Chapter 9
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 in check.
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 girls are difficult 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, Norma Jean 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 glanced around 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.
“I suppose a tidy up wouldn’t be remiss, but I stopped having the maids come in a few months ago after one of them unintentionally broke a beaker filled with acetate directly next to a Bunsen burner. To say the resulting fire unnerved the staff is an understatement.”
Rhenick’s lips twitch. “I imagine it was rather unnerving. However, besides fitting a tidy up into your schedule, you might also want to think about investing in some furniture that doesn’t leave one with the impression that, besides being a mad scientist, you also have questionable taste in home furnishings.
To point out the obvious, this part of your workshop looks as if it’s home to an elderly lady with a proclivity for mismatched pieces. ”
“And offend all my relatives who’ve been taking great pleasure in furnishing my house and workshop?
I think not.” Seth smiled. “My aunts, if you’re unaware, enjoy doting on me, probably because most of them are convinced I’m this genius sort who doesn’t have time to waste with furnishings or the everyday nuances of life, something else that annoys Norma Jean. ”
“You are a genius.”
Seth waved that aside. “My mother will tell you that I’m really not, a conclusion she first came to when I was six years old and got my tongue stuck to a frozen pole.
” He smiled. “Poor Mother had to spit on the pole to get my tongue released, and after that, the genius talk surrounding me abated—until I invented a motorized steam device I outfitted with blades that could cut grass when I was eight.”
“Not sure why you’d question the genius business, then, as most eight-year-olds are playing ball in the street with their friends, not making grass-cutting devices.”
“True, but not long after I made that device, I got my head stuck in a gate, having miscalculated how my ears would affect the space needed to pull my head out again.” Seth winced.
“Mother tried to use butter on the iron spindles, to no avail, and then had to resort to having the gardener cut the spindles, which left my ears ringing for days after suffering through the railings being sawed off.”
“Should I ask why you stuck your head through a gate?”
“Hester and Betsy told me it wouldn’t fit. I decided to prove them wrong.”
“Sounds like something sisters who are as thick as thieves would do to their brother, but speaking of your two other sisters, how are they?”
“They’re fine. Enjoying life in California with their respective spouses and living on the same street, of course, something they decided to do because they were accustomed to being surrounded by family here in Chicago.
They’ll be coming back to Chicago for the Christmas season and staying for at least a month. ”
“Which might be a wonderful incentive for you to spruce up your place.”
Seth shook his head. “Hester and Betsy, unlike Norma Jean, never stop by here to visit, although Norma Jean hasn’t brought her friends around for a good month.”
Rhenick smiled. “I would think you’d be relieved about that, as well as be relieved that the girls are no longer taking up a few hours of your time every week since they’re now more interested in horses—or rather Riley, the Merriweather stable hand—over you or your inventions these days.”
Seth stilled as all the pieces of the puzzle Annaliese had told him to figure out on his own finally clicked into place.
“Your sister Coraline and her friends were coming over here because of me?” he asked slowly.
“You didn’t know that?”
Seth refused a wince. “It’s not that I was completely oblivious to that because I had a few suspicions when they first started showing up. However, after they continued coming around for months, I decided I was mistaken.”
“Because . . . ?”
“Even I know that adolescent girls aren’t prone to longevity when it comes to infatuations, which is why I decided they truly were interested in inventing, and why I began involving them in some of my less volatile projects.”
For a moment, Rhenick merely considered Seth before he shook his head.
“To point out the obvious, Seth, by encouraging the girls to be active participants in your inventions, you prolonged their interest in you. Being adolescents, they aren’t accustomed to adults including them in anything of consequence.
You probably became, in their eyes, the dreamiest gentleman to ever walk the face of the earth—until they got a good eyeful of Riley once they started classes at the academy. ”