“I don’t live in the castle, and Miss Ottilie, or any other ghost for that matter, has yet to pay me a visit in my cottage.”
“Let’s hope none of them decide to pay me a visit either,” Drusilla said. “But if we could return to the subject of William Baumgartner—you mentioned he left town, but surely he left a way to contact him, didn’t he?”
“Not with me,” Norbert admitted. “If you’re interested in contacting him, though, you might want to visit the manager at Chicago Bank and Trust. That’s where your aunt and Mr. Baumgartner have their accounts and where my wages get deposited as well.” Norbert gave his nose a scratch. “But I wouldn’t get your hopes up that the manager will give you that information since he wouldn’t give it to me, even though I told him that I just needed to get word to Mr. Baumgartner because I needed a current address for Miss Fenna Larkin, who was once Miss Ottilie’s personal assistant.”
“Why did you need to find a current address for Miss Larkin?”
Norbert returned his attention to his suspenders, fiddled with one for a long second, then shrugged. “Can’t hardly remember now, but it obviously wasn’t all that important since I don’t remember being all that bothered when the manager wouldn’t give me Mr. Baumgartner’s direction.” He shook his head. “That manager told me the bank isn’t permitted to give out personal information like that, and they’ll only send a message to one of their customers if they deem it an emergency.”
“I imagine the bank will agree to contact Mr. Baumgartner for me as he’s my only connection to my aunt,” Drusilla began, losing her train of thought when the sound of a goat bleating drew her attention. Turning to peer over the wall, she found three goats climbing up the cliff, all of them stopping once they reached the top, where they immediately began chomping on some tall grass.
She turned back to Norbert. “While I understand why you allowed the goats into the castle, needing an alarm system and all, I’m going to state here and now that since I, along with my family and staff, are now moving in, the goats are going to have to remain outside.”
A hefty dose of what looked like horror flickered through Norbert’s eyes. “You’re moving in, not just here for a visit?”
“I am.”
Norbert frowned. “I don’t mean to be contradictory, Miss Merriweather, but I have a feeling you’re going to want to reconsider, especially after the developers learn you’re the new owner. To be blunt, your best option is to let it be known you’re accepting bids on this place, then take the highest offer and get out of town as quickly as possible.”
“Mr. Whittenbecker already told me about how determined a few men are to buy my property, but as I told him, I’m not selling, nor will I change my mind about that.”
Norbert quirked a brow Rhenick’s way. “Did you tell her who those determined men are?”
“I don’t usually make it a point to disclose information to ladies that will undoubtedly terrify them.”
“I think you might have to abandon that stance since Miss Merriweather doesn’t seem to be grasping the extent of the danger she’s in,” Norbert said.
For a second, Drusilla didn’t think Rhenick was going to comply, but then he drew in a breath before he inclined his head her way. “Know that it gives me no pleasure to have totell you this, but if you refuse to sell, you’re going to find yourself at odds with more than a few men involved in Chicago’s underworld, and those men are not the type who will ever take no for an answer, even if it’s being delivered by a most beautiful and charming lady.”
Ten
It was certainly uncommon to be the object of what seemed to be blatant flattery on Rhenick Whittenbecker’s part, and in all honesty, Drusilla couldn’t claim to not be a little charmed by it, until she realized that Rhenick and Norbert were both watching her warily, probably because she’d taken to smiling—an odd reaction to be sure after being told members of the criminal underworld might soon descend on the castle.
“Maybe she’s in shock,” Norbert muttered. “Think I should hie myself off to the wine cellar and fetch a bottle of Madeira? Miss Ottilie always swore it could cure you of any ailment, physical or mental.”
“I’m not in shock, nor do I need a glass of Madeira right now, although I might need some to calm my mother down—if I can convince her to get out of the hired hack,” Drusilla said, causing Rhenick, who was nodding in answer to Norbert’s question, to stop nodding and frown.
“That sounds as if your mother isn’t keen to live here, which I would think would be an excellent reason to sell this place as quickly as possible.”
“Except that I gave my word to my aunt that I would keep the castle in the family. So no, I’m not able to sell it, no matter if that would delight my mother or not.”
Rhenick cocked his head to the side. “That certainly puts a new twist on the matter, and also leaves me wondering why your aunt gave you the castle.”
“Why would you wonder that?”
“Because Ottilie and I had a long discussion before she left Chicago about how she was being plagued by offers from developers,” Rhenick said. “She was adamant about not entertaining any offers, as she had no intention of selling the place. That makes it more than curious that she gave the castle away.”
“That is curious,” Drusilla admitted. “However, it wasn’t unusual for her to lavish extravagant and unexpected gifts on me and my sister.”
“Which I can certainly see her doing, but what I can’t see her doing is giving you an extravagant castle that threatens to put your life in danger.”
“I can’t see her doing that either, but...” Drusilla gave her temple a rub, stilling a second later. “There is the possibility that Aunt Ottilie wouldn’t have expected Annaliese or myself to take time out of our busy schedules to travel here even for a visit, let alone move in, which might suggest...”
“Suggest what?” Rhenick prodded when Drusilla stopped talking as her thoughts began swirling madly about.
“I’m not quite sure just yet. I need a moment to think.”
After glancing around the courtyard, Drusilla spotted a stone bench and made a beeline for it, brushing aside some old leaves before she sat down. She then took to rubbing a temple that was once again beginning to ache as she sorted through thoughts that weren’t exactly cohesive yet.
