Page 42 of A Lesson in Propriety (Merriweather Academy for Young Ladies #1)
Forty-Two
As Rhenick blinked somewhat owlishly back at her, quite as if he thought he’d misheard the words that had just come out of her mouth, Mrs. Potter Palmer suddenly appeared at their table, smiling broadly at Irma and interrupting what Drusilla had hoped might have turned into a bit of a life-changing moment for her.
“Forgive me for interrupting,” Mrs. Palmer said as she dipped into a curtsy. “But I’ve just learned that you’re Mrs. Morton Merriweather of New York City, no less, and wanted to be one of the first ladies to welcome you to Chicago. I’m Mrs. Potter Palmer.”
Irma smiled and inclined her head. “How delightful to meet you, Mrs. Palmer, and allow me to say that I adore this lovely hotel of yours, and am quite impressed with the meal I’ve been served thus far.” She nodded to Wilhelmine. “Have you ever been introduced to my dear friend Mrs. Franklin Whittenbecker?”
Mrs. Palmer considered Wilhelmine for a moment before she shook her head. “I’m afraid not, which means we need to remedy that situation straightaway.”
It took a good five minutes for Irma to introduce everyone sitting around the table to Mrs. Palmer, but after everyone had been properly greeted, and Rhenick had finally been able to return to his seat after Mrs. Palmer bid them a lovely good day and glided out of the restaurant, Wilhelmine took to grinning.
“That was quite unexpected, and you could have knocked me over with a feather when Mrs. Palmer asked me—after she’d asked Irma, of course—if I would extend her the pleasure of my company during the book salon she’s hosting next week.”
Eloise’s eyes began to gleam. “I think there’s real promise for my debut after all, and that’s with me not even having been trained up in the manners department by Miss Drusilla, Miss Annaliese, and Miss Livingston.”
As the servers took that moment to arrive at their table once again, this time bearing a lovely chicken in cream sauce, everyone took to chatting about Mrs. Palmer and her unexpected appearance. Everyone except Rhenick, who wasn’t saying much at all, but was simply watching Drusilla instead with something interesting in his eyes.
“What are you thinking?” she finally asked.
“I’m thinking I would really like to be done with lunch so that you and I could continue the conversation we were having before Mrs. Palmer showed up.”
Her stomach took to fluttering, quite as if a collection of butterflies had taken up residency there. “I wouldn’t mind continuing with that conversation either.”
A mere second after those words left her mouth, Rhenick rose to his feet, set his napkin aside, inclined his head to his mother and Irma, who were now watching them with wide eyes, and then helped Drusilla to her feet. He took hold of her arm, drew her around numerous tables and out the door, straight across the lobby, and then down the steps of the Palmer House, nodding to one of the waiting grooms, who dashed off like a shot, leading Sweet Pea and a buggy over to them a moment later.
After helping Drusilla onto the seat, Rhenick took his place beside her and, after setting Sweet Pea in motion, turned and sent her a grin.
“I bet that just broke at least a hundred rules of etiquette,” he said cheerfully.
“I don’t believe I’ve ever gotten up mid-meal and abandoned the people I was dining with, although I am curious as to why Eloise called out for you to choose her idea—or better yet, I suppose I’m more than curious to discover exactly what idea she was speaking about.”
He considered her for a long moment, then returned his attention to the road as he steered Sweet Pea around a delivery wagon. “I don’t think Eloise’s idea is the way to go.”
“Why not?”
“It might be too abrupt.”
“Because ...?”
“It’s difficult to explain.”
“Would it be helpful if you took some time to think about how to explain as we drive to ... where are we driving anyway?”
He smiled. “I really haven’t given that much thought, but I suppose if we return to the castle, we’ll have some privacy, as we left everyone else behind at the Palmer House.”
“The castle it is.”
A comfortable silence settled over them as Rhenick drove through the streets of Chicago, one that left Drusilla realizing that somewhere during the time she’d spent in Chicago, she’d become completely at ease in Rhenick’s company, something that was quite telling as she’d never been at ease during the two and a half years she’d been engaged to He Who Shall Not Be Named.
That man, in all honesty, had always made her nervous, what with how he consistently seemed to find fault with her. He also only listened to her with half an ear, if at all, preferring to settle his attention on any lady but her, which had left her with the distinct feeling that she was always found lacking when compared to the more sparkling ladies of society.
