Page 39 of A Lesson in Propriety (Merriweather Academy for Young Ladies #1)

Thirty-Nine

It had not escaped Drusilla’s notice that there seemed to be something bothering Rhenick, since he’d taken to raking his hand through his hair, something he was prone to doing whenever he was troubled.

Before she could question him about the matter, though, Agent Pearson nodded to some fellow Pinkertons, who set about getting Sanford to his feet, who didn’t struggle the slightest bit until he realized, as the agents led him to a dinghy, that Irma wasn’t going with him.

“I shall be counting the seconds until we find ourselves together again, my love,” he called in Irma’s direction after the agents had to resort to muscling him into the dinghy, where two of them immediately sat on either side of him to prevent him from jumping overboard.

Irma turned her gaze away from a man who’d caused her no end of difficulties. “Perhaps a stay in an asylum truly is needed because we may very well be mistaken in that he’s not merely slightly delusional but borderline insane.” She gave Sanford one last glance before she squared her shoulders and turned her attention to Sneaky Pete and Fenna. “But Sanford’s questionable mental state is something we can revisit later, as we still need to decide what’s to be done with those two.”

Before Drusilla could do more than consider people who’d obviously been responsible for the haunting of Merriweather Castle, Fenna Larkin took to settling a bright smile on Irma.

“I don’t think there’s anything to be done with us except let us go. As has already been noted, I’m great friends with Ottilie, a friendship that, unfortunately, Loughlin MacSherry became aware of. That friendship is exactly why he began demanding I take on a project for him, and as I’m sure you’ve been made aware, MacSherry isn’t a man one can refuse, not if one wants to continue breathing.”

“And while I’m sure you would love nothing more than for us to turn you free,” Drusilla said before her mother could do more than take to looking rather confused over Fenna’s unlikely explanation, “I’m afraid I’m unwilling to do that since I’m relatively certain you’re not being truthful with us. In all honesty, I’m not convinced you were ever good friends with my aunt. And since my aunt actually seems to be missing, and you just admitted you’ve been doing some work for Loughlin MacSherry, I now find myself wondering if you, along with Sneaky Pete, had something to do with my aunt’s disappearance.”

Fenna’s eyes widened. “I would never do anything to dear Ottilie.”

“You were never friends with Miss Ottilie, something she was very much aware of, and is exactly why she turned ownership of the castle over to her nieces before she left on her trip.”

Fenna sucked in a sharp breath right as Norbert, surprisingly enough, in the company of an older gentleman, stepped around Agent Pearson and marched through the sand to join them.

The groundskeeper’s gaze traveled to Fenna, then to Sneaky Pete, before it settled on Drusilla. “Miss Drusilla,” he began with an inclination of his head. “It’s ever so wonderful to see that you’ve managed to survive the machinations of these two criminals relatively unscathed, and know that I’m truly sorry I was forced to disappear without a word.”

He shot another glance to Fenna before he returned his attention to Drusilla. “I didn’t believe I had a choice in the matter, though, since I was certain Fenna was going to tell you some fairly large lies about me.” He directed a nod to the man standing beside him. “As luck would have it, I’d already made plans to meet Mr. William Baumgartner at an inn directly outside of Chicago. He sent me a telegram asking to speak with me about the situation in the castle, that being you and your family having moved into it, something he found out about after Rhenick had the bank send him a message.”

The man beside Norbert stepped forward and presented Drusilla with a bow. “I must beg your pardon for not responding to the telegram I received from the bank, but know that it was only because I needed to consider the matter carefully and weigh how much danger I’d put you in if I arrived back in the city.” He straightened. “I’m Mr. William Baumgartner, Miss Ottilie’s solicitor, and Norbert told me that you’re Miss Drusilla Merriweather.”

Drusilla dipped into a curtsy. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Baumgartner, but before we exchange polite pleasantries, I have a few questions for both you and Norbert.”

“I’d be surprised if you didn’t,” Mr. Baumgartner said.

Drusilla inclined her head to the solicitor before she turned to Norbert. “I’m curious why you didn’t simply explain to me your concerns about Fenna instead of stealing off to meet with Mr. Baumgartner.”

