Somewhere far away from the rain and gloom of Great Britain, 5'3, Rue Caulaincourt Paris France to be exact, M. Byron de Gateaux was sputtering in rage. "Sacre bleu!" He ranted waving the newspaper, and stomping around his patisserie. "M. de Gateaux Gastronomical Delights" was a bustling patisserie of international renown, with M. de Gateaux himself the proud owner of the title 'Meillure Ouvrier de France' and he knew it. What he did not know is how a blasted foreigner, a Brit of all people, could manage to obtain the front page of Le Figaro, and about some silly South American concoction, nonetheless! The nerve! The very idea! The audacity of such a man, to usurp his headline, out from under his very nose. "Gyah!!!" was all he had left to say. "Coming, monsieur!" A pleasant voice rang out from the back kitchen. The doors swung open and Elise, a petite but robust young woman of noble Gascon heritage, bustled through with a tray of croissants.
"We are almost finished with ze order-"
"Have you seen zis?!" de Gateaux interrupted, as he was often want to do.
"No sir, I have been baking. We need-"
"Zis, zis Brit has found what he calls "ze latest innovation in civilized confectionary." Civilized?! Zose, zose brutes who could not cook ze chicken if it pecked zem in ze nose let alone ze delicate confections of mon dessert! Ze crispness of ze tarte tatin, ze subtle sensualite' of l'eclairs, and le choux a la creme zat you could float an angel on! Mon dieu!!!"
Elise sighed, it was no use when le chef got worked up like this. While he continued stamping like a mad bull, she plucked the newspaper from his hands and glanced at the article. While the clear thinking practical side of her brain wanted to read more, her national loyalty got the best of her and she snorted through her nose, and tossed the paper in the nearby wastebasket.
"Who ever heard of zis chocolate? Hmmph! Sir-we need to finish ze Fauchelevant order before nine! Zey want your new cream puffs!" She bustled after de Gateaux, only pausing a moment to look back at the wastebasket. This Lord Peterbrooke would certainly prove an interesting adversary...