Rhenick, on the other hand, listened to everything she said, and he seemed to enjoy her opinion on a variety of different subjects, whether it was on what style of water closet she thought young ladies would best enjoy at the academy, or what she wanted to do about the ravens that, no matter how much she hollered at them, wouldn’t abandon their preferred perch on the turrets.
He also, without a shadow of a doubt, respected women. But besides respecting them, he enjoyed women, and not simply because they were pretty or charming, but because he saw women as people—or better yet, not as inferior beings who needed to be spoken to as if they were lacking in intelligence.
“It’s a good thing you decided you were going to continue on with your plans to open the academy or this would be a rather awkward moment,” Rhenick said, drawing her from her thoughts as he pulled Sweet Pea to a stop a few feet from the castle gate. He set the brake, swung himself down from the buggy, and was holding his hand out to her a second later.
“What would have been awkward?” she asked as she put her hand in his and stepped from the buggy.
He nodded toward the gate. “Take a look for yourself.”
She leaned forward and squinted at the gate. “Is that new?”
“It is.”
“Was there something wrong with the old gate?”
“It was missing something” was all he said before he pulled her into motion, her pace slowing when she finally understood why he’d said the moment would have been awkward if she’d not decided to continue with opening the academy.
Her eyes immediately took to swimming with tears, an unusual circumstance to be sure, but tears were certainly justified because where the gate had merely been wrought-iron bars when she’d passed through them that morning, they now sported an intricate bit of scrolling on top. More importantly, though, forged across both sections in a beautiful script was this— The Merriweather Academy for Young Ladies .
“Did you have this made for me?” she whispered.
He smiled. “I asked Chester to make it, and, clearly, he’s far more proficient with iron than he is with his butler duties.”
“Mr. Grimsby thinks Chester may have potential, but...” Drusilla allowed her gaze to linger on the gate. “It’s beautiful.”
“It’s also a gift, which means you will not pester me to figure out how much it cost so that you can add it to the ledger of expenses you’ve been keeping.”
“I wasn’t planning on pestering you. I was simply planning on saying thank you for the sweetest, most thoughtful gift I’ve ever received.”
He rubbed a hand over his jaw. “It’s a gate, Drusilla, not exactly on the lines of jewelry, which I know full well, having all those sisters as well as an entire army of female cousins, ladies find the sweetest gift of all.”
“I was given the Herrington diamonds, and I didn’t find them sweet in the least.”
“That’s because the man who gave them to you was an idiot.”
She grinned. “He was, wasn’t he?”
“Indeed, but it is now duly noted that you’re not impressed with diamonds. Although, is there any specific gem you may be impressed with?”
She stilled. “Why do you want to know?”
He took to considering her for a long moment before he stepped closer. “I think I might as well take Eloise’s advice. But before I do that, there’s something I feel I need to say first.” He took hold of her hand. “I was wrong when I broached the topic of marriage with you the day we first met because you are a lady who deserves—before you’re extended a proper proposal, one that’s complete with a bended knee, moonlight, and perhaps a violin playing softly in the background—to be properly courted.”
The butterflies immediately returned.
“Properly ... courted?” she asked in a breathy tone that certainly didn’t sound like her normal voice.
“Indeed, and that proper courtship should last as long as you want it to last, and should be a time where you get to learn everything there is to know about your intended. It is also a time where you should be spoiled outrageously, although know that even after you’re married, you should expect to be spoiled outrageously as well.”
“I don’t believe I’ve ever been spoiled, let alone outrageously, although...” She glanced to her new gate. “That is definitely along the lines of spoiling me.”
“Again, that’s just a gate. Spoiling, at least in my humble opinion, would entail showering you with flowers and chocolate simply because you enjoy those things, or taking you to a country fair because you saw a flyer posted in town and decided you longed to go to enjoy the festivities offered there. It would also entail a great deal of dancing, if that’s something you enjoy. But if it’s not, it could simply be grabbing a few books and heading to the lake, where a picnic meal would be waiting for you, comprised of your favorite foods.”
“It does seem as if you know what you’re about when it comes to spoiling a lady” was all she could think to say.
He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it. “Per Eloise’s suggestion, although this is going to be a modified version of her advice, I would like to get your permission to properly court you, Miss Drusilla Merriweather. I would then love to spoil you outrageously, but you see, I can’t do that quite yet as I don’t know nearly enough about you. I don’t know what type of flowers you prefer, although I do know that you enjoy perfume that’s lemon scented, so perhaps instead of flowers, you’d prefer if I presented you with a lemon tree.
