the mud for those piglets,” she told him with a perfectly straight face.
Ambrose looked surprised, and then incredulous. “And how is that?”
“Well, I had not ventured that far from the main house before. You are the one who showed me where the chickens, pigs, geese, and other animals were kept. So, if it were not for your meddling, I wouldn’t have even seen the piglets,” she informed him matter-of-factly.
He huffed, then a mischievous little smile appeared on his face. “Did the same thing apply when I told you about the kittens in the barn?”
“No. That was the mother cat’s fault for having her kittens in such a hard-to-reach place.”
Ambrose smiled, and they both remembered the minor adventure in silence for a moment. Georgiana was pulled out of the memories first by once again becoming aware of the fact that other people were present. People who were quite possibly whispering about her.
She startled slightly when Ambrose grabbed her hand to get her attention. “You know … we may be adults, but we might be able to find some mischief to do here if we think about it…” he suggested.
Georgiana did not know how to reply to him at first. Part of her wanted to tell him those were childish things and would only draw attention to them. However, the other part of her saw it could help take her mind off other matters.
He seemed to know exactly what she was thinking. “How about we simply think of all the mischief that we could cause if we chose to do so?”
“That sounds like an entertaining topic,” she replied approvingly. “Where shall we start?” she added and began to look around the room.
Ambrose thought for a moment as he too began to look around. “Well, as I recall, there is a garden outside, and even a pond. I am certain there will be at least a few toads somewhere about there.”
She saw where his thoughts were going. “Yes! And there would be nothing out of the ordinary for us to go for a walk. But what would we catch the toad in so it wouldn’t be seen?”
“Hmm … we could take a glass of punch with us on our walk and set it in that. Your handkerchief being placed over that would both keep the toad in and hide it.”
“So, that part is planned. Now to decide what we would do with it…”
“If we place it near the punch bowl under the shadow of it, it may jump out at any time,” Ambrose suggested. “If we are not caught planting it there, no one would ever know it was our doing.”
Suddenly Georgiana clapped a hand over her mouth as an idea sent her a mental picture so funny, she felt she simply had to laugh.
“What?”
Tears were coming into her eyes before she had the self-control to reply. “The duchess is by the dancefloor.”
“And?”
“We could hold the toad subtly in one or another of our hands while we went for a dance. Then, we would release the toad near the center of the floor and watch it disrupt all the dancers as it tried to get away!”
“And what does that have to do with the duchess?”
“After it was noticed, I could pick up the toad with my handkerchief—as though for the first time, of course— take it over to her and remark that, perhaps, a prince in disguise had heard of her soiree.”
By then, she was laughing aloud, in part at the thought of what Her Grace would say or do in such a situation. Georgiana had no doubt Mary would know exactly who was responsible for the toad being there in the first place.
Still, she doubted there would be any anger about it. She might even find the chaos entertaining. If Georgiana had done such a thing while she was still a little girl, the duchess might even have indulgently played along a little and told her to set up a small place where the creature could easily watch the goings-on of the soiree.
Ambrose, not being as familiar with the duchess, was not fully able to appreciate the humor, but he still found the idea an amusing one.
“Thank you for suggesting such a marvelous idea. You are such a good friend. You always seem to know just what I need to make me laugh.”
“Well, I am glad I can be of assistance. Shall we come up with another plot?”
“Actually, I think I would like some punch now.”
“Then allow me to get us some,”