“Pierre,” Louisa didn’t hesitate to say.
“Then Pierre the Parrot she shall be.”
“Pierre’s a she?” Louisa asked.
“It’s always difficult to tell with parrots, but I believe so.”
Louisa’s eyes began to twinkle. “How delightful, just as it’s delightful to find myself in the company of such an agreeable young lady.” She shot a look to Seth before she moved closer to Annaliese and lowered her voice.
“I’ve been apprised of a certain plot that’s afoot, my dear,” Louisa began. “And while Norma Jean seems hesitant to participate in advancing that plot since she, regrettably, blames you for the punishment of her being confined to the house for the foreseeable future when classes are not in session, know that I am fully on board with it. And—” Louisa smiled—“I’ll be doing some strategizing on my own to advance the situation, unless, of course, I happen to come down with another unfortunate case of scurvy, which may delay my participation in the plan to a certain extent, although at the moment, I’m feeling fit as a fiddle.”
Nine
Two days later
“Forgive the interruption, Seth, but I wanted to have an opportunity to speak with you before Drusilla and I take off on our wedding holiday as we barely had a chance to say two words to each other the other day when you were at the academy.”
Seth set aside the small sheet of glass he’d been prepping with glue for the vivarium he was building and looked up, finding Rhenick Whittenbecker, one of his good friends, lounging against the doorframe that led into his workshop.
“Rhenick, this is a pleasant surprise. I didn’t think we’d find time to talk until after your return since you and Drusilla are no longer heading to Paris but going to the Caribbean instead, and going on a quest to find Ottilie Merriweather.” Seth picked up a rag and wiped glue from his hand. “Exciting business there. I must admit I’m a little envious because sailing off to follow directions a cartographer gave to Agent Pearson that might lead to Ottilie seems like quite the adventure, given the whole pirate treasure angle.”
Rhenick smiled. “The only treasure Drusilla’s hoping we’ll find is her aunt, although she’s keeping her expectations incheck. Even though the Pinkertons narrowed down that trunk of maps Ottilie left behind with her solicitor to three, the area covers a vast expanse of water. Plus, there’s no guarantee that those particular maps are the ones Ottilie was actually pursuing.”
“At least it’s a lead, which is encouraging,” Seth said. “But should I assume there’s something of importance you needed to speak with me about before you depart?”
Rhenick shrugged. “Not really. I just thought it would be nice to spend an hour or so together to catch up since I’ll be away for at least a month.”
“An excellent idea, although I’m surprised you have a spare hour or two. From what I overheard Norma Jean telling Velma today after I picked them up from the academy, going from a European environment to a tropical one requires complete repacking. According to the girls, that type of repacking can take several days and is exactly why I didn’t think I’d see you before you left on your wedding holiday.”
“Drusilla, being an overly competent sort, has already finished our repacking because she stepped in and helped the staff reorganize the numerous portmanteaus we’ll be taking with us.”
“Of course she did.” Seth smiled. “I’ll be sure to let Norma Jean know, since I also overheard her saying she was worried that you and Drusilla wouldn’t be able to make your original departure date because of the change in plans.”
“Why would Norma Jean be worried about that?”
“Your guess is as good as mine as I certainly can’t claim to comprehend the workings of my sister’s mind.”
Rhenick inclined his head. “Adolescent girlsaredifficult to understand, but I usually just ask my sisters what they’re thinking when I’m confused. It saves a lot of time, as well as misunderstandings.”
“Sound advice to be sure, but unlike your sisters, NormaJean doesn’t enjoy entertaining questions from me.” Seth shook his head. “Just today she got annoyed with me as I was driving her and Velma home simply because I asked her if she could explain what Phoebe was strategizing about, something I picked up on while we were at the fair. Instead of answering me, she told me I should ask Mother—as if my mother would know what Phoebe’s up to.”
Rhenick blinked. “Phoebe’s strategizing?”
“Apparently, and it somehow involves Annaliese, who also wouldn’t explain what the strategizing was about.”
Rhenick’s eyes began to twinkle. “We should probably make ourselves more comfortable since I get the feeling we need to embark on what will undoubtedly turn into an illuminating conversation for you.”
With that, Rhenick pushed himself away from the doorframe and headed across the workshop. He then considered two chairs, finally settling himself into a large overstuffed one that Seth’s aunt Alice had given him, a fussy piece that was upholstered in a pattern Norma Jean likened to ripe cabbages.
After wiping his hands off again, Seth moved to take a seat on the chair next to Rhenick, this one sporting green and pink flowers, and a chair Norma Jean thought was worse than the cabbage chair and had actually deemed wince worthy.
Thankfully, Norma Jean never made a point of talking about the wince-worthiness of the chair whenever their aunt Delia was around, who’d given the chair to Seth directly after he’d moved out of his parents’ house and into his own. Norma Jean, surprisingly enough, was completely capable of being charming when she set her mind to it, although she evidently didn’t feel the need to avoid insulting him since she made a point to do exactly that whenever they were in each other’s company.
He liked to think it was her odd way of showing him affection.
“Have you ever considered,” Rhenick began as he glancedaround the workshop, “and because you’re now in possession of quite the fortune from all those lovely inventions of yours, that it might be time to invest some money into this place? If you’ve neglected to realize, it looks like the lair of a mad scientist in here.”
Seth glanced around as well, his gaze lingering on the half inch of dust that was on most of the tables, the smudged beakers that looked as if they hadn’t been washed in forever, and the variety of objects that were scattered on a floor he couldn’t remember sweeping in recent memory.
