Yvette squealed and clapped her hands. ‘Oh Luc, that’s fantastic news. Marthe is going to be so pleased. It breaks her heart to know that the grapes are being sold to Gilles Roban. I wish I could be there when you tell him that he won’t be getting this year’s harvest. He cheated Marthe last year, paying such a low rate per tonne.’
‘I’m looking forward to being there too,’ said Alphonse. ‘He’s been pestering me to meet him to discuss terms. He said if we agreed a good rate early, he would take more grapes.’
‘Yes, and we know what sort of rate that would be,’ spat Yvette. ‘He’s a crook.’
Alphonse shook his head. ‘He’s a businessman.’
‘Who takes advantage. I wouldn’t waste my spit on him.’
Luc laughed. ‘Still making friends wherever you go then?’ he teased.
Yvette tossed her rich red curls, which matched her fiery personality. ‘He is a brute. It will be so wonderful to have a Brémont here producing champagne again.’
‘And let’s get this champagne open, it’s the 2014.’ Alphonse waggled his eyebrows. ‘I’ve been saving it for a special occasion. And I think a St Martin champagne is the very best reason.’
Luc straightened in anticipation. The year 2014 had been a very good vintage with a long growing season. He was keen to try it.
Alphonse shot his mother a quick glance as he popped the cork but knew better than to say anything about the glasses.
With the crisp golden wine poured into the delicate coupe glasses, which Luc knew had been in the family for over a hundred years, he reached forward and picked up a glass, taking a good sniff before tasting. He let the liquid swill over his tongue, savouring the sharp tang of bubbles and the biscuity flavour with underlying notes of lemon and honeydew melon.
‘Very nice,’ he said.
‘It’s exquisite,’ said Yvette. ‘Although I notice you didn’t open this for my engagement.’
‘Luc coming home is more important,’ teased Alphonse. As Yvette bristled, Luc decided that a change of direction was called for.
‘How is Marthe?’
‘I saw her yesterday. She’s very well,’ said Solange. ‘Ruling the roost, of course. She has all the carers running around doing her bidding.’
‘I can’t believe she’s happy there,’ said Yvette. She spread expansive hands. ‘This is her home. She should be here.’
It wasn’t actually – the château had been inherited by Luc’s father but he’d let Marthe, his aunt by marriage, continue to live there, although he’d stopped the champagne production when she had her stroke because he didn’t want to spread himself too thin in too many different areas.
Solange sank into herself as if it was an argument they’d had many times and Luc realised he was in danger of causing another. The good Bernard must be a saint to put up with Yvette’s volatile nature.
‘Marthe never wanted to be a burden,’ Solange started to say.
‘She wouldn’t have been. We could have turned one of the downstairs rooms into a bedroom and we’d have all helped.’
Solange shrugged, which luckily Yvette didn’t see. Luc knew without a shadow of a doubt that the burden would have fallen on Solange, who would never have complained, but it would have been an unfair responsibility. She was employed as housekeeper to the château, not as a carer.
So what ideas do you have for the champagne?’ asked Alphonse, a past master at defusing arguments. ‘A brut, a demi-sec, a blanc de blancs, a blanc de noirs, a cuvée?’
‘So many questions,’ said Solange. ‘He’s only just arrived. Let him eat and drink.’
‘Don’t worry, Alphonse,’ said Luc, patting his friend on the shoulder. ‘There’s plenty of time for us to make our plans. We need to hope for the right weather conditions and a good harvest. Competition is going to be stiff. Other countries are producing good sparkling wines, even the British.’ He laughed as Alphonse sniffed disdainfully.
‘It’s not champagne,’ he said, sticking his nose in the air.
‘No, it’s not but we need to make sure whatever we produce is better.’
‘We will.’ Alphonse lifted his glass. ‘To a magical summer.’
‘Ah,’ replied Luc. ‘There is one small problem.’
All three heads turned his way. ‘To recoup the costs of not producing anything this year and not selling the grapes on, my father has decided to rent out the château on an exclusive basis for a wedding party.’
