Page 53 of Last Night with the Duke
Esmeralda appreciated the concern she saw in his eyes. “No, no, of course not. I’m fine,” she whispered, straightening her bonnet on her head. “Please take care of your sisters.”
“They’re fine too.”
“What is that thing?” Lady Sara asked, using the duke’s body as a shield to keep her away from the frog.
“It doesn’t matter what it is,” her twin hissed. “Get it out of here.”
Esmeralda was horrified. The last thing she needed was another calamity involving Josephine. Esmeralda wouldn’t be surprised if the next thing they said was that they wanted Josephine and Napoleon out of their house immediately.
“Josephine, for the love of heaven!” Esmeralda said in an exasperated voice, brushing at the dark stain of chocolate on her new skirt. “Put that thing down right now and let it hop away. Can’t you see you’re scaring the twins with it?”
“It’s just a frog,” Josephine said, holding it up for the twins to see again, obviously oblivious to the true state of the duke’s sisters’ state of mind. “It won’t hurt you.”
That explanation didn’t satisfy Lady Vera, and she screeched again. “Throw it away. I don’t like it.”
“What’s wrong?” Mr. Lambert asked, rushing up to see if he could help. “What happened?”
He wasn’t the only person who’d heard the commotion and screaming. Three other men were coming up right behind him to give aid to the ladies if need be.
The duke ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “Nothing is wrong, Mr. Lambert, gentlemen,” he said with a nod of greeting to all. “As you can see, it’s just a frog that has frightened my sisters. No harm has been done to anyone.”
Mr. Lambert looked down at Josephine’s defiant expression and the firm hold she had on the middle section of her large amphibian captive. “That’s a mammoth frog you have there, young lady.”
“I know,” she said proudly. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen one this big. It took me a while to sneak up on it and catch it. It kept hopping away.”
She held the beast up to her face and looked at it. It made a noise that sounded like a deep manly burp, and Josephine started laughing. “See, it’s not scary.”
Esmeralda, Mr. Lambert, and the duke all chuckled too. So did the other people who had gathered around. Lady Sara and Lady Vera didn’t find anything about the frog amusing.
“It’s horrid,” Lady Vera said again, making sure she made eye contact with her brother, Esmeralda, and Mr. Lambert. “And it’s certainly not comical. Make her take it away, Griffin.”
After a forced cough to clear his laugh, the duke said, “You’re right, Vera. A frog can look frightening when you’re not used to seeing one up close.”
Seizing the moment to impress Lady Sara, Mr. Lambert stepped closer and said, “I’d be happy to take care of it for you, Your Grace. That is, if you don’t mind and the miss will hand over the frog.”
“Yes, give it to him,” Lady Sara said.
“Thank you, Mr. Lambert,” Griffin said. “But I have everything handled. No need to trouble yourself.” Griffin looked at the other people who’d wandered over to see what the screaming was about. “It was kind of you to look in on us, but as you see, all is fine. Please go back to your picnics and enjoy your afternoon.”
“Of course, Your Grace,” Mr. Lambert said with a smile. He gave Lady Vera a passing glance, then let his gaze linger on Lady Sara. “My ladies, I’ll see you at the ball tomorrow night. I’d be pleased if you’d both save me a dance.”
“Of course, we shall,” Lady Sara answered quickly for herself and her sister. “Thank you for coming over to make sure nothing was wrong. That was very kind of you.”
“It was my pleasure,” Mr. Lambert said with a nod, letting his eyes linger on Lady Sara again before turning away. The others followed behind him.
“Now that I look at it from a distance, I guess it’s not that scary-looking,” Lady Sara said, “but I don’t want to touch it.”
Lady Vera was not as forgiving, “I don’t know how you can allow Josephine to touch something like that, Miss Swift. I’ve heard it said that those things cause warts, bumps, and all sorts of horrible things to appear on your skin.”
“If they did, Josephine would have warts all over her hands by now. She has been touching frogs for years. I admit I have no desire to hold a frog, but Josephine has never been afraid of anything, be it bugs, beetles, or butterflies.” Esmeralda looked at her cheeky sister and, though she saw the humor in the incident, felt compelled to say, “Josephine, that wasn’t a nice thing for you to do.”
Josephine’s expression remained impish and unrepentant. “What did I do wrong? How was I to know they were scared? It’s just a frog. They don’t bite.”
Esmeralda had no idea what Griffin was going to say to her. In truth, he had reason once again to dismiss her from his employ. That thought made her stomach quake. But no, she insisted to herself, lifting her shoulders straighter. She had resolved not to live in constant fear that she or Josephine were going to do something that made Griffin remove her from her position as the twins’ chaperone. She must have confidence that she would see this challenge to the end and earn her payment—and the promised bonus if possible.
“But they don’t look or sound very nice,” Esmeralda said calmly, wanting to smooth over the incident quickly. “Now apologize to Lady Sara and Lady Vera for scaring them.”
Griffin put his hands on Josephine’s shoulders and looked at Esmeralda with a soft expression. “No apology is necessary.”
