Drusilla arched a brow Rhenick’s way. “And you?”
Rhenick raked a hand through his hair. “A delayed opening is probably unavoidable until we get to the bottom of all the mysteries surrounding the castle. I would suggest we start getting to that bottom with Norbert first, since he could be the key to everything.”
“I doubt Norbert will confess to being a murderer.”
“I doubt that as well, but he’s at least a place to start.” Rhenick sat forward. “However, before we get down to figuring out our interrogation technique, I need to ask you a rather delicate question.”
“You want to know how I’m going to deal with Coraline and her friends’ serious breach of etiquette today during the service?”
“That hadn’t even crossed my mind. But now that you’ve broached the topic, howareyou going to handle my sister?”
Drusilla shrugged. “I’m not going to do anything about it because Coraline is perfectly capable of behaving herself. Today was the first time I’ve ever witnessed her being overly exuberant.”
“That’s just because my mother has made a point of keeping an eagle eye on Coraline whenever she’s at the castle, but mysister obviously saw an unexpected opportunity today because Mother was preoccupied with Irma, I was sitting next to you, and my father didn’t attend service today since he’s suffering from a bad cold.”
“What did you sitting next to me have to do with Coraline misbehaving?”
Rhenick took a moment to consider the question since he certainly wasn’t going to spit out the entire truth of it to her, not when the truth revolved around the idea that his sisters all knew he was still completely enamored with Drusilla, even though she seemed content to merely maintain a friendship with him.
That enamored state, which his sisters brought up every evening when he returned home from the castle, didn’t seem to be diminishing in the slightest, although ... it did seem to be changing, transforming into something deeper, something Eloise, who fancied herself an expert on romance because she made a point of reading Jane Austen, was convinced was love.
Frankly, he was relatively convinced it was love as well, since he found himself looking forward to seeing Drusilla first thing in the morning, enjoyed every minute he spent with her during the day as they worked side by side on different projects, and then found himself thinking about her whenever he left the castle to attend to other projects that demanded his attention. He’d then taken to returning to the castle after he was finished with his other obligations for the day, making it a habit to take over preparing the evening meal from Mrs. O’Sullivan a few nights a week because Drusilla made a point of cleaning her plate every time he made her a meal, something she told him was rather unladylike, but something she couldn’t help as his cooking was simply far too delicious for her to resist.
The problem with the whole being-in-love business, though, was this—he had absolutely no idea how to address the matter since Drusilla had asked him to never bring up the topic of marriage again, and he had the sneaking suspicion that sheprobably meant he was supposed to avoid all areas surrounding matrimony, including any talk of romance.
Granted, he hadn’t actually agreed to her request, but he certainly didn’t want to give her a reason to end what had turned out to be a delightful friendship, even if he wanted to turn that friendship into so much more.
Seraphina suddenly cleared her throat in a more-than-telling fashion, which snapped him directly out of what were certainly interesting thoughts. Before he could recall what Drusilla had asked him, Seraphina took it upon herself to answer the question for him.
“I’m sure what Rhenick would tell you about Coraline misbehaving while he was sitting beside you is this—she knows, as everyone else does, that the two of you spend the majority of your time discussing new ways to improve the castle, and when you’re doing that, you’re usually oblivious to everything else around you.”
Drusilla wrinkled her nose. “We don’t spend all our time discussing the castle. A lot of times we talk about his family, or I tell him about my time in finishing school and exactly how it came to be that I earned the title of Far Too Prim and Proper.”
“You were hardly prim and proper when you were dealing with those developers last week, as most exceedingly proper ladies don’t shoot at other people,” Annaliese pointed out.
“That was an extenuating circumstance.”
Annaliese rolled her eyes. “You shot at Rhenick a month ago.”
“Another extenuating circumstance,” Drusilla said before she turned to him. “Weren’t you saying something about having a delicate question you wanted to ask me?”
He grinned. “Not enjoying your sister pointing out specific circumstances where you’re not prim and proper?”
“Not in the least,” she said, although her eyes were twinkling ever so slightly. “So, to avoid additional examples where I’veset aside my usual adherence to proper decorum, what was your question?”
His grin faded. “I wanted to know if you’ll be left facing another dire financial situation if you’re forced to delay the opening of the academy, as I know you’ve been counting on tuition money to set your finances to rights.”
She worried her lip for a second. “That is a concern, but I believe I’ll have enough money to make do until we can safely open the academy.”
He caught her gaze. “If you find that you can’t make do, I’ll be more than happy to extend you a loan.”
She sent him a rather wobbly smile. “And while that’s very kind of you, know that I won’t be taking you up on your offer, as I have the sneaking suspicion you’d refuse to accept repayment from me since you’ve been a little vague about agreeing to allow me to reimburse you for the cost of all the supplies and labor you’ve incurred fixing up the castle. To remind you, I’m quite determined to learn how to become self-sufficient. But I do thank you for the offer.”
Since there was no doubt hewouldrefuse repayment, and little doubt she wouldn’t react well if he blundered about yet again and blurted out what he really wanted to say—that her financial troubles would be over if she’d simply marry him—Rhenick settled for sending her an inclination of his head as Seraphina sat forward.
“You wouldn’t have to set aside your goal of becoming self-sufficient if someone would simply point me in the direction of a reputable jeweler, and I could finally get around to selling some of my mother’s jewelry,” Seraphina said. “I’m perfectly happy to invest in a venture I know will eventually be a great financial success.”
“You’re not selling your late mother’s jewelry because we’re not going to delay the opening of our academy indefinitely.” Drusilla lifted her chin. “I fully intend to swing those doorswide open come September, which means we need to concentrate our efforts on solving every mystery connected with the castle once and for all, and we need to solve those by the end of August.”
