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

him we were coming.”
    “ You thought to do that?” asked Isabelle in disbelief.
    “I’m not going off to Champagne as naïvely as my father might think,” said Leon coolly. “There’s a chef de cave , too—he’s the man in charge of the cellars—but I don’t remember his name. A bit of an odd bird. He’s only got one eye, and he’s hunchbacked.”
    Isabelle listened with interest. The prospect of already having staff on hand awaiting their arrival—and who also spoke German—was a huge relief.
    “And is there a maid? Or some other help in the house?” she asked, trying to sound as casual as possible. Isabelle had not yet been able to make Leon understand that a young woman of her background should not waste her time on housework.
    He nodded. “When I visited my uncle, Claude Bertrand’s wife cooked for us. She’s an excellent cook. I presume she runs my uncle’s household, too. No doubt that she’ll also be happy to stay on as our employee.”
    Isabelle, reassured, smiled.
    “And there are hands for the vineyard work, too. At least, when my uncle showed me around his vines, there were a lot of men and women busy tying things up. Whether they’re permanently employed or just there at certain times of the year, I really couldn’t say. I didn’t have much of a head for the details back then, but my impression was that the estate was managed well—if not by my uncle, then by his people. If one simply keeps an eye on everything and makes sure that things get done . . .” He shrugged, as he always did when he considered something to be easy and obvious.
    Isabelle felt as if she’d just been rescued from a sinking ship. Everything sounded so wonderful! Her mind wandering, she toyed with her pearl necklace. She could already see herself, elegantly dressed, standing in a luxurious salon with a champagne glass in her hand, welcoming wealthy customers to the cellars. A life as exhilarating as champagne itself.
     
    The hotel they checked into in Reims stood beside the Place Royale and was simple but clean. While Leon made sure that their luggage was safely stowed away, Isabelle freshened up in their room. The hostess had set out a bowl of lukewarm water for her on the vanity, and to Isabelle’s surprise, two slices of lemon were floating in it. Lemons in the middle of winter? Smiling, she had squeezed the juice into the water and luxuriated in the refreshing tingle the acid left on her cheeks.
    They had been on the road for two days. The previous night had been spent in a dismal guesthouse, and the last stretch of the trip had been slow and tiring, but neither Leon nor Isabelle had any desire to rest. Both of them wanted to get out and look at Reims, the city that would be so much a part of their future life.
    The sun that had accompanied them throughout the day was weakening in the late afternoon. Feeling a chill, Isabelle wrapped her scarf a little closer around her throat.
    “Look around—this is just how I remember Reims from my last stopover here. So rich and inviting,” said Leon euphorically. “And it’s clean. No dog waste or garbage lying around. Isn’t this a splendid town?”
    Isabelle, her eyes shining, looked up at the artfully wrought streetlamps that were already illuminating even the farthest corners she could see. The city had not skimped on anything. And then there were all the lovely stores—fashion shops, men’s outfitters, perfumeries, and a beautiful pharmacy, and beside that, a shop that sold nothing but chocolate and fine confections—the street was no less fine than Berlin’s Kurfürstendamm. Isabelle would feel at home here; she could already sense that. It would have been so unimaginably dreadful if Reims had turned out to be another Grimmzeit! Her relief at not having another soap bubble burst before her eyes was so immense that it sent a shudder through her body.
    “All these beautiful shops! You know what I feel like? Doing a little shopping. We probably won’t