Page 26 of The Colonel's Ungovernable Governess
“Perhaps the pond is an ‘it tong,’” Jocelyn teased.
“It-tong. It-tong. There is a frog beside the it-tong,” Victoria singsonged before both children burst into laughter.
“Grenouille,” Jocelyn corrected. “Frog.”
“Going-we,” Vincent declared.
Jocelyn, too, broke into laughter. “Enough French for the moment. We will continue in the schoolroom. For now, let us enjoy the stillness of the pond before we return to the house for ourrepas.”
“I knowrepas,” Victoria declared in triumph. It means ‘food.’ A meal. Listen, Vincent, we both already know a French word: I cannot wait to tell the colonel.”
* * *
As they approached the house a quarter hour later, the children broke away from her. Amazingly, Victoria beat her brother as Victoria rushed into the open arms of a beautiful young lady of perhaps sixteen or seventeen years.
To be fair to the boy, Vincent carried a frog between his cupped hands, causing him to lope along rather than gallop across the drive.
“You are here,” Victoria declared as Jocelyn followed the pair to greet the young woman.
“Should I not be?” the girl teased as she turned to greet Vincent. “What have you there, Brother?” she asked with only the slightest snarl of disapproval.
“A frog,” Lady Victoria said in tones of superiority.
“A bullfrog,” her brother corrected. “Miss Lambert said it was a bullfrog.”
“I recall,” Victoria said as she stepped further away from her brother.
Before more could be said, the colonel and the Darcys streamed from the house. Jocelyn looked on as the girl presented the colonel an affectionate embrace, and, like it or not, Jocelyn frowned in disapproval.
“Colonel,” the girl gushed. “I did not realize you were at William’s Wood. If so, I would not have rushed home when I heard of Mrs. Peyton’s dismissal.”
“I wrote to you,” Vincent declared.
“I must have departed before your letter was presented to me. Sometimes, the school staff forgets that we love to receive letters from home,” the girl countered. “Did you not rid yourself of what you had in your hands?” she asked, obviously wishing to change the subject. “Look at you. You are covered in mud! We must find you an appropriate governess immediately, do you not agree, Colonel?” She laced her arm through the man’s, and a deeper frown claimed Jocelyn’s forehead.
The colonel easily disengaged himself from the girl’s grasp so he might kneel before Vincent. “What have you there, my lord?”
“A bullfrog, sir. I caught it. All by myself,” Vincent said proudly.
Jocelyn was well aware of the colonel’s questioning gaze meeting hers, but she remained silent as the family “drama” played out before her.
“A bullfrog,” the colonel said in even tones, “does not belong in the house. You should release it.”
Jocelyn recognized when Vincent’s stubbornness arrived. It was accompanied by his stammer. “I wanted . . . to show you . . . and Mr. Darcy . . . the frog . . . and tell you . . . what I learned . . . today.”
The colonel opened his mouth to deliver the boy a warning, but Mr. Darcy knelt next to his cousin to intercept the colonel’s ill-spoken reprimand. “How do you know it is a bullfrog, my lord?”
The boy’s stiff shoulders eased back into place. “It is larger, sir,” the boy responded quickly. “Miss Lambert says a bullfrog can grow up to six inches in length.” Vincent looked steadily at Mr. Darcy for acceptance, and he must have found what he was seeking in the man’s features, for he continued, “This one is nearly that big already, sir. Nearly the size of your hand. Green frogs are usually only two or three inches. Bullfrogs have a deeper croak also, and they live up to fifteen years.La grosse grenouille. Is that correct, Miss Lambert?”
“Very close, my lord,” she said with a smile to reassure him there was no censor on her part. “Just remember that ‘grosse’ does not sound of ‘gross’ as we Brits might say, though, I suspect both your sisters might consider the frog more than a bit blatantly unacceptable. ‘Grosse’ is closer to ‘goose’ rather than ‘gross.’”
“Yes, miss,” the child said with a small smile. “I will remember.”
Mr. Darcy stood. “Lord Vincent, let us carry the frog away from the house and release it back to its home. No sense in frightening the cook and others.”
“Yes, sir,” the boy said obediently.
“What else have you learned this morning?” Mr. Darcy asked as they walked away together.
