Chapter 95 – A Recipe Was Sold
The final day of the charity bazaar was the most important of all, as the venue would soon be rearranged for the evening auction.
Miss Fairborne had spent the morning checking the schedule with the clubhouse steward. Though nervous, she concealed it well as she sat in one of the private rooms of the Silver Acorn, sipping her tea with her practiced composure.
“Miss Lydia!” Kathy hurried into the room, her expression bright with excitement. Miss Fairborne rarely saw her maid this animated. Kathy was cheerful by nature, always smiling, yet this level of enthusiasm was unusual.
Kathy’s arms were full of paper packages, each marked with the distinctive stamp of the ragged school. She quickly arranged empty plates on the table before her Mistress and began unwrapping the parcels.
“Miss, I bought you yesterday’s biscuits, and you’ll never guess what new pastry I’ve bought just now,” she said, presenting two oddly delicate pastries. “They call these layered puffs, said they imitate the concept of croissants. Honestly, I think their layers are much crispier and flakier. Aren’t they adorable?”
Miss Fairborne studied the said puff pastries.
Indeed, they were adorable. Round in shape, yet made of overlapping rings of pale and coloured layers, creating an eye-catching illusion. The pattern reminded her of the rings inside a tree stump she had once seen during a lakeside excursion.
“The red one is filled with bean paste, and the orange one with mashed apple,” Kathy explained. “I asked why the colours looked so pale. Usually pastries use deep reds, gold, or bright pinks mixed with pure white. These are far softer.”
“And what did they say?” Miss Fairborne carefully cut the red-white layered pastry in half, a blush-pink filling rested within crisp, flakey layers. Bean paste. She had never imagined beans could be transformed into something so smooth and sweet, so gentle on the tongue.
“They used beetroot and carrots for the colours!” Kathy said excitedly. “I never knew vegetables could dye food. I always thought colours had to be bought from the chemist.”
“Beetroot?” Miss Fairborne remembered the sandwiched biscuits she had tasted the previous day. She took a careful bite of the pastry, and blinked. “I did not taste the beetroot at all.”
It was not the finest treat she had ever eaten, but it was memorable. More importantly, the skill required to create such delicate layers deserved admiration.
“Go and buy more,” she instructed. “I would like Grandmama and the rest of the household to taste these.”
Kathy nodded eagerly. “I’ll buy a basket and get a newsboy to deliver it home.”
The same scene repeated itself throughout the bazaar.
Customers who sampled the puff pastries that arrived at noon quickly returned to purchase more. Before three, every last pastry had sold out; only biscuits and nut brittles remained. Many asked where they might buy them again in the future and were disappointed to learn that no immediate plans existed for further sales.
Lady Glorissa, in particular, found the news frustrating.
“I thought she understood how to play the trading tricks to fund her school.” she said with faint irritation. “It seems like she doesn’t even know how to seize the value of such a remarkable recipe.”
And her maid loyally, yet politely, expressed Lady Glorissa’s earnest wish to reward Jade in exchange for the recipe.
“...huh?” Jade blinked in confusion, once again struggled to decipher the polished phrasing and refined accent.
Fortunately, Miss Arrowot stood nearby when the maid spoke. The new teacher leaned closer and whispered, “Lady Glorissa’s maid came to fetch the sandwiched biscuits thrice yesterday.”
“...Oh.” Jade responded stiffly, still processing the information.
“Her Ladyship appears to have taken a liking to today’s puff pastry,” Miss Arrowot explained. Sensing that Jade had not grasped the unspoken meaning, she added, “Yesterday’s offer may have been driven by pride or propriety. This request, however, sounds genuine.”
“...means, she loves my puff pastry so much that she wants her pastry cook to make it for her every day?” Jade asked tentatively, and Miss Arrowot nodded.
Jade was amazed, because the maid had gestured with four fingers, and according to Miss Arrowot’s interpretation, that likely meant £40… A year’s wages for a working man, in exchange for her recipe!
This fangirl of Mr. Rich Sponsor must’ve loved the dessert so much that she was even willing to speak with a peasant again! Jade exclaimed inwardly.
