Cacao or Joseph Ermeler's Travels
Copyright© 2026 by Argon
Chapter 11: A Surprise
Joseph had returned not long after their cacao, and he had no problems convincing Ewald to stay for the night as their guest. Some carpentering work had already been done on the upper floor, and an extra bedchamber was now available, but they had decided to have the new goods shed built first, putting off the work on the house for the spring. Ewald was still impressed, for when he had looked after Joseph’s inheritance two years before, the house had been in a poor shape.
For their supper, Joseph, filled in by Ursula, invited Hubert and Elsa, too, and the chance to meet a scion of the famously wealthy Welser family made them agreeable. Elsa’s eyes went wide when she saw the looks Ewald cast at her daughter. Hubert, too, suddenly saw a possible suitor for his younger daughter, and he made certain to extoll on her virtues.
Barbara herself kept to being a shy girl in mourning which Ewald accepted as proper. Instead, he strove to win favour with her parents, an easy feat given his family name. Once the elder Bohnes had left, he gave Barbara a short smile to which she nodded back shyly.
After Ursula and Barbara retreated, Joseph and his guest talked about trade and the tolls on the roads ‘tween Augsburg and Franconian lands, but Ewald also inquired about Hubert’s business and about the other guild merchants. Finally, he asked Joseph the question that was foremost on his mind.
“Your wife’s sister, what is she like?”
Joseph answered truthfully. “I only know her as a sweet maiden, loyal to a fault, soft spoken, with no shrewishness in her. As you could see, she is pretty, but she is not vain. She was truly taken with her groom, who was a good lad, and so far, she is true to his memory. She will take more time to get over her loss, but being busy in the shop has already helped her quite a lot. She also took to helping in my shop like a duck to the water. I’d wager that she’d be a good merchant’s wife.”
“D’ye think, her father will hear me?”
“He might if you can match the dowry. He loves his daughters dearly and wants to see them happily married. I trust he knows that Ursula is happy, and he’ll want the same for Barbara.”
“I have savings. Uncle Martin has been treating me well, but I’m not his son. I want to strike out on my own, and the merchants of this town seem to flourish.”
“We do. The tithe and the dues to the guild are both lower than in Wirtzburg, and the bishopric buys from us anyway. What do you see yourself trading?”
“I was thinking of cloth, linen and hides. There must be tailors and shoemakers here and in Wirtzburg. Would I face competition?”
“Not here, and little in Wirtzburg. I am also in talks with the Wirtzburg guild to have a spice stand on market days, once every moon.”
“You are certainly setting yourself up nicely.”
“It helps that Ursula can keep the shop open when I’m gone. She is a sharp woman, and I can rely on her.”
“Once I return to Augsburg, I shall talk to Uncle Martin. Something about the Maid Barbara pulls at my heartstrings.”
“And not just there, I wager,” Joseph chuckled.
By mid-October, the new goods shed was ready and covered with durable clay shingles, and the first autumn rains proved that the roof was watertight. Inside, there were two storeys, the upper one for the spices and other light goods and the lower one, with a cobbled floor, for heavier goods. A few days later, all of Joseph’s goods had been carried over, and there was some room left over for Hubert to store casks and barrels. Erwin and his journeymen had done very good work, and Joseph gladly paid the fifteen gold ducats Erwin asked.
After some morning sickness in the weeks before, Ursula was now feeling better, and she still craved her husband’s touch almost every night. After some reckoning, they decided to hire a maid to support Gesine, who was not getting younger. Joseph also accepted the third son of Claas Wallner, the coal trader, as apprentice. The lad was rather bright and eager to learn, and both Joseph and Ursula used him to run errands, fetch goods from storage, and of course, sweep the floors of shop and goods shed.
Barbara continued to help willingly and with increasing understanding, but she also saw to it that Ursula did not work too much. Joseph started to depend on her as much as on her sister, and she never disappointed. By this time, the younger men of Heidingsfeld and some of the older, too, could often be seen in the shop, getting served sweet cacao by Barbara and trying to gauge her readiness for a new courtship. She was friendly in rebuking their interest, but adamant that she was still in mourning. Often, Bartholomæus, the cooper, and his wife would come in, too, to speak with her, and they shared in their sorrow.
October went, November, too, and soon, Christmas was near. Some of the craftier housewives of the town discovered a use for ground cacao beans and cinnamon in sweet cakes, and the trade in spices was lively. Ursula and Barbara learned of the idea and tried to bake a dark cacao cake, too, and the result was truly delicious. Ever ready to further business, they made more of the cake and offered slices to their coffee- and cacao-drinking patrons. Soon, however, Joseph had to ration the cacao beans so as not to risk his business with the bishopric. Either way, the spice shop flourished.
Barbara had reconciled with her mother, but she insisted on staying in the Ermelers’ house, helping in the shop, but also helping her sister. Ursula did not need the help yet, but she was happy to have her sister during the day and her husband during the night.
Come the new year, the weather turned cold, even in the sheltered valley of the River Main, and by the end of the month, the river was frozen solid. Many a townsman entered their shop to warm up with a mug of coffee or cacao in his hands, but the other spices sold not nearly as well. By contrast, Hubert sold huge amounts of dried beans, peas, lentils and smoked pork belly for sating and warming stews. The only addition Joseph could offer was dried marjoram, which, being grown locally, was cheap.
At least, the Bishop in Wirtzburg felt no need to forego his favoured drink, and Joseph was hoping for an early spring and the next wagons from Augsburg, for his supply was dwindling. At least, Lent was early that year, and His Eminent Highness had to abstain from the luxury of his daily hot cacao for forty days. To avoid angering Father Anselmus, Joseph also stopped the serving of cacao in his shop during Lent, only offering coffee to his patrons. The spice business suffered, too, since nobody made roasts or cakes, but he earned some money from the sale of cloth and spun wool, for the women were cooped up in the houses and took to sewing and knitting.
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