Perhaps Lucas was right, Ettie thought hopefully. The damp and foggy weather of London would not help at all.
‘Unfortunately, our tour will require all our savings. A considerable fortune. But the hardest news,’ he mumbled, glancing at Ettie from the corner of his eye, ‘is that the salon must close. We shall be away until spring and there is no one to replace me.’
Ettie looked sadly at her employer. How could she help him?
‘Sir, could you teach me to sell tobacco?’ she asked innocently.
‘What?’ Lucas jumped, his mouth twitching. ‘You – a female? And a child at that!’
‘I shall be fifteen at Christmas,’ Ettie replied boldly. ‘And it was your mother who continued the business after your father’s death.’
‘That is true,’ Lucas agreed. ‘But Mama understood the trade from years of experience.’
‘I could learn, Sir. I am sure I could,’ Ettie insisted.
As was his custom, he pushed his hand through his wiry hair and sighed. ‘My gentlemen are sometimes difficult, even arrogant. They are rambunctious even with me. What humiliation they might put you through.’ He paused, blushing. ‘Forgive my forthrightness, but you are hardly equipped to bargain with men of the world.’ Nervously, he gasped in a breath. His two large front teeth showed under a tight grimace. ‘I could not ask it of you; too much to learn, to absorb, even for a mature student.’
’Then put me to the test, Sir,’ Ettie suggested. ‘If I cannot learn to your liking, then nothing is lost, save your time.’
‘And Clara? We cannot abandon her,’ Lucas remonstrated. ’She needs our attention.’
‘I could assist you while Mrs Benjamin rests,’ Ettie offered. ‘In the evenings we might join her by the fire whilst you instruct me on my studies.’
Lucas stared; his blue eyes thoughtful. ‘I don’t know what to say. Your plan is so ambitious that I am hardly able to answer.’
‘I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have spoken. It’s time I cooked supper.’ Ettie turned to leave, but Lucas grasped her arm.
‘Please, stay.’ His eyes filled with tears. ‘I am so low, Ettie. Any word of kindness only reduces me to a wreck – a snivelling fool.’
‘You are not a fool, Sir. You are a good and generous man.’
He mopped his cheeks with a crumpled handkerchief.
‘Oh, Ettie, what have I done to deserve your kindness?’
‘Let’s join Mrs Benjamin and discuss matters.’
‘Yes, yes, let us do that.’
Ettie followed Lucas to the drawing room where they took their seats by Clara and the fire.
‘My dear,’ said Lucas gently, patting his wife’s hand, ‘we have had an excellent idea. And that is, you and I shall take a holiday. Our dear Ettie has offered to take care of the salon. A great challenge for one so young, but with a little tuition … ’ He stopped, as Clara began to cough.
When the fit was over, Clara managed a strange smile. ‘If you say so, Lucas.’
Ettie knew her mistress was lost in a depression and no one could reach her, not even Lucas.
‘Good, good, my dear. A change of scenery will be beneficial for us both.’
After supper that evening, Lucas brought his papers from the salon. He arranged them on the dining room table. As Clara rested drowsily in her chair, he showed Ettie the colourful illustrations of the many tobaccos imported from around the world.
’Sir, it seems I know very little,’ Ettie confessed. ‘Only that Christopher Columbus discovered it.’
‘Columbus? Why, yes!’ Lucas exclaimed. His face suddenly came alight. ‘What a conqueror he was! Do you know that his intention was to discover all the sea routes to the Far East?’
‘No, Sir, I did not.’
‘Imagine his excitement when he found the leaves being smoked by the Indians of the Americas. How wonderful that day must have been!’ He threw up his hands enthusiastically. ‘Gradually the word spread to the rest of the world. Trade was embarked upon. The merchants of old knew that money could be made from its special properties. From Egypt and Turkey came even more succulent and satisfying flavours.’
‘And the salon has them all?’ Ettie enquired.
‘Oh, yes, yes, my dear. We do indeed. Great quantities are shipped in by our suppliers at Tobacco Dock. Grandfather built up the connection and business flourished under Papa. Our customers come from far and wide to sample our stock. Hence the convenience of our smoking room. It is considered a luxury to recline in our chairs and inhale the flavours, roll them on the tongue and taste history in one breath!’
Ettie had never heard him talk this way. It was as if he was possessed by his passion. She listened, enraptured.
‘What hurts the most,’ he confided, glancing at his wife, ‘is that if someone took this pleasure away from me, I would be in anguish! And that is what I have done to Clara.’
‘But Sir,’ Ettie protested, ‘the drug was harmful.’
‘Yes, I am fully aware of that.’ His head drooped and he sighed, reaching out to hold Clara’s hand in his.
Ettie felt her heart squeeze with pity for this kind man who so loved his wife.
Chapter 16
As each day passed, Lucas taught Ettie more about his beloved tobacco, introducing her to the customers as his assistant. To Ettie's relief, this did not cause much alarm. He showed her how to weigh and display the stock under the glass on the midnight blue velvet cloths. He explained how, during the Crimean War, British soldiers acquired the taste for Turkish tobacco from their allies and how the first English cigarette factory was opened by one of these venerated war veterans. His face took on a glow when he explained how Bond Street, so famous for its select stores, threw open its doors to customers in search of brand new varieties of tobacco. And how in 1876 the salon had won trade with the most notable manufacturer of all, Benson & Hedges. After a handful of years, a certificate of excellence had followed, endorsed by dukes and archdukes of
