Free The Frog Earl by Carola Dunn

complicity in protecting the tender sensibilities of the female sex.
    Mimi came back. She held the sieve over the sink while Simon carefully poured most of the water from the casserole. Two adventurous tadpoles that managed to slip out were quickly tipped back into the inch of water that remained, to join their squirming brethren. Simon set the dish down in the sink and Jacko poured in clean water from his bucket.
    He poured too fast. The water sloshed over the side, taking with it three of the captives. Simon hurriedly put his hand over the drain hole and they were left high and dry in the bottom of the sink.
    “You'd better rescue them,” he said to Mimi, wondering whether she would actually venture to touch the tiny, twitching creatures. “Your fingers are more delicate and will do less damage.”
    Without the least hesitation, with the utmost gentleness, she picked them up and returned them to the casserole. “Poor little things,” she said. “We must be more careful next time. I do believe they are already happier with the clean water, though.” She lifted the dish out of the sink and set it on the draining board.
    “They looks kind of nekkid,” said Jacko doubtfully, then flushed crimson. “Beg pardon, miss, I just meant wi' all that white china round 'em.”
    “They need some pond weed,” Simon suggested. “And that reminds me, you ought to grow some plants in that pond of yours, Miss Mimi. There was a heron down there today, and you won't have any frogs if those tadpoles don't have somewhere to hide. Have one of your gardeners take some rushes from the mere. My aunt won't mind.”
    “I'll do it for you, miss,” Jacko assured her.
    “I shall do it myself.”
    “Then you will doubtless need my help.” Simon pretended not to notice her confusion at his provocative tone. “Tomorrow, if it is fine?”
    “Tomorrow,” she said decisively. “Jacko and I shall be there at nine, if you care to join us, Mr. Hurst.”
    “Without fail. I must leave you now, however. I abandoned my studies with Mr. Wickham to see the tadpoles, and I must return to work.”
    “Then you will not be riding toward the village,” she said with a return to her demure manner, leading the way back through the kitchen. “I had hoped that Harriet—Miss Cooper—would visit today, but she must have been unable to escape her chores. I thought perhaps you might be passing by the vicarage and could deliver a note for me.” She sighed.
    Simon was instantly sure that Miss Lakshmi Lassiter had something more in mind than the simple delivery of a note, which Jacko might easily have accomplished. Intrigued, he said gallantly, “I cannot bear to disappoint you, Princess. It will take no more than a few extra minutes to ride that way.”
    “You are most obliging, sir.” She beamed at him. “Pray come into the library while I write. I shall be brief, I promise you.”
    He raised his eyebrows, and she cast him a conscious look, but this time she lived up to her promise. Handing him the much-folded paper, she said, “If possible, please give it into Harriet's own hands, sir. The children—her brothers and sisters —are all too likely to forget to pass it on.”
    “Into her own hands,” he assured her, and regretfully took his leave. He could not remember when he had been better entertained.
     
     

 
    Chapter 7
     
    Harriet sat in the shabby back parlor of the vicarage with a large basket of mending at her side. Patiently she helped her little sisters darn their stockings. Mending was not an occupation she enjoyed, but teaching Sally and Prue was always a pleasure.
    Perhaps, she thought sadly, she ought to give up hope of marriage and a family of her own, and try to find a position as a governess. Mimi's efforts with the tadpoles did not seem to have repelled any of her suitors more than momentarily.
    “Harry! Harriet!” Jim burst into the room. “There's a gentleman at the front door asking for you.”
    “Who? Who is it?” She