“You know Annaliese will eventually figure out a way to train the ferrets to discontinue gifting you unsettling presents,” Drusilla said as she eyed the canteen his mother had just pulled out of her basket somewhat curiously. “But to give the ferrets credit, they’ve been very diligent with hunting down rats, the proof in that being seen by the fact that all three ferrets arealready plumper than they were when we arrived here just three days ago. They’ve put weight on so rapidly that Annaliese has been considering taking them out on daily walks to avoid having her little darlings turn overly plump.”
Irma blanched. “You think there are still so many rats inhabiting the castle that the ferrets will be rodent hunting for the foreseeable future?”
“I should have probably stopped with ‘the ferrets are very diligent with hunting down rats,’” Drusilla muttered.
“That might have been prudent,” Wilhelmine agreed, taking a second to soak a piece of gauze with water from the canteen before she began blotting one of the peck marks on the side of Drusilla’s neck.
“Speaking of being prudent,” Drusilla began as Wilhelmine moved the gauze to another spot, “perhaps it would also be a prudent use of our time if, before your son goes off to address the raven situation, you explain why you’re here.”
“I’m certainly not here to convince you to marry Rhenick, if that’s what you’re thinking.” Wilhelmine smiled. “Truth be told, I’m not even supposed to voice the wordmarriage, as Rhenick thinks it’s a touchy subject with you. Nonetheless, because I’m sure he’s right and itistouchy, I say instead of avoiding the elephant that’s obviously in the room, we address the matter before we discuss anything else.”
Wariness immediately clouded Drusilla’s eyes. “I’m not certain there is any need to discuss what happened with your son the other day.”
“Of course there is,” Wilhelmine countered. “Being the mother to four daughters, I have an above average grasp of the way in which young ladies think, and I think you came to a completely erroneous conclusion regarding why Rhenick made that ridiculous suggestion of marriage to you.”
“He made the suggestion because it would be the best way for him to gain possession of half the castle and surroundinglands since a woman’s property becomes her husband’s property the moment vows are exchanged.”
“And I can certainly understand why you’d believe that because Rhenick explained to me how numerous developers have their eyes on your land. But that’s not why he brought marriage into a conversation with you. Instead, he offered that rather unusual solution to keep you and your family out of harm’s way simply because he completely took leave of his senses the moment he clapped eyes on you.”
Eighteen
Words suddenly seemed difficult to come by, which was exactly why Drusilla found herself all but gaping at Wilhelmine, a direct result of the fact that Rhenick Whittenbecker, a gentleman who most assuredly attracted more than his fair share of feminine attention since he was a more than handsome man, had evidently told his mother he’d lost his senses because of her.
No gentleman had ever come close to losing their senses when they were in her presence. In all honesty, more than a few gentlemen hadn’t even realized she was in their vicinity, a circumstance brought about because she was one of those women men didn’t bother giving a second look to or even a second thought, for that matter.
It was a novel experience, being told a man had lost his head because of her, that condition evidently responsible for why Rhenick had decided they’d have to marry, and with all due haste.
There was a part of her that wanted to immediately dismiss what Wilhelmine had disclosed as pure fabrication. But another part of her, the part that couldn’t ignore the current look on Rhenick’s face—the one that suggested he was hoping a very large hole would open up at his feet so he could jump into itand escape a more than embarrassing situation—wanted to dwell on the idea that she might have, for the first time in her life, caused a man to lose all sense of reason.
The question of the hour now, of course, was ... why?
The answer to that question certainly couldn’t be because she’d been looking her best when Rhenick first saw her, not when she’d been traveling all day and had to have been looking haggard from the stress of the move, as well as the fact she’d been being held at gunpoint.
Her lips suddenly began curving when the pieces ofWhy would Rhenick lose his senses around me?took that moment to fall neatly into place.
“Should I take the fact that you’re now smiling as a sign that you’re willing to let bygones be bygones with Rhenick and put his ridiculous proposal aside once and for all?” Wilhelmine asked, drawing Drusilla from her thoughts.
She found herself nodding before she could stop herself.
“And you’ll also forgive him his lapse in sanity because you’re quite accustomed to gentlemen losing their heads around you?” Wilhelmine pressed.
Drusilla’s nodding came to a rapid end. “Gentlemen don’t make it a habit to lose their heads around me, but I’ll forgive your son’s lapse in sanity because I believe I’ve just figured out why he lost his head in the first place.” She turned to Rhenick. “You obviously formed a misimpression of me, which then resulted with you coming to the erroneous conclusion that you were instantly smitten.”
He gave his jaw a rub. “Why would you think I wasn’t instantly smitten?”
“Because you were smitten by a fabrication—a lady you assumed was one who laughed in the face of danger because I wasn’t descending into a fit of the vapors simply because Norbert was holding me at rifle-point.” She smiled. “I assure you, I’m not that type of lady.”
“But you weren’t suffering from even a hint of the vapors as you faced Norbert down.”
“A woman in my position doesn’t have the luxury of suffering vapors, Mr. Whittenbecker. I have to embrace a pragmatic attitude these days, and that attitude was telling me at that particular time that I had no choice but to take control of the situation, as I had nowhere else to go with my family.”
Rhenick tilted his head. “So if I’m understanding you correctly, you believe that the only reason I lost my head and then suggested we marry is because I mistook you for an extraordinary lady when you’re telling me you’re nothing of the sort?”
“Exactly.”
His brows drew together. “I’m afraid I can’t agree with that.”
Her smile widened. “Well, of course you can’t because I’m sure you think that admitting to me that I’m not extraordinary would hurt my tender feminine sensibilities.”
