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Back The Spice King Save as PDF
Chapters (51)
  1. Cover
  2. Books by Elizabeth Camden
  3. Title Page
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Three
  7. Four
  8. Five
  9. Six
  10. Seven
  11. Eight
  12. Nine
  13. Ten
  14. Eleven
  15. Twelve
  16. Thirteen
  17. Fourteen
  18. Fifteen
  19. Sixteen
  20. Seventeen
  21. Eighteen
  22. Nineteen
  23. Twenty
  24. Twenty-One
  25. Twenty-Two
  26. Twenty-Three
  27. Twenty-Four
  28. Twenty-Five
  29. Twenty-Six
  30. Twenty-Seven
  31. Twenty-Eight
  32. Twenty-Nine
  33. Thirty
  34. Thirty-One
  35. Thirty-Two
  36. Thirty-Three
  37. Thirty-Four
  38. Thirty-Five
  39. Thirty-Six
  40. Thirty-Seven
  41. Thirty-Eight
  42. Thirty-Nine
  43. Forty
  44. Forty-One
  45. Forty-Two
  46. Historical Note
  47. Questions for Discussion
  48. In 2020, look forCaroline Delacroix’sstory in
  49. About the Author
  50. Back Ads
  51. Back Cover

Elaine jerked her fingers off the book as though she’d been burned. “Not at all! I’m sorry. Please continue.”

Annabelle lifted the newspaper again. “‘Mr. Fairchild is especially proud of his efforts to identify more productive strains of hops while visiting Bavaria,’” she read. The story was quite exciting. It went on to recount the young botanist’s efforts to select Bavarian hops that could flourish in the American heartland. Some of the farmers were so possessive of their crop, they hired young men to stand guard over the fields to prevent theft.

Elaine’s fingers were creeping across her book again. She wasn’t paying a bit of attention!

“What are you reading?” Annabelle asked. If Elaine had something more interesting, perhaps she could read aloud.

“I don’t think you’d be interested,” Elaine quickly said.

“Try me.”

Elaine looked a little embarrassed but finally flipped the book closed so Annabelle could see the title, which was written both in braille and print. The Culinary History of Delicatessen Meats.

“What made you pick that out?” Annabelle asked, genuinely curious.

Elaine shrugged. “I don’t know. It just seems interesting to me.”

They decided to each read quietly to themselves, although nothing Annabelle read held her attention. Her worries continually strayed back to Gray Delacroix and what he was doing at that very moment. If he hadn’t been arrested yet, he was probably enjoying his last hours of freedom on this earth. It was impossible to enjoy a simple summer evening knowing that Gray’s world was about to be destroyed.

Seventeen

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Gray was the lunchtime speaker for the final day of the conference. The past two days had been spent with invited speakers who presented innovations in commercial drying ovens, automated packaging facilities, and new bottling techniques. Most of yesterday had been consumed with discussion about how to fight pending tariffs that would make international trade more difficult. Last night Jedidiah Magruder had shared his thoughts on the potential for chemical flavorings, and he’d held the audience of almost two hundred people in the food and spice industry spellbound.

But it was fool’s gold, and it was Gray’s job to outmaneuver his family’s chief rival.

Lunch was coming to an end, and most of the conference attendees at the banquet set down their silverware and turned their chairs toward the podium to listen. Gray gauged the audience carefully. He was a newcomer and was at a disadvantage. While everyone was intrigued by the innovative techniques pioneered by the Magruders, plenty were still skeptical, and Gray needed to learn who his allies were.