CEO Of My Heart 225 225

"The company they kept is what got them in the end.  It's its own form of karma that the world called in for me.  I don't feel like I need any more validation than this. I am plenty happy with the rewards given to me.  For me, this is more than enough." Ellie continued to look at the marked bottles. "You know we actually have more than enough product to sell.  There's the ale that I know used to be sold in the village when I was younger. Newer batches of it haven't been made, but I'm glad the old stuff is still here so I can still taste it.  It is too bad it'll all be sold soon though."

"Did you have a running brewery on site here?"

"Not so much recently, but this are a lot of breweries in this part of England.  I think the closest one to here that runs in an official capacity would be Chevelswarde Vineyard which is known for wines.  We have a lot of them here as it's a stone's throw from the estate." Ellie tapped her fingernail against a gla.s.s. "These are supposed to be for cooking.  The chef would come down here especially when I was a girl for what he would use for that day. He made a delicious white wine chicken and pasta which was one of my favorites.  The wine itself is delicious. I suppose it's about time that we have a taste, don't you think?"

Henry gently took one of the gla.s.ses off of her before twirling it in his palm.  "I think so. Let's have some fun."

Ellie looked at him with a mischievous expression as she uncorked a bottle and put the cork on the edge of the shelf where she had gotten the liquid from.  The liquid dribbled down in an inviting frothy burst. Henry leaned forward and pushed the rim of his gla.s.s against the fountain the bottle had produced until his was full.  Ellie poured her own gla.s.s before tasting it. The bubbly fizz was followed by the bitter taste of the alcohol. Ellie coughed before she could feel the spring grape flavor she a.s.sociated with her father.  It was bittersweet in a good way with a plum aftertaste that was a trademark of her mothers'. Her father had always made the harvest into a festival to honor her mother's Chinese ancestry. It was made with various stalls with local produce and local games coupled with the Chinese immigrant a.s.sociations from around England who would come out to celebrate their culture.  It had been so long that it had probably happened so she decided when she had a little bit more time she would ask Rightley to get in touch with the old stall patrons to see if they would be interested in the following years' festivities.

On the other hand, Henry was much more of a savory drinker who seemed to consider the taste with more thought than she had.  His sips were small and the reflected expression showed that he was enjoying what had been offered to him. His eyes met Ellie's playfully as he gestured to her to drink everything in one downing.  He did his quickly. He made a loud satisfied sound. "It's one of the best I've ever tasted. It's balanced like something I would find in China, but it's got enough kick you know to keep it fun." His eyes changed as he looked past her at the large of alcohol that she now owned.  "It's amazing to me that this much alcohol could sit untouched for this long. It's like some ancient pharoh's tomb. You have all the riches to make you a happy wealthy woman in the afterlife. You have enough to drink here for seven or eight reincarnations."

"I'm not to sure about that high of a number.  I'd like to think I've done enough good deeds that I don't have to reincarnate for that long, but if you think about it this is excessive.  I'm sure if we met the right buyer, I could make enough money to start on repairs in the house and gardens. I'm sure I could make good money somewhere."

"That is true.  But, you should keep some stocked here for yourself.  It would be such a shame if you got rid of all of it." Henry looked forlorn, as he realized where Ellie's thoughts were.  "This is a grand estate after all. You are n.o.bility now. It's important for people to see that you have skill and good taste.  This wines are an excellent example of that. Something like this could easily be the bargaining chip to a number of closing deals.  My client would probably think you thought of him highly."

"I don't really care of anyone thinks of me at all.  But you are right, it is important for people to think of Stanford Hall highly.  I'll try to use this to bolster our standing. But enough talk about business, we can't forget how special today is.  I know you had an eye for our Scotch whiskey. I need to find where it was hidden away so my sisters wouldn't get their hands on it!  I do hope that Priscilla has left some behind for us. I remember she would try to steal it and my father would confiscate it. I hope my father beat Priscilla's dull mind in hiding somewhere I would find it."

"Hide is away?  Well that's complicated.  Maybe he labeled something she wouldn't like?  What did she despise?"

Ellie considered this for several moments.  "Priscilla hated this drink the local bartender would make.  It was called seagull wine! It's Icelandic. It's literally a fermented bird in wine.  I don't know how a disguise would work with that type of wine as you would have to put a giant fake bird inside of the bottle.  That sounds like a lot of unnecessary work."