Wilhelmine paused with her dabbing. “I have something a little grander in mind, and something that will also help all the families who are in similar situations prepare their daughters for futures that could see them comfortably settling into some of the most prestigious households in Chicago, if not the country.”
“I must say you’ve captured my full attention now.”
“I would hope so,” Wilhelmine returned. “So allow me to get straight to the point. What Rhenick and I would like to propose is this: Whittenbecker and Company will provide everything you need, including materials and labor, to get your castle in tip-top shape.”
Drusilla blinked. “That’s very generous.”
“Not when you take into account that I mentioned it’s a rather self-serving proposition ... and that I will need you to agree to a few teeny little conditions before we move forward.”
“Such as?”
Wilhelmine gave a breezy wave of a hand. “They aren’t anything drastic, simply things like how we need to coordinateour efforts so that you’ll be able to open the academy within the month.”
Another blink was Drusilla’s first response to that. “I’m sorry, but did you say you want the academy opened within a month—as in thirty days?”
“Time is of the essence, dear, given that there are many a young lady, one of mine included, who’ll be wanting to make a debut within the year. But don’t fret that opening in a month is an impossible feat—not when I’ll also be providing you with the full support of my domestic staff.” She gave Drusilla’s forehead another dab. “I do feel compelled to disclose that my staff will need a bit of direction at first since many of them are relatively new to their positions, but I’m sure your housekeeper will be more than up for the task of taking them in hand.”
Irma took that moment to clear her throat. “I’m afraid we no longer have a housekeeper, as Mrs. Donaldson accepted a position with the Fish family two days after we learned our fortune was missing. With that said, though, our butler, Mr. Grimsby, will be perfectly capable of directing your staff, although he can be rather gruff at times, which might leave your staff unwilling to work with him.”
Wilhelmine smiled. “My staff is made up of people who used to work in steel mills, shirtwaist factories, and even slaughterhouses. I assure you, they’ll find taking direction from your butler to be a walk in the park.”
Irma’s forehead took to puckering. “But if you lend us the use of your staff, you’re going to be shorthanded with running your own house.”
“My house is always shorthanded even with a full staff, but you’ll understand why once they turn up here—if your daughter agrees to my proposal.”
With that, Wilhelmine directed an expectant gaze on Drusilla.
“It’s a more than generous proposition you’ve presented me with,” Drusilla began, “but even if we were able to whip thecastle into shape within a month, I highly doubt we’d be able to get word out regarding the new academy, which means we might be capable of opening our doors, but there will be relatively few young ladies walking through them.”
Wilhelmine’s lips curved. “There’s no need to concern yourself with getting any word out because I’ve already taken the liberty of reaching out to the mothers of my daughters’ friends.” Her eyes began to sparkle. “I’m sure you’ll be delighted to learn that I’ve been able to comprise a list over the past two days of fifty-seven young ladies who are clamoring to be accepted into your new school. All you need to do to seal our business arrangement is to assure me that you, unlike the schools many of us here in Chicago have petitioned to get our daughters enrolled into, will accept every young lady I send to you, no matter if other schools deemed them unacceptable and refused to allow them entrance into their hallowed midst, normally for the ridiculous reason of an insufficient pedigree.”
“I’m sure I wouldn’t be opposed to any of the young ladies you’d send my way, but before we get into that ...” Drusilla frowned. “Did you say fifty-seven young ladies already want to attend the academy?”
“I did.” Wilhelmine’s eyes took to sparkling more than ever. “Although I probably should have addedand counting.”
Nineteen
A hundred questions swirled through Drusilla’s mind over what was certainly an unexpected and potentially Merriweather-saving development, but before she could get a single word out of her mouth, such as discussing if they’d even be able to handle fifty-seven and counting potential students, Wilhelmine took hold of Drusilla’s chin, turned her head to the left, then to the right, and frowned.
“My dear, you have a few wounds that are stubbornly refusing to cease bleeding, no matter how many times I dab them, which means further talk of my business proposal will need to wait until after we get you into your room and properly attend to those wounds once and for all.”
Wilhelmine sent a nod Rhenick’s way. “I believe now is the moment for you to address the raven situation, but do go about the matter carefully as it’s obvious the ravens are an aggressive lot, but also try to hurry, dear. We don’t want to keep Drusilla lingering out here.”
Before Rhenick could respond to that, Norbert stepped forward. “Miss Drusilla won’t need to linger outside until the castle is raven-free,” he said. “She can just use one of the back servant stairs to reach her room.”
“We have back servant stairs?” Drusilla asked.
“Two sets of them,” Norbert said.
“Why two?”
“I suppose that would be on account of Captain Thurgood Harvey. He’s the one who built the castle years ago and wanted a way for his men to be able to come and go without anyone detecting them.”
“Why would Captain Harvey’s men need to be able to do that?”
“I’m afraid I can’t disclose that because Captain Harvey made me swear on the Bible when he hired me—he was a rather suspicious sort—that I would never tell a soul about anything I might see while in his employ.”
“But you’re no longer in his employ.”
