“Perhaps we should share a seat as that might allow both of us to avoid finding ourselves on the floor,” Rhenick suggested.
“That’s an excellent idea considering Seraphina seems to be putting her evasive driving skills into play, as she’s worriedLoughlin MacSherry’s men might be following us.” Drusilla patted the seat beside her.
An immediate response was impossible to get out of his mouth after Rhenick had to all but launch himself in the direction of the opposite seat, barely managing to sit down before the carriage took another fast turn. “Sweet Pea is undoubtedly delighted to have Seraphina at the reins because he’s a horse that loves galloping whenever possible. With that said, though, I didn’t notice anyone tailing us earlier, or notice any suspicious carriages parked outside Umberto’s house, so our current speed might be a little excessive, especially when I swear that last turn Seraphina made left us tooling along on two wheels.”
Drusilla grinned and then released what sounded like a snort when the carriage careened over a pothole that left her bouncing right up against him. She shoved herself away, leaving him rather disappointed, before she pushed hair that had had the audacity to slip from her chignon out of her face.
“Considering that Elena seems terrifying in her own right, even if the Zambarello family has gone completely legitimate, I doubt there are many people, even Loughlin MacSherry, who’d risk incurring the wrath of that lady by skulking around her residence, even if someone had been following us after we left the castle.”
“She’s definitely not a woman to cross, which makes me wonder how you’re going to handle her interest in getting her daughters enrolled in your academy.”
“Since I told Elena, if she’s able to get the developers to abandon their interest in the castle, that I would see her daughters promptly enrolled, that’s exactly what I intend to do.”
Rhenick frowned. “Surely you must know that you’ll face indignation from other parents if you admit the Zambarello sisters, given that their father was, until recently, involved in the criminal underworld.”
“Of course I know that, but it would hardly speak well of me if I start discriminating against future students simply because of their backgrounds.” She looked out the window, although there was nothing to see as it was completely black outside. “If you think about it, Reverend Michaelson’s choice of Scripture from the book of Romans that we heard only yesterday, although it seems as if that service was at least a month ago, could have been hand-selected for me as it dealt with how we’re expected to live peaceably with one another. It would hardly be living peaceably with anyone if I exclude young ladies from the academy simply because of who their parents are.”
She returned her attention to him. “Truth be told, I’ve been thinking that there’s a reason for why my life went off the rails, a reason He Who Shall Not Be Named tossed me over, and a reason I was forced to come to Chicago. What that reason is exactly, I’m still not sure, but one thing I am certain about is this—I’ve been given an opportunity to not only claim a sense of independence I never would have known if I’d entered into what amounted to nothing more than an arranged marriage, but I have also been given an opportunity to help other young ladies gain an advantage in life, even if it’s an advantage simply gained by learning how to properly comport themselves. That could very well allow some of these ladies to lead a life they never would have imagined, but that won’t happen if I set superficial boundaries in place regarding who may attend my school and who may not.”
He smiled. “Forgive me for questioning your decision because that was a very compelling argument. So compelling, in fact, that I’m sure if you simply explain your stance on inclusion to any indignant parents exactly as you just explained to me, no one will give you any trouble.”
Drusilla returned his smile, but before she could do more than that, the carriage bounced over yet another rut, sending her careening into him, where she promptly grabbed hold ofhis jacket lapels and hung on for dear life as the carriage veered to the right.
Curiously enough, even though they were in very real danger of being tossed from the carriage altogether if they continued the way they were, Rhenick found all trepidations of their mad midnight ride disappearing when Drusilla looked up, her face mere inches from his.
Instead of pulling back, which was exactly what he expected her to do, her gaze locked with his for what seemed like an eternity, until that gaze shifted to his mouth. Any notion that he might have had about not giving in to the distinct urge he felt to kiss her faded straightaway.
He leaned closer, settled his hand at the nape of her neck, tilted her chin up with his other hand, leaned closer still, and then his lips met hers, the emotions that immediately swept over him surpassing anything he thought kissing Drusilla would be like, and...
The carriage took that moment to stop in its tracks, the sudden lack of motion sending him lurching off the seat and taking Drusilla with him.
A second later, she was sprawled on top of him, an honest-to-goodness grunt escaping her.
“That was quite unexpected,” she muttered as she pushed herself up from where she’d been lying against his chest.
“Unexpected because we’ve now found ourselves on the floor?”
Her lips curved. “Unexpected as it brought a rather abrupt end to our kiss.”
His lips began to curve as well. “And I will now say that I wasn’t expecting you to say that.”
“And to that I’ll say that I wasn’t expecting you to kiss me in the first place, but now that we have, I don’t believe there’s any need for us to pretend it didn’t happen, as it was most enjoyable, and—”
“Got a bit of a situation out here,” Seraphina said as she pulled open the carriage door, stuck her head in, and blinked. “What are you doing down there?”
“Suffering effects of your driving, of course,” Drusilla returned without batting an eye, although she did send him a hint of a wink, the wink suggesting that even though she was, indeed, one of the most proper ladies he’d ever met, underneath that prim and properness might very well be a lady possessed of a mischievous spirit.
He could only hope he’d have an opportunity to explore more of her mischievous side in the very near future.
“It doesn’t actually appear as if either of you suffered overly much from my evasive maneuvers,” Seraphina said, a distinct trace of amusement in her voice.
Drusilla grinned, took the hand Seraphina held out to her, and climbed off of him a second later, sending him an apologetic wince when her elbow dug into his side before she practically fell out of the carriage.
After pushing himself upright, Rhenick climbed out of the carriage and moved to stand beside Drusilla and Seraphina, who were already directing their attention to the castle gate, one that was standing wide open and had no one manning it.
“What do you think the odds are that finding the gate open is not going to be a precursor of yet more trouble?” Drusilla asked.
“Slim to none,” Seraphina didn’t hesitate to say. “And because of that, I think we should leave the carriage behind and approach the castle as cautiously as possible, and with our weapons at the ready.”
