His edging stopped once he made it beyond the two dozen or so suits of armor that Ottilie had collected over the years,his gaze darting around the great hall before settling on a most unusual scene unfolding on the opposite side of the room.
Norbert was standing in front of a fireplace that gave new meaning to the wordgigantic, the tail of his shirt only partially tucked into trousers that were being held in place by a single suspender, the other lying limply against Norbert’s side, suggesting the man had been in a hurry to get to the castle and hadn’t bothered to get properly dressed first.
The groundskeeper didn’t seem concerned about being less-than-appropriately attired, though, as he was currently in the process of aiming his rifle at someone Rhenick couldn’t see since Norbert was obstructing his view.
Stepping to the right, Rhenick returned his attention to the person being held at rifle-point, blinking—and then blinking again—when his gaze settled on not a man, as he’d been expecting, but a woman. That woman, unexpectedly enough, instead of cowering because there was a gun being pointed her way, or looking as if she were about to suffer a fit of the vapors over having recently been shot at—the proof of that being the large chunk that was missing from the fireplace behind her—was standing with perfect posture, staring Norbert down.
Rhenick’s feet, seemingly on their own accord, began propelling him forward, the urge to protect the woman impossible to ignore, no matter if she’d done something that warranted being held in place by a rifle or not. His forward propulsion came to a rapid end, though, when he finally got an unimpeded view of the woman’s face, the mere sight of it leaving him feeling as if the floor underneath his feet had dropped straight away.
To say she was the most exquisite woman he’d ever seen was an understatement, and given all the beautiful women he’d had the pleasure of spending time with over the years, that was saying something.
In all honesty, she wasn’t what anyone would have considereda classic beauty, but there was simply something fascinating about her.
Her hair, being an intriguing shade of brown—which certainly wasn’t considered all the rage these days, at least according to his sisters—was pulled back in a simple chignon, not a strand escaping the many pins he knew were required for that particular style, something that was quite impressive given her current circumstances.
He didn’t know any lady who’d be capable of keeping every hair in place while dealing with a rifle-toting groundskeeper, but he was apparently now in the presence of a lady who gave new meaning to the wordcomposed, as he had yet to notice her tremble even the slightest bit, nor did it appear as if her eyes were holding even a dollop of fear in them, and...
His train of thought disappeared when his attention settled more firmly on her eyes, ones that were the most compelling shade of blue he’d ever had the pleasure of seeing, and he felt he could drown in them if given half a chance, an unusual thought if there ever was one since he wasn’t a gentleman whose thoughts normally traveled in a poetic direction.
Dragging his gaze from her eyes when he realized he was all but gawking at the lady, something he’d never done in his life, Rhenick gave himself a bit of a shake in the hopes of dissipating the stupor he’d descended into.
Thankfully, his sense of discombobulation lessened ever so slightly with the shaking, which allowed him to realize that while he’d been lost in some sort of curious trancelike state, the lady had begun speaking.
It was a more than peculiar happenstance when the mere sound of her voice left an honest-to-goodness shiver sliding down his spine.
“And there is absolutely no reason for you to continue pointing that gun at me,” she said, her voice maintaining an even pitch, quite as if she wasn’t in danger of being shot at any moment.“You’re terrifying the poor goat that is even now trying to hide behind me, as well as a goose that has burrowed underneath my skirt. The burrowing is a circumstance I’d like to rectify as quickly as possible as I’m afraid the goose is soon going to realize she’s trapped. I can’t imagine I’ll want her directly next to me when she tries to fight her way back to freedom.”
“I’m sure you’d like me to set this down,” Norbert scoffed, “but this is private property, and you have no business walking in here as if you own the place. Since you’re a woman and all, I’ll give you the courtesy of ten seconds to remove yourself, but if you’re not out of my sight by then, don’t think I won’t shoot you.”
Instead of immediately heading for the door, the lady narrowed blue eyes that were now flashing in a rather intimidating fashion on Norbert instead.
“I have no intention of removing myself from this castle as my aunt Ottilie transferred the ownership of it to me and my sister before she left the country. That means I have every right to walk into it as if I owned the place because, to put it bluntly, I do.”
A sense of dread immediately began flowing through Rhenick’s veins, undoubtedly brought about because if the lady was telling the truth, she was soon going to be facing far more danger than being held at gunpoint by Norbert. That danger, unfortunately, involved members of Chicago’s underworld, who wouldn’t hesitate to do whatever it took to obtain possession of land that was now considered one of the most coveted pieces of property outside of Chicago, and property that the most intriguing lady he’d ever clapped eyes on now claimed to own.
Eight
Deciding that the first order of business was to discern if the lady truly was the owner of the castle, although he had a feeling she was, as she didn’t strike him as a lady prone to careless disregard for the truth, Rhenick cleared his throat, which resulted in him finding himself on the wrong end of Norbert’s rifle.
He didn’t hesitate to raise his hands in the air. “There’s no need to shoot me, Norbert. I’m just here because I saw the gate open and thought Ottilie had returned. With that said, though, I don’t get the impression this lady is here to harm anyone, so what say you set aside the rifle before someone gets hurt?”
“I’m not setting it aside until I see proof that she’s Miss Ottilie’s niece.”
“Oh for heaven’s sake,” the lady said before she began fiddling with the cuff of her gown, stilling when Norbert directed the rifle her way again. “If you’re considering shooting me because you’re afraid I’m soon to whip a pistol out of my sleeve, know that it would be beyond ridiculous to stash a pistol in a sleeve that has a tailored cuff since it wouldn’t be readily accessible. Besides, I don’t even own a pistol, let alone know how to operate one.”
“Then why are you acting all suspicious with your sleeve?” Norbert asked.
“You said you needed proof that I’m Ottilie’s niece.” She extracted a bracelet that had charms hanging from it. After flipping through the charms, she held one of them aloft. “There. It’s a miniature of Aunt Ottilie, and since I doubt anyone who isn’t related to her would attach her face to a bracelet, I’m sure you’ll agree that this charm can be used as evidence that Ottilie is, indeed, my aunt. As further proof, my name is Drusilla Merriweather—Merriweather being a surname I share with Ottilie.”
It was rather curious when a glimmer of satisfaction took that moment to sweep over Rhenick, undoubtedly because it seemed Drusilla wasn’t married, as she’d not introduced herself as Mrs. Merriweather. Before he could contemplate the matter further, though, Norbert began peering at the charm Drusilla was dangling in front of him.
“Sure seems like it’s a likeness of Miss Ottilie, but...” He nodded to Rhenick. “What do you think?”
Rhenick stepped closer and settled his gaze on the wrist Drusilla immediately thrust his way, getting a delicious whiff of lemon verbena in the process. Trying to ignore that the scent was tugging him straight back into discombobulated territory, Rhenick forced his attention on the miniature dangling in front of him. He lifted his head a second later and caught Drusilla’s eye. “It would seem you are indeed Ottilie’s niece.”
“Of course I am,” she said briskly, tucking her charm bracelet away before she glanced between him and Norbert. “Withmyidentity now settled, who, pray tell, are both of you?”
After Norbert muttered his name and added that he was Ottilie’s groundskeeper, Drusilla arched a brow Rhenick’s way, which he responded to by presenting her with a bow.