“I also want to discover, if our courtship leaves you with the impression you might like to turn it from a proper courtship into a proper so-much-more, how you would like to mark a betrothal. I will tell you right now, though, that I don’t have any Whittenbecker family jewels at my disposal, but I’d be more than happy to start a collection of jewelry to give you, but not until I know exactly what jewels you prefer.”
“I like sapphires.”
“Which I think is a most fitting gem as sapphires match your eyes, and know that sapphires you shall have if you decide you’d be agreeable to allowing me to properly court you.”
Drusilla glanced to the gate again, then back to Rhenick, who was now watching her closely. “May I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“What was Eloise’s original suggestion?”
He smiled. “She thought I should simply drop to one knee, proclaim my love for you, and ask you to be my wife.”
Drusilla blinked. “But you decided not to take that suggestion because you believe I need a proper courtship?”
“Exactly.”
“I ... see.”
Rhenick was lifting her chin a second later, his gaze locked with hers. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”
She smiled ever so slightly. “You just mentioned love—or rather, said that Eloise suggested you proclaim your love for me.”
“She did suggest that.”
“Does that mean you actually believe yourself to be in love with me?”
“I know I’m in love with you, which is why I want to properly court you so that you can discover whether or not you might be able to fall in love with me as well.”
Warmth immediately began flowing through her as she realized in that moment that she didn’t need to discover if she might be able to fall in love with the man because—she was already in love with him.
Her lips curved straight into a full smile. “You don’t need to properly court me.”
Rhenick blinked. “Why not?”
“That probably came out wrong, because you can certainly take to courting me, but you don’t need to do that for the express purpose of allowing me time to discern if I could come to love you because ... I already do.”
Rhenick’s mouth went a little slack. “You do?”
She grinned. “I know, it’s taken me a bit by surprise as well, but you see, Mr. Rhenick Whittenbecker, you are the only person in my life—except perhaps for Annaliese, of course—who has ever seen me for who I truly am.”
“You’re extraordinary.”
Her grin widened. “In your eyes, I do believe I am, and that right there is certainly how it came to be—well, besides the fact that you’re incredibly charming, and authentically charming at that—that I have fallen in love with you.”
He returned her grin. “This is not how I expected any of this to go, but, before we’re joined by everyone, and I would say that’s going to happen soon because they probably only lasted five minutes at the Palmer House after we bolted, I have a proposal for you.”
“A proper proposal?”
“Indeed, and it’s this—Miss Drusilla Merriweather, it would be a great honor if you’d accept my hand in marriage, but I don’t want to marry you straightaway, even though I’m completely in love with you. I’d like an opportunity, as I already mentioned, to properly court you first.”
She wrinkled her nose. “How long would a proper courtship last?”
“A few months?”
“That seems awfully long, especially if you think a proper courtship precedes a betrothal and then we’d be betrothed for a few months and then get married.”
He tilted his head. “What did you have in mind?”
“I would go with a few weeks of courtship, followed by a month or so for a betrothal period, and then plan a wedding that would coincide with the fall break we can most certainly add into the academy calendar. Unless I just leave Annaliese, Seraphina, and my mother in charge of running things for a few weeks while we go off on a wedding holiday.”
“I have a feeling, given Seraphina’s background, that she’d be able to run the academy with one hand tied behind her back.”
“Does that mean you think a fall wedding might work for us?”
“Since I’ve already told you that I intend to spoil you outrageously, we can have a wedding whenever you want. I will also court you for however long you want and be betrothed to you for however long you want.” He smiled. “Have I missed anything else you may want?”
She leaned an inch closer to him. “I believe you’re being most accommodating, although there is something else I want. Something I’ve been wanting for a few days now.”
“And that would be?”
“A kiss—and a proper kiss, at that. One where we can take our time and not be interrupted by Seraphina, Annaliese, or anyone else.”
A blink of an eye later, Rhenick was pulling her close, his eyes warm as his gaze lingered on her mouth. “I believe we should add that, during your proper courtship, followed by a most proper betrothal, and then a proper wedding, which I know my sisters and mother are going to adore helping you plan, we need to make certain that I give you more-than-a-few proper kisses. Perhaps we should set aside time every day to adhere to a proper kissing schedule.”
A laugh slipped through her lips, but before she could laugh again, Rhenick’s lips were pressing against hers, and it didn’t take long to realize that, as far as kisses went, Rhenick Whittenbecker knew how to deliver a proper kiss indeed. That meant she was certain to spend the rest of her life being properly kissed, and by a man she knew without a doubt was going to make the most proper and perfect of husbands.