“Well, quite,” Rhenick agreed. “Nevertheless, before I could assure Drusilla that her land was the last thing I wanted, she told me she was going to take a page out of Norbert’s book and count to ten, and that if I wasn’t gone by that time, she was going to shoot me.”
“And that’s when you made a hasty retreat?” Tilda asked.
“I didn’t think that was necessary because she’d admitted earlier that she didn’t know how to shoot a pistol, so I assumed she wouldn’t know how to shoot a rifle either. Because of that, I didn’t think I was in any real danger. I also thought I’d try one last time to convince her I wasn’t after her land, but before I could do that, she started counting out loud, reached ten, and then, cool as you please, she took aim at me.”
“And then she shot at you?” Eloise asked.
“Well, no, because she didn’t seem to know that you needed to use the lever on a rifle before the hammer cocks. Unfortunately, though, that’s when the cloaked woman returned—and no, I can’t describe that woman because she had the hood of her cloak over her head—and she, without a word, simply took the rifle from Drusilla, armed it, then delivered explicit instructions as she handed the rifle back to her. Drusilla then sent me the most beautiful smile—right before she pulled the trigger.”
“Maybe you should have been paying more attention to the rifle than to Drusilla’s delightful smile,” Wilhelmine muttered.
“Indeed. Although, clearly Drusilla wasn’t shooting to kill, merely making a point since she didn’t hit me, although I can’t say that’s completely true as, again, she doesn’t know how to operate a weapon. Nevertheless, even though I didn’t suffer a bullet, Drusilla did hit something—that being a chandelier, which plummeted to the ground in a shower of crystals, causing a bit of a ruckus in the process.”
“Good heavens,” Wilhelmine breathed.
“I know. It was another instance of extraordinariness because I don’t actually know a woman who would follow through with shooting at a man, even if she wasn’t actually capable of hitting one.” Rhenick shook his head. “Thankfully, no one was injured, but before I could make any type of departure because it was obvious my presence wasn’t welcome at the castle, the redhaired lady ran into the room with not one but three ferrets running beside her.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “That’s when things got really interesting because who knew that ferrets could turn vicious in the blink of an eye?”
“The redhaired lady ordered her ferrets to attack you?” Eloise asked.
“She mostly just snapped her fingers and pointed in my direction, and the next thing I knew, I was facing a full-on assault from cute little furry creatures that aren’t very cute when their fangs are bared.”
“I believe I’ll rethink any interest I may have recently voiced in acquiring one of those,” Eloise said.
“An excellent idea,” Rhenick agreed. “Needless to say, my only option was to run out of the castle, ferrets nipping at my heels, but luckily, Sweet Pea had returned from his gallop away from the goats. He was standing right outside the door, so I jumped on his back and off we went, leaving behind a lady I know will never want to lay eyes on me again.”
Wilhelmine rose to her feet, moved to stand in front of a bookshelf laden with the latest fiction novels of the day, and shook her head. “I have to admit, my dear, that I’m not certain the wordharrowingdoes justice to what you experienced today, but not to fret. Even though you’ve clearly made a muddle of matters, I’m sure your sisters and I will be able to come up with a plan to salvage the misimpression Drusilla Merriweather undoubtedly has of you, a plan that will hopefully convince her you’re not a disreputable sort, even though telling a woman she needs to marry you suggests exactly that.”
Fourteen
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Mother is once again refusing to come out of her room,” Annaliese said as she trudged up to join Drusilla, her appearance allowing Drusilla a brief respite from the drudgery of cleaning a medieval tapestry that had been hanging on the wall—until Drusilla had noticed numerous spiders gathered on the backside of it, something that Annaliese had informed her was called aclutter, as the spiders weren’t actually touching one another but were spread out across the tapestry.
According to Annaliese, if the spidershadbeen touching, they would have been called acluster, and given that the castle hadn’t been properly cleaned since the household staff had abandoned their posts almost a year and a half before, Drusilla was relatively certain she’d happen upon a cluster of spiders at some point in time, something she was definitely not looking forward to.
She gave the tapestry one last thump with the raggedy old broom she’d found in the kitchen, giving a bit of a start when Annaliese edged up beside her and began plucking spiders from the apron Drusilla had also found in the kitchen, her sister setting each creepy-crawly gently on the ground instead of flinging them through the air, something Drusilla wouldhave certainly done if she’d noticed the little darlings clinging to an apron she would have never imagined donning a mere month ago.
“These won’t hurt you, at least not much,” Annaliese said, scooping another spider into her gloved hand. “They’re wolf spiders, from the family Lycosidae, and are a common spider found throughout the States.”
“They seem to be quite common inside the castle. But what do you mean they won’t hurt memuch?”
“They’ll only bite if they’re feeling threatened.”
“You don’t think the spiders view being plucked off my apron as a little threatening?”
“An interesting point,” Annaliese said before she set the spider on the ground and made a bit of a shooing motion when it simply stood there, undoubtedly wondering if it should hop back on Drusilla and see how tasty she was. Annaliese leaned over and gave it a prod, straightening a second later when the spider finally scrambled across the back courtyard.
“I think I got them all,” Annaliese said after giving Drusilla a thorough perusal. “And since you’re now spider-free, to return to the mother situation, know that besides refusing to leave her room, Mother has been overly enthusiastic with using the annunciator today, something that has left Mrs. O’Sullivan in a testy frame of mind.”
“Why would Mother be ringing for Mrs. O’Sullivan when she just had breakfast delivered to her an hour ago?”
“I imagine she’s decided she’s in desperate need of a second pot of coffee.”
“But she knows we have limited staff at the moment and she can’t expect to be waited on hand and foot.”
“I’m sure Mother’s aware of that, but since she’s still under the impression she’ll run into another ghost if she steps out of her room, she’s reluctant to do any fetching for herself.”
Drusilla leaned her chin against the top of the broom handle,wondering how in the world it had happened that her life had turned so troubling of late.
In all honesty, during the three days that had passed since they’d landed in Chicago, she’d found herself thinking time and again that it would have been helpful if she hadn’t enjoyed such a pampered life for most of her twenty-two years, given how difficult life seemed to be turning these days.