“I surely did consider that,” Norbert began, “until I realized there was every chance you wouldn’t believe me since Fenna is very good with telling tall tales.” He shook his head. “I knew the only person who was going to be able to clear my name was Mr. Baumgartner, because he was aware of what Miss Ottilie’s suspicions were about Fenna. That’s why it was fortunate we had that meeting already set up outside of town, especially after I saw Fenna watching the castle before everyone left for church. Once everyone got on their way, Fenna immediately pulled her buggy from where she’d been lurking in the shadows and began following you—suspicious behavior if there ever was some.”

Norbert gave his nose a scratch. “I never trusted the woman after she turned difficult about gaining access to the castle. That’s why I decided to follow her, and I started getting worried when she stopped her buggy at the church and scooted right on inside, my concern growing when, after the service, she made a beeline for you and started talking your ear off.”

“She was telling me about her suspicions about you,” Drusilla said.

“I figured as much because I was pretty sure she’d spotted me following her at one point. That’s why I hurried back to the castle and packed a bag, just to be on the safe side in case things went sideways. After that, I fetched Ernie and off I went to meet Mr. Baumgartner. I was hoping he’d be able to answer some of the questions I had about the strange occurrences that have been going on now for months.”

Drusilla glanced to Mr. Baumgartner. “And were you able to provide Norbert with the answers he desired?”

“I believe so, and know that Norbert convinced me to travel to the castle to explain everything to you so you’d understand the danger you were in, which is how it came to be that Norbert and I are currently here, speaking with you now.”

“But how did you manage to get here at this particular moment?” Drusilla asked.

“That’s a story in and of itself,” Norbert said. “But the short of it is this—Mr. Baumgartner and I caught a ride with the Pinkertons after we ran smack into them as they were leaving the castle this morning.” He winced. “In all truthfulness, we didn’t have a choice but to go with them because Mrs. O’Sullivan told them I was involved with some shady dealings surrounding the castle and the Pinkertons decided it would be a better use of their time if they just took us with them since they didn’t want to delay going after Sanford and your mother.”

“How did you convince the Pinkertons you weren’t up to anything suspicious?”

Norbert nodded to Mr. Baumgartner. “One of the local Pinkerton agents recognized Mr. Baumgartner and knew, given Mr. Baumgartner’s stellar reputation, that he definitely wasn’t involved in any shenanigans. By that time, though, we were already aboard their ship and sailing up Lake Michigan. When the Revenge was spotted, we were told to stay behind because the situation might become dangerous. That local Pinkerton who recognized Mr. Baumgartner returned to the ship just a few moments ago with some man who’s muttering something about losing his true love, and that agent thought we might be able to help clear up the situation with the two suspects who were still on the beach.”

“There’s no reason for you to involve yourself in this, Norbert,” Fenna snapped.

“Of course there is because you told Miss Drusilla you were close with her aunt, which is an out-and-out lie. You were her assistant, nothing more.”

“I traveled the world with her.”

“You went on one trip to Egypt with her as her assistant,” Norbert countered. “That she didn’t ask you to go on her last adventure suggests she was beginning to realize you might have been up to something shady.”

Fenna lifted her chin. “The only thing I did that might have been considered shady was when, after I was approached by Loughlin MacSherry and agreed to deliver an offer from him for the castle to Ottilie, I might have neglected to disclose to her that MacSherry was paying me a fee.”

Norbert let out a grunt. “I’m sure that’s not the only shady thing you’ve done, just as I’m sure Miss Ottilie figured out your connection to Loughlin MacSherry right from the start, as well as figured that MacSherry was going to continue to use you to exert pressure on her to sell. That’s probably why she began to make plans to take a spur-of-the-moment adventure and why she had Mr. Baumgartner transfer ownership of the castle to her two nieces, which he just recently told me she had him do as a way to protect ownership of her property while she was gone.”

Mr. Baumgartner cleared his throat and glanced to Drusilla. “Before another word is said, allow me to beg your pardon for never explaining the true reason why your aunt gave you and your sister the castle.”

“You might also want to beg my mother’s pardon for never responding to the telegrams she sent you after my father, Ottilie’s brother, died.”

Mr. Baumgartner glanced around, presenting Irma with a bow a moment later. “You would be Mrs. Merriweather, of course, and indeed I do need to beg your pardon for neglecting to respond to your telegrams. I assure you there were numerous reasons why I didn’t, and if you’ll indulge me for a few minutes, I’ll explain why.”

