to their endless supply of coal-fired furnaces. If enough Englishmen become enamored of effervescent wine, then London will soon be flooded with others like us, peddling their French vintages. France can make a fortune off the Englishman’s thirst. I like this plan very much.”
“Sparkling wine strikes me as a libation that ladies should enjoy,” Rye said, though what had that to do with anything?
“Everybody should enjoy champagne,” Fournier said, finishing his brandy. “L’empereur had the right of it in this as in so many things: ‘Champagne! In victory one deserves it, in defeat one needs it.’ Napoleon’s dictum applies to life, does it not, for what is life but a series of victories and defeats?"
Rye did not want to like Fournier, did not want to find him charming and shrewd, and yet, he was both. “For some, there’s apparently time in life to spread treasonous rumors about me. If I went back to France with my tail between my legs, you could make your fortune that much faster.”
Fournier took his empty glass to the sideboard and resumed his seat before the fire. “You are still at war, Goddard. You suspect ambushes behind every stirring of amorous hedgehogs in the English undergrowth. The London market has room for us both, and for others besides, but we must each find our place in that market. My tenure at the Coventry was limited by the size of Dorning’s demand. His club prospers, his orders for champagne grew quickly, and now lesser venues are copying his signature gesture of hospitality. Unlike Dorning, those lesser venues do not cater to discerning palates.”
“You can charge them more for a humbler product.”
“Precisely, and there are more of them, so I need not rely on the whim of a single customer to whom all my best inventory is promised. I will part from Dorning without rancor, because he has you to meet his demand at prices he can afford to pay. All is well, the customers are happily swilling champagne, and I need not worry that you will accost me in some dark alley with revenge on your mind because I have put you out of business. Am I not a genius among men?”
“And so humble, Fournier. I do not take revenge in dark alleys.”
“Neither do I, and if I did manage to destroy your business, I would court the scorn of an army of old Frenchwomen. My grandmother would haunt me, and this is not a fate I would wish on any man.”
Rye took a final sip of his brandy, not sure what to make of the conversation. “Somebody wants me utterly disgraced.”
“I am not that somebody, though it strikes me that you should tell your old women of your concerns.”
They are not my old women. “Why involve them in what could quickly become a matter of honor?”
“Une affaire d'honneur. Bah. This is how Englishmen attempt to make their drunken stupidity appear brave. The old ladies have granddaughters and goddaughters in service, working as lady’s maids and companions. They hear everything. The nephews and grandsons are fencing masters, dancing masters, and drawing masters in the best English households, and they hear even more. Whoever speaks against you does not want to confront you over pistols or swords, so perhaps your foe is a woman.”
Not a cheerful thought, but worth pondering. Rye had accomplished what he’d come to do, so he rose and set his glass on the sideboard. “I have been notably careful not to give offense to any ladies.”
“You are a monk,” Fournier said, getting to his feet. “This is not good for the animal spirits. The French and English parts of you would agree on that. Might your French half do me a favor, Goddard?”
“If I cannot meet demand at the Coventry, I will tell Dorning to maintain an overflow contract with you.” Rye could make that offer because he knew damned well he could meet the Coventry’s demand, easily.
“Most generous of you, but that is not the favor I seek. Would you put in a word for me at the Aurora Club?”
“Is that request an ambush, Fournier?” Though the Aurora already had several Frenchmen on its rolls, as well as the occasional German professor and at least one American whose fortune had origins in trade.
“I merely make a polite request, Goddard. I must ingratiate myself with the club set if I want such organizations to purchase my champagne. I cannot aspire to the more exalted institutions in St. James’s, but one must make a