“It’s unusual.”
“I’m not certain that’s a good thing, but ... your question?”
He gave himself a shake. “Right. My question.” Instead of directing that question to Annaliese, though, Seth turned to Drusilla instead. “I find myself curious, if your fortune is returned to you, if you’ll return to New York, which I know will disappoint Norma Jean, as she and her friends have been talking about nothing else but attending your academy.”
It was a question that, curiously enough, didn’t take much consideration because, given what had happened to her in New York, she had no desire to return to the city of her birth. Especially not when the good people of Chicago had been more welcoming toward her and her family than the New York Four Hundred had ever been.
“Drusilla has far too much she already enjoys in Chicago to want to return to New York,” Seraphina answered for her as she sent the barest of winks in Rhenick’s direction before she rose to her feet and nodded toward the water. “However, I don’t think now is the time to linger about and discuss that further because, if none of you have noticed, Seth’s motorboat is once again smoking, something that’s certain to draw attention at some point. Heaven forbid if Sanford is the one to notice that smoke because he’ll surely pick up anchor and sail away.”
“Seraphina’s right,” Drusilla said. “We should get moving.”
After sending her a nod, Seraphina grabbed hold of one of the rucksacks as Seth did the same with the other, and with Annaliese trailing behind them, they set off for the cove.
Rhenick held out his hand and pulled Drusilla to her feet, frowning when she took a second to wring more water from her skirt. “I’m sure the weight of your gown is going to make for an uncomfortable stroll,” he began, “but know that I’m more than capable of carrying you if you find yourself growing weary.”
The very thought of being held in Rhenick’s arms sent a blaze of heat settling on her cheeks, which she staunchly tried to ignore while hoping Rhenick wouldn’t notice. “I’m sure I’ll be fine, but thank you for the offer.”
“It’ll still stand if you find yourself tiring,” he returned, presenting her with his arm, which she didn’t hesitate to take before they began walking toward the cove.
“You never answered Seth’s question about whether you would be returning to New York if your fortune is restored to you,” he said.
“That’s because Seraphina went ahead and answered for me.”
Rhenick drew them to a stop. “You want to stay in Chicago?”
She smiled. “There’s nothing for me anymore in New York. And even though I haven’t been in Chicago long, it already feels like home, much more than I think New York ever did.”
Rhenick returned her smile before his gaze drifted to her lips, his smile fading ever so slightly as he stepped closer.
Anticipation was swift, but before Rhenick had an opportunity to kiss her again, something she knew without a doubt he was about to do, a loud clearing of a throat pulled her directly out of a moment she knew full well would have been most extraordinary—if they hadn’t been interrupted yet again.