He took a second to rock on his heels in the sand before he nodded. “Ottilie had me transfer ownership of the castle because she knew MacSherry wanted it. She also knew he was a ruthless man and thus wanted to put some distance between her and him, which is exactly why, when Captain Harvey sent her a trunk filled with maps, she claimed she’d found one with potential. She then sent Captain Harvey a telegram, and a mere week or so later, they were off on a treasure hunt together.”

“Ottilie didn’t happen to mention where she was going to be doing that treasure hunting, did she?” Drusilla asked.

“I’m afraid not, although she left that trunk of maps in my care.” Mr. Baumgartner gave a shake of his head. “Sadly, I’ve looked at every map in that trunk numerous times and haven’t been able to decide with any certainty if she and Captain Harvey had been pursuing one specific map. I have noticed that a few of the maps look like copies, which may be a clue, although I’m not sure about that or what they may be a clue about.”

Drusilla turned to Agent Pearson. “It seems as if we’ll be needing your services to look into my aunt’s disappearance, so I’ll have Mr. Baumgartner send the trunk of maps to the castle, and we can look them over together.” She returned her attention to Mr. Baumgartner. “May I assume that you left town for a specific reason, and that there was also a specific reason why you never answered the telegrams my mother sent you regarding the death of my father?”

“I was very sorry to hear about your father’s passing, but I didn’t dare respond, not when Ottilie had warned me about MacSherry and that she feared there were members of her staff who couldn’t be trusted—most specifically Fenna. I was afraid Fenna might have bribed someone in the telegram office to contact her or MacSherry about any telegrams I might send, or more specifically, tell her who I was sending them to. I promised your aunt I wouldn’t say a word about you or your sister, nor let anyone get near the will she also left in my possession, one that names you and Annaliese as her sole heirs if anything happens to her, although she did bequeath a token amount to your mother.”

Irma blinked. “Ottilie left me something in her will?”

“She didn’t want you to feel slighted, but know that your daughters are due to inherit far more of Ottilie’s fortune than you are.”

Irma’s lips twitched. “That sounds more like Ottilie, but...” She took to frowning. “Since you did disappear from Chicago, may I assume that someone started questioning you about who Ottilie’s heirs were?”

Mr. Baumgartner nodded to Fenna. “She started stopping by my office not long after Ottilie left town, then began increasing her visits about seven months after Ottilie left, demanding to know where Ottilie had gone, when she was expected back, and if I thought something might have happened to her, and if so, did that mean I, as Ottilie’s solicitor, was responsible for having my client declared dead. Since I got the distinct impression Fenna was only going to become more persistent, I decided, in order to protect Drusilla and Annaliese, I needed to leave town.”

“And I thank you for that,” Drusilla began, “although my sister and I certainly ruined your plan when we showed up in Chicago and let it be known almost immediately that we were now the owners of Merriweather Castle.”

Mr. Baumgartner smiled. “That definitely wasn’t part of the plan. Your aunt never thought either of you would even come to visit the property she gave you, let alone move into the castle, which, as I’ve already intimated, she was only intending on transferring to you on a temporary basis. Know, though, that your aunt would have more than compensated you for taking her gift back.” He leaned closer to Drusilla. “She was thinking about buying both of you cottages in Newport, ones that would rival Mrs. Astor’s cottage, to make up for any disappointment you might have felt over being asked to turn the castle back over to her.”

“She wouldn’t have needed to do that, as Annaliese and I would have understood the reason behind the transferring of ownership,” Drusilla said. “I’m simply sorry that we ruined the plans you and Ottilie put into place to safeguard the property, which we wouldn’t have ruined if someone hadn’t stolen our fortune, making the castle the only property we had available to live in.”

“Norbert told me about the trouble you’ve experienced, which makes me feel even sorrier that I never returned your telegrams, as there was no need for any of you to suffer from lack of funds. I have the authority to relinquish the trust funds your aunt set up for you and Annaliese.”

Drusilla blinked. “We have trust funds?”

“Five million apiece, and funds that your aunt made sure could never be able to be accessed by any husbands if or when you married, as your aunt wanted both of you to have a way to be financially independent.”

“Ottilie left her nieces five million apiece?” Fenna repeated.

“And that’s just the money she set aside in trusts,” Mr. Baumgartner said. “They’ll inherit far more than that, but only, of course, if we get conclusive evidence that Ottilie is indeed deceased.”

Fenna exchanged a glance with Sneaky Pete before she returned her attention to Drusilla. “Pete and I may have some information that might help you find out exactly what happened to Ottilie, but information like that always comes with a price.”