Jane Lawrence and her husband have bought and love six acres of French soil and a ruin and feel very beholden to their kindly French neighbour who had frequently helped them out. Three years ago, to show their gratitude, the Lawrences invited their neighbour's 18 year old grand-daughter, Angelina, to stay. Angelina was delighted to accept. However, the Lawrences rather took their childrens' co-operation for granted. Joe was 19 at the time, and Zoe, 17.
Jane explains, "Both Joe and Zoe were up when we arrived and after introductions which entailed a grunt from Zoe and a kiss on each cheek from Joe, we retired to bed, Angelina to Zoe's room. During Angelina's stay, Joe and his friend Daniel did take her out and about. Zoe meanwhile came and went never offering to include Angelina. Her stock phrase was "I told you I didn't want a Frog in my room, I shouldn't have to put up with it. So there!" Zoe, points out that she made it extremely clear to her parents that she thought inviting a French girl to stay was a bad idea. Her main defence is that parents tend to ignore their children when they express inconvenient opinions.
The last evening of Angelina's stay, Jane describes as, "Zoe's finest hour and the ultimate in embarrassment for us and it was all an accident. I became concerned when Zoe didn't come home at her usual time. Time went on and I called the police, they arrived soon after. No, I explained there had been no arguments or disputes. While searching for a recent photograph, Angelina got up and insisted on staying up with me. The police went off to look leaving us waiting anxiously. Eventually, I did go to bed, to be woken at 8.30 am by Zoe asking if it was true that the police were looking for her. Casually she explained that she had left a note stuck on the door (we found it 2 days later under a bookcase) and went to bed! Not however before being hugged by Angelina pleased to see her back - surprisingly."
Jane and her husband are still good friends with Angelina and her family in spite of Zoe's attempt to destroy the entente cordiale.