The maid carried herself with the same measured pride as her lady. Once she saw Jade understood, she said politely, “Her Ladyship requests your presence in the refreshment room at your earliest convenience. She hopes to hear a favourable response from you, schoolmistress.”
“Yes, I shall meet the Lady shortly, once I have prepared the recipe,” Jade replied with a slight bow, and the maid departed looking pleased.
Miss Arrowot lightly patted Jade’s arm. “Miss Jade, draft the recipe first. I’ll fetch you proper pen and paper from the clubhouse servants.”
Jade almost replied that their own paper and pencil would do. Carrying ink around the bazaar was inconvenient, and pencils were practical enough for booth work. Then she remembered, she was about to meet a noblewoman – cheap paper and pencil would certainly not be suitable to present to a noblewoman.
So Jade immediately thanked Miss Arrowot for her considerate suggestion, and mentally drafted the recipe before finally putting it into words and sketches.
“Sketches?” Miss Arrowot glanced over the finished pages, visibly confused and surprised by the drawings that demonstrated how to pillow the oil dough into the water-oil dough.
She had seen recipes published in newspapers before, but never one arranged like this – ingredients listed first, followed by numbered steps and illustrated instructions.
“Yeah, plain words can’t deliver my message accurately,” Jade replied, retrieving the pages and glancing at them again. “Do you think anything needs adjustment or addition?”
Though the choice of words was relatively blunt and rustic – just like the textbook Miss Jade had created for the school – Miss Arrowot nodded, knowing this was likely Miss Jade’s best attempt at concluding her thoughts, “It is perfectly acceptable. Nothing needs changing. Miss Jade, are you certain you’ll be alright without me?”
“I think so?” Jade shrugged. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. The students still need you here, and Clara would be very nervous if both of us aren’t here to back her up.”
With that, Jade departed. She reached the refreshment room to find Lady Glorissa seated gracefully at a table, her chaperone beside her and her maid seated behind her. An envelope rested neatly on the table, and Jade immediately guessed what it contained.
Banknotes. Or perhaps a cheque. The payment for her recipe.
Beside the envelope sat a small basket lined with fine, laced cloth, filled with layered puffs clearly purchased from their booth. At a quick glance, Jade counted five or six pastries… The fancy lady really loves this pastry huh.
Jade first offered Lady Glorrisa a polite curtsy and experienced the expected sequence of formal introductions before taking the seat indicated by Mrs. Maneshore’s subtle hand gesture. Once seated, she presented the recipe sheets, which instantly caught Lady Glorrisa’s attention.
“Sketches?” Lady Glorissa exclaimed – the very same reaction Miss Arrowot had given moments earlier.
Jade simply dismissed it as another small cultural difference and explained, “Yes, my Lady. Plain words are unable to accurately convey my message.”
A Lady of rank was not supposed to lay eyes on a recipe; such matters belonged to cooks and kitchen servants. Yet the illustration proved unexpectedly compelling. Before she could snap back, the two-sheet recipe was already between her fingers, her eyes moving across the lines… while her brows knitted at the rather modest and rustic choice of words used in the text.
She had assumed a pastry recipe would be difficult for her to interpret. To her surprise, it was remarkably easy to follow. In fact, the instructions seemed so clear that she almost felt she could recreate the pastry herself if she carried the pages into the kitchen. Though, of course, she would never set foot there.
The first page explained how to create layered puff pastry, with notes describing how either baking or frying could produce the delicate layered texture. Turning to the second page, she found instructions for preparing the bean paste filling and shaping the adorably round pastry she had tasted earlier.
“A very understandable recipe, Miss Lysmere,” Lady Glorissa said, passing the ages to her maid, who folded them carefully and placed them into her purse.
“Exactly what I am trying to achieve, my Lady,” Jade replied. “Your cook may not succeed on the first try; it requires practice to achieve the perfect result. Even within the same batch, there will be several failed pieces, and that’s normal.”
