By noon, their coach was loaded with the supplies they needed. The sacks of barley, wheat and rice were placed over the roof of the coach which was surrounded by six inch brass rails. However, instead of heading for the ranch, the coach arrived at Monsieur Beau. The Sheldon family had planned for a hot lunch at the tavern’s restaurant.

At Monsieur Beau, Darcy and her husband Jules came out of the bar to welcome the Sheldons to their establishment. With a wide grin in his face, he said to Sheldon, “Ah, finally Monsieur Sheldon capitulates to the aroma of the French cuisine!”

Sheldon raised his brows and responded, “Did I ever try to conceal my fascination for the French cuisine? This is one of those few good things about France, isn’t it?”

“Oh Monsieur Sheldon, why do you have to be so cynical about France? Come now, let Darcy help you out with your appetite,” he then handed over the guests to his wife and moved away towards his bar.

“Well ladies and gentlemen, today we have the special larded veal and also the smoked lobster with asparagus as the main menu. We also have sweetened croissants and chocolate cakes as dessert,” very politely Darcy conveyed to the distinguished guests. She knew that the Sheldons were members of the temperance movement. Hence, for drink, she suggested a range of fruit extracts.

Sheldon looked at his wife for her preference. “Oh, I have this craving for your larded veal, it’s so rare on this island,” Martha stated.

“Yes madam, beef is truly a luxury on this island. Lately, importing cattle has been made more difficult because of the increased taxes and piracy. However, somehow we manage to keep our business well stocked so that our patrons don’t suffer.”

“Mother, I would like to have lobster instead,” Margaret interrupted.

“Me too,” his younger brother insisted.

“I think we should get your lobsters for the children,” with a smile Martha told Darcy.

“Alright, larded veal for you and your husband and lobster for your children. Now what would you like for drink and dessert?”

Martha looked at her children when Paul expressed his preference for citrus extract and chocolate cake. Darcy wrote them down in a pad and left the restaurant for kitchen.

When the Sheldon family had finished their dinner, Jean and Luis entered the bar to have drink and pass the time. Mayor Jean had noticed Sheldons sitting at the restaurant, so he sent Luis to Sheldon to ask him to have a drink with him. Martha could see the reluctance in her husband. Still, she insisted that he accepted the mayor’s invitation. Sheldon was a man who could never refuse what his wife had asked for. He stood up, exchanged pleasantry with Luis and walked towards the bar. Mayor Jean left his seat to receive his guest. When the two gentlemen had taken their seats, the mayor asked Jules for a bottle of rum which had been aged for two years.

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Sheldon said to the mayor, “You know that I believe in temperance, don’t you?”

“Oh, I don’t know why I forget this.” The mayor smiled at Sheldon and then told Jules to give his guest a glass of grape juice. Then he looked back at his guest and said, “So, did you enjoy your dinner?”

“Like it always happens, Monsieur Jules and his wife Darcy never fail their customers.”

“Oh yes, yes, they are two fine French entrepreneurs. By the way, did you have any other business at the town?” the mayor already knew that the Sheldon family had been to the school. He was curious why they visited the school.

“Our supplies needed to be replenished, so we went to your grocery store.” Sheldon had no intention to share with the mayor his business with the school headmistress.

The mayor was disappointed. Nonetheless, he smiled at his guest and said, “You are most welcome to my little store any time of the year.”

Both of them gave a pause to their conversation and sipped their drinks. Sheldon remained well composed, though he had this urge to laugh at his host. A few moments later he asked, “This school, is it a profitable enterprise?”

The mayor stared at his guest before telling himself, “Now you talk about the school, you English man!” but said to his guest, “Of course it’s profitable.”

“How does she make profit with only seventy students?”

“How do you know so much about the school?” the mayor burst out in laughter.

“An English man has his ways.”

This time, with clear signs of contempt in his tone the mayor said, “Yes, yes, an English man always has a way to dig out every little laundry.” He paused for a second and then resumed, “It’s profitable because the government of France bears the cost of running it, thanks to the policies of our great Bonaparte.”

“The Bonaparte has done at least one good thing, I have to admit.”

“What do you mean, the Bonaparte has done at least one good thing? He has done many good things for France and for Europe.”

“In Europe he has caused nothing but destructions and chaos, until our good old Nelson showed him the bars.”

“Your Nelson was lucky.”

“In the battlefield luck does not favor the incompetent.”

“If Bonaparte’s cannons had not failed him, you would have seen a completely different picture my friend.”

“Bonaparte’s cannons didn’t fail him, he failed the cannons. He didn’t do his homework before the battle. Had he studied the battlefield at Waterloo prior to making his advance, he would have known what was to come. The English army was, as always the case, better trained and more disciplined. Apart from that, they chose that particular spot for confronting Bonaparte’s army for a very sound reason.”

“Do you want to say that Nelson knew Bonaparte’s cannon balls wouldn’t work?”

“Of course, it was a calculated English strategy.”

Mayor Jean’s guest raised his glass to his host and drank from it. Now he was smiling. However, his host didn’t look very enthusiastic. He patted Sheldon’s arm right below his shoulder and said, “Well Englishman, whatever floats your boat!”

Sheldon raised his hat to his host and came back to his family. Martha was watching them from the other end. She thought, on their way back to the ranch, it would be an interesting topic for discussion.