The Champagne Queen (The Century Trilogy Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

of the incoming train jolted Isabelle from her thoughts, for which she was glad.
    “Well, that’s that,” said Leon, his voice husky as he watched his parents walking back toward the station entrance.
    “Do you want to hire a porter or two?” said Isabelle. “We’ll never get all of this luggage on the train alone.”
    “I’m not going to throw money away on someone to carry my bags for me. Let me do it.” His voice was suddenly cheerful, and he seemed happy for the distraction from the pain of parting. Leon pressed a kiss to Isabelle’s lips. “Watch the rest of our things while I load the bicycles, okay?”
    Along with the bicycles, they had two large suitcases, a travel bag containing her personal things, plus several bags that belonged to Leon. Well, no one can accuse us of traveling light , Isabelle thought as she watched Leon heave their two bicycles into the baggage car section. At least they didn’t have to change trains; the train would take them directly to Metz via Neunkirchen and Saarbrücken. From there, however, they would travel toward Verdun and then on to Reims by coach—no trains rolled through the vast French forests. Leon estimated that they would arrive in Reims the following afternoon, but they still had little idea of where they would sleep that night.
    For maybe the twentieth time, Isabelle reached down, assuring herself that she had her handbag. She was carrying not only her own and Leon’s papers, but also her jewelry, which she had taken with her when she left Berlin: several valuable pearl necklaces and diamond rings, a pair of ruby earrings and a pair of sapphire earrings, some garnet brooches, and bracelets in gold and silver. In Isabelle’s view, she had earned her father’s generous gifts by acceding to his wishes and presenting herself on the marriage market like some sort of prize cow. She had not for a moment considered leaving the jewelry behind in her parents’ house. But in Grimmzeit, Isabelle had had no opportunity to wear it; instead, she had tucked it away under the bed as a kind of rainy-day nest egg, hoping all along that she would never have to make use of it for anything so dire.
    Grimmzeit . . . she wasted no tears on the place or the grim times. She hoped something better would come. Feeling better than she had in a long time, Isabelle took one of the longer jewelry boxes out of the bag. She placed the rose-colored pearls around her neck and fastened the clasp. Why not get dressed up to travel? She no longer needed anything for a rainy day, after all.
     
    The journey was uneventful. The train was only half full, which meant that, for most of the time, they had a compartment to themselves and could talk without being disturbed.
    “It all still seems so unreal! You and me on our own estate. I can’t imagine what to expect,” said Isabelle as the train chugged through the last foothills of the Palatinate forest. “What do you think our life will be like in the future?” It was not the first time she had asked Leon that question, but so far she had not received a satisfactory answer; instead Leon had remained extremely vague. Now, however, she was determined not to let him off the hook.
    “What will our life be like in the future?” Leon repeated. “Well, it’s easy, isn’t it? We’ll sell champagne and get disgustingly rich!” He beamed at her as if he were deeply satisfied with his reply. “And we’ll have some help doing it, too. There’s an old man named Claude Bertrand who lives in a little house at the end of the property. He is, or rather was , Jacques’s overseer, and he made sure everything was as it ought to be. I still remember how surprised I was when he spoke to me in very good German. His ancestors came from the Alsace region; his mother was German, his father French. And he explained that in Alsace many people grew up speaking both languages. I’m sure Claude will be happy to have us keep him on. I wrote to him last week and told