“Except that there is one very angry ghost who curses anyone who marries in the castle,” Andre said. “And as Archie the caretaker says, she’s claimed another.”

“That’s not exactly how the curse goes,” Dominick said.

We all turned to face him, and I asked, “You’ve heard of it?”

“Of course,” he said. “The village is still an extension of the castle, seeing as most of the castle staff live in the village. There was quite the to-do yesterday when the police said no one could leave the castle while they investigated the death of the groom.”

He gave us a pointed look and when I glanced at Viv and Andre, I noted they had matching sheepish expressions. I suspected my face looked just like theirs.

“In our defense, we only skived off so we could meet you,” I said. I felt like one of the cool kids, using the British slang for “skipping out.”

Dominick sipped his tea. He looked amused. “Oh, don’t worry, I won’t tell a soul that you were here and neither will Emily.”

“Thank you,” Viv said. “Things are a bit tense at Waverly Castle right now and we appreciate the respite.”

A bit tense. You just have to love the British gift of understatement. Still, I was curious about what Dominick knew about the McKenna curse. Archie said she was an unhappy bride who died tragically before her wedding and haunted the castle to this day, but he didn’t say much more than that.

“Do you know why the McKenna bride curses any weddings that are meant to be held in the castle?” I asked. “The caretaker said something about her being unhappy, but didn’t say why.”

“I do. It’s a sad story,” Dominick said. “Brigit McKenna was a young girl when she was to be married off. Her curse—if it was the curse that killed the groom in this wedding—was that whoever should be forced into a marriage they didn’t want would find their way out through death. If the groom did suffer from the curse, it’s because he didn’t want this wedding.”

“Their way out through death?” I repeated. “Are you sure about the curse? Not to be blunt, but he was marrying a fortune, and I don’t think he was trying to escape that.”

“I agree,” Viv said. “Dooney definitely wanted to marry Piper. In fact, he needed to marry her if his family was to survive. I don’t think he was sentimental about the reasons. He was fiscally committed to the outcome.”

“The curse is very specific,” Dominick said. “Let me explain.”

We all leaned in, even Andre, and gave him our full attention.

Chapter 11