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T oby Marsh’s new client arrived bearing gifts. Reginald Archer operated a chocolate shop on Piccadilly, a few blocks from Ormond Yard, and one gray December morning he needed help with a contract written in French.

When Will ushered Archer in, he was carrying a pretty box. “Lord Dawson buys these frequently, so I assumed they were a favorite in your household,” he said, offering the box to Toby. “They are my special chocolate drops.”

Toby rose from his desk to accept the box and shake Archer’s hand. Archer was quite a dapper fellow in a well-cut dark suit with a striped vest and spit-polished brogues. Toby generally worked in shirt-sleeves, and though his shirts came from Sampson and Co. of Oxford Street and his slacks from Beale and Inman of New Bond Street, he felt somewhat underdressed.

“Thank you, Mr. Archer. You didn’t have to do that. I’m happy to work with you even without the gift.”

“Well, it relates to the contract I need your help with,” Archer said. “As I mentioned to Lord Dawson, I plan to import cacao beans from Martinique, and the contract which has been offered to me is all in French. He suggested that you might be able to help me clarify some of the language and ensure that terms are as favorable to me as possible.”

“I can certainly try,” Toby said. “As Magnus might have told you, I have a degree in Modern Romance Languages, and I have several years’ experience in reviewing such contracts.”

He motioned Archer to a seat across from his desk, and accepted the contract the client proffered. “If you will give me a moment to read,” he said.

“Of course. And do try a chocolate drop.”

Archer opened the box and offered it to Toby as he read. Absently, he popped a drop in his mouth, then as the flavor hit his taste buds he stopped. “This is quite delicious,” he said. “It is almost as if I am eating a flower with the chocolate.”

“That is the specialty of the Martinique buds,” Archer said. “The main variety of beans is called Amelonado, and they have a strong aromatic effect due to the specifics of the area where they are grown, around Gros-Morne in the mountainous interior of the island.”

Toby took another chocolate drop as he read. Then he motioned Archer to move his chair over and he led the merchant through the language of the contract. There was a great deal of technical material about shipping the beans, to which Archer nodded his head.

When they finished, Toby said, “There isn’t anything I can suggest to change as regards the basics of the contract. Of course, if you wish to offer different financial terms I can write that up for you in French.”

“No, the terms are acceptable. I just have an inbred distrust of the French, you know, after all the years of The Little Corporal and our wars with that country.”

“I am curious. You import the beans. What do you do with them when you receive them?”

“I have a small factory in Bermondsey. My team there use steam powered machinery to grind the beans and a Dutch process to create a powder. I created a special process to mix the powder with dried powdered milk and cocoa butter. I have only been able to work with small quantities so far, but I have received a loan from the Rothschild bank to expand considerably, and move into manufacturing chocolate bars which can be sold by other retailers. That’s why I need a greater supply of beans.”

“Well, if your chocolate bars are as tasty as these drops, you will have an excellent business,” Toby said.

Archer wrote Toby a cheque on his account with N.M. Rothschild Toby expected a tutoring client shortly.

“What have you been up to this morning?” Toby asked, as he pulled away from his lover.

“I met with my brother,” Magnus said. “Always an awkward session with Ledbury, but we had financial business to discuss and papers to sign.”

Magnus’s older brother had ascended to the title of Duke of Hereford upon the death of their father. The old duke had been aware of Magnus’s affection for men since catching him in flagrante with a stable boy. He had deliberately placed conditions in his will to prevent Magnus from inheriting any of the family fortune. Magnus had been able, however, to steer a lucrative investment in his brother’s direction, on the condition that he be included in the profits.

It was that investment that largely allowed Magnus and Toby to afford the house in Ormond Yard, to keep Will and Carlo as house staff, and to entertain regularly. Toby was also able to send money to his mother in Norfolk, so she could continue to live in her home and pay her bills.

In addition, they both provided occasional insights to a contact at the Foreign Office, which did not pay in specie but in referrals for tutoring and translation work for Toby. Magnus also had a small fund from his late grandmother.

“Anything of interest?” Toby asked.

Magnus shook his head. “Tiresome business, but it must be done. There is news, however, from my brother Richard in Ceylon.”

“Oh really?”

“He has married.” Magnus smiled. “As you recall, my father’s will expressly prevented him from marrying his long-time mistress, a native woman known as Janani Banda. He is a much cleverer chap than I gave him credit for. He arranged for a fellow planter to marry the woman, changing her name to Jane Clark.”

Toby cocked his head in curiosity. “How did that get around the terms of your father’s will?”

“As you know, my father stated that Richard was forbidden to marry Janani Banda, or he would lose control of the plantation. But there was nothing in the will forbidding him to marry a divorced woman called Jane Clark.”

Toby laughed. “How wonderful. You and Richard have both been able to circumvent the terms of the old bastard’s will.”

“Yes, it does show that all three of us are smarter than he believed. Well, with the possible exception of Ledbury, who is still a sanctimonious prig. I can see him grit his teeth every time he sees how much money the investments are making for me.”

“Even though he makes a similar amount himself?”

“Even though. But it is no matter to me how he feels, as long as the money continues to flow.”

“And I have earned my keep this morning,” Toby said. He told Magnus about his meeting with the chocolatier. “He said you are the one who recommended me.”

“I was indeed. I stopped at Archer’s the other day to buy Sylvia chocolates for her birthday and he mentioned a contract in French he needed help with. Of course I told him of your proficiency with the language.”

“That was kind of you, and good business as well. Your father would be quite disappointed in your business acumen.”

“Well that among other things,” Magnus said. “Soon we must plan for our next soirée. I met Sir Arthur Sullivan while I was out and he asked for an invitation, which I promised him with alacrity.”

“It will take a week or so to organize,” Toby said. “Shall we plan for not this Saturday, but the next?”

“Capital idea.” He smiled at Toby. “One more kiss before I’m off?”

“There is little I can refuse you,” Toby said with a smile, and kissed him.