Lady Glorissa frowned slightly. “Then this pastry could not appear at my tea party within the week?”
“That would highly depend on your cook’s skill, my Lady,” Jade answered. “My apprentice took about a month to perfect his skill in layering two doughs. If your cook is already highly experienced in pastry work, they might be able to achieve the desired result a lot quicker.”
The answer clearly displeased Lady Glorissa. So Jade quickly added, “To repay your kindness, my Lady, I would be glad to teach your cook how to make it, step by step, if you wished. They could observe each stage of the process and ask whatever they have in mind.”
“Your assistance may not be necessary because my cook, Mrs. Othwarth, is considered among the finest in the entire kingdom.” Lady Glorissa declared with quiet pride. Still, she gave a small nod. “I shall send for you if your service is required.”
“And I would be honoured to answer your summons, my Lady,” Jade replied with a slight bow.
Lady Glorissa studied her carefully.
This schoolmistress was nothing like the scheming beauty she had imagined, nor was she a forgettable commoner she could dismiss with ease. The plain-looking woman before her was a skilled master…
And not only in pastry, Lady Glorissa realised. The embroidery, the crafts, the artistics pieces displayed at the booth – all bore traces of her influence.
Lady Glorissa respected artisans. Among the upper class, patronizing artistic talent had become fashionable, and works of craftsmanship were always welcome subjects of conversation in refined gatherings.
Lady Glorissa hadn’t had any particular plan in mind, yet she didn’t mind extending a friendlier gesture toward Jade. In other words, Lady Glorissa wished to continue to have a small talk instead of dismissing Jade after exchanging the recipe for the cheque.
“I trust someone at your booth forwarded my message yesterday,” Lady Glorissa said. Her chin rested slightly lower than before, though the shift was subtle that Jade failed to notice the friendly hint.
“Yes,” Jade replied. Unaware that the exchange had drifted into polite small talk, she answered plainly. “I am very grateful for the offer, my Lady, though I still haven’t decided where I should be heading after my resignation.”
“Your resignation?” Lady Glorissa repeated, though she already knew the answer. She merely wished to keep the conversation flowing.
“Yes, at the end of May.” Jade explained. “I’ll leave the domus after the students complete their examination. By June, I should be settled somewhere new.”
“Well, you may come directly to the House of Conbury,” Lady Glorissa said, idly playing her fan between her fingers. “My tea gatherings are always in need of excellent pastries.”
“Actually, my Lady, if you wouldn’t mind…” Jade wasn’t sure if she should keep talking, but hey, if Miss Rich Customer wanted to keep talking, it was worth it to keep the conversation going, for the sake of future handsome coins. “You could always purchase from my confectionery once I save enough to rent a shop. I would gladly offer you the best price.”
She initially assumed it would take years to gather enough money to open a business of her own. But now, with the lump sum waiting inside the envelope, she could fast forward her plan, and maybe even open her shop within a year!
The thought delighted her. However, the others at the table clearly had other opinions.
“A confectionery?” Lady Glorissa gasped. Her hand rose lightly to tap her collarbone, eyes widening in disbelief. “Miss Lysmere, that is outrageous!”
“...outrageous?” Jade repeated, genuinely confused. She wanted to ask further, but Lady Glorissa had already turned her gaze aside, visibly displeased. It appeared as though she had somehow offended the noblewoman, but Jade couldn’t understand why…
“Miss Lysmere,” Mrs. Maneshore said, gently stepping into the conversation, “that would be a deeply irrational decision. Surely you should understand that better than anyone else.”
“I should?” Jade repeated blankly, and shook her head, “No, I don’t. Please enlighten me, Mrs. Maneshore. I mean, I told Father Rochester about this, and he did not object…”
“But neither did he encourage you,” Mrs. Maneshore replied evenly.
Jade fell silent. She replayed every conversation she had ever had about her future plans. No one had openly opposed her decision. Yet no one, except the younger ones, had truly supported it either.
Her assumptions had blinded her.
Then, Jade’s eyes widened as she began to know another truth about this era, one very unfamiliar to her.