Cacao or Joseph Ermeler's Travels
Copyright© 2026 by Argon
Chapter 6: A Taste from Heaven
Of course, Joseph attended the Holy Mass on Sunday, and he saw Hubert and his family. After Mass, Ursula approached him.
“Master Joseph, I come to apologise for the mean things I said. Will you forgive me?”
Joseph tilted his head. “I somehow made you angry, and for that, I’m sorry.”
She nodded, blushing inexplicably and left to follow her family. Joseph set out for his house, too, but he was intercepted by a young man in cooper’s garbs.
“Master Joseph, I am Lukas, son of Bartholomæus.”
“Ah, the cooper Bartholomæus. Greetings.”
“We saw that you opened shop in old Judokus’s house?”
“Yes, I have set up my shop as a trader of spices and cloth.”
“So we heard, Master Joseph, and my mother says that your prices and wares are good. Will you allow me to invite you to the tavern? I have need to speak with you.”
“It were poor manners to decline such a gracious invitation,” Joseph returned, slightly bowing his head.
His host steered him to a table away from where the other men sat, and after ordering ale for them, he leaned over the table.
“You have to know that I have wooed sweet Barbara, Hubert’s daughter, for two years, ever since she turned woman. She likes me fine, too, and Hubert has nothing against me either. The thing is, he insists on Ursula marrying first, and thus, until the older sister is wed, I cannot proceed in my quest to marry the younger.”
“That seems like a bind for sure,” Joseph agreed.
“Now, nothing against Ursula. She’s right pretty, a good worker and sharp, too. The thing is, when her groom ran out on her, we young men jeered at her. It was poor manners to shame her, but many of us felt slighted when her parents chose that foreign trader for her. Now she hates us, and she’ll never marry any man from here. That means her sister can’t marry, either. Her father is quite set in this and won’t be swayed.”
Joseph began to see whereto the cooper’s son was heading.
“My father is getting impatient, and he tries to find a different girl for me to marry, but I can’t give up on Barbara. So, when I saw you speaking to Ursula, I thought: Well, here’s this new merchant, well clad and well off, and with his own shop filled with precious wares. Ursula can’t have anything against him seeing that he was not here when she was stood up.”
“You want me to woo the maid?”
“Yes! I’ll make it worth your effort, too. I spoke to my father and my uncle this morn. My uncle and godfather is Erwin, the carpenter. Your house is a good one and right on the Market Place, but it needs carpenter’s work done. If you can win the Maid Ursula for your wife, my uncle will repair all the woodwork on your house for free.”
Joseph nodded gravely while the thoughts were tumbling inside his head. Was he ready to marry, and if yes, could he marry a woman as tempestuous as Ursula had shown to be? With that sharp mind she would certainly be a boon to a merchant. She had a good, strong body, too, and her face could be pretty enough once the angry look went away. It could not hurt to try. Joseph nodded again.
“Let us speak with your father and uncle. I mean no slight, Lukas, but your uncle is the one to uphold your side of the deal.”
Lukas’ face lit up. “Will you wait here whilst I fetch them?”
“My tankard is still half full, and I have no need to go anywhere,” Joseph replied.
He watched with slight amusement as Lukas almost ran from the tavern. He returned ere the church bell tolled the next hour, two older men in tow who looked like they were brothers. It took another two rounds of stout ale and some haggling, but then Joseph and Erwin spat into their palms and shook hands over the done deal. Joseph was to woo the Maid Ursula, and if he was successful, Erwin would replace all the rotten beams and floor boards in the house and seal the truss beams freshly with linseed varnish.
It would be almost half as much work as building the house again, but Joseph realised that in return, Lukas stood to receive a sizeable dowry from Hubert, who was a prosperous merchant. That thought prompted another one. Winning Ursula he’d also win Hubert, the Guild Master, for his father. Hubert had no son of his own and Lukas was a cooper. This meant that Joseph himself, the way the guilds worked, might become the next Guild Master!
Another thought came, this one of Ursula. Seeing her before his inner eye, he had to concede that she was a fine looking young woman, not as lithe as her sister, but her face and her tall, lean body, were appealing. She also had a good head on her shoulders. He thought of Filomena and his resolve to find a sharp wife for himself. He also could not see Ursula becoming a second Magda, his sire’s shrewish wife, for all her temper.
First things first, he thought. He had to learn more about Ursula and to win her trust, and for that, he had to see more of her. Returning to his house and seeing the results of many years of neglect, an idea struck him. He called Gesine, his housekeeper.
“We have to replace the bed and window curtains all over the house,” he stated. “They are all moth-eaten and threadbare, and a right shame to look at.”
“I know that, Master Joseph,” the old woman defended herself. “Alas, Master Judokus never saw fit to bear the costs.”
“Well, Gesine, I have enough cloth for the curtains, but who can sew them? I know that your eyes are not up for needle work anymore. D’ye think that mayhap some woman or girl from the neighbourhood might do it against pay?”
Gesine shook her head. “Most neighbours have boys or grown daughters. Only Hubert’s girls might do it. Should I ask them?”
“If you think they would, ask them. Offer them pay, as much as is common for needlework here in town.”
“I’ll talk to them,” Gesine answered.
When Joseph opened his shop on Monday morning, the first buyers were waiting already. It was mostly peppercorns and caraway seeds they were asking, the latter for baking rye bread, for it was and is the custom to add caraway seeds to the bread dough in Franconian lands. Shortly before the noon bell tolled, the Maid Ursula appeared in the store, her hands on her hips.
“Old Gesine asked us to to sew new curtains and bed linens for your house.”
“Yes, the old ones are threadbare and look like rags, but Gesine is not up to needle work anymore. She’s a good housekeeper, but her eyes are failing her.”
“She said that you’ll pay for the work?”
“Of course. It’s work and must be paid.”
“What is your scheme? Do you think me an easy prey for your schemes?”
Slightly taken aback, Joseph raised both hands in an appeasing gesture.
“Believe me, Maid Ursula, I don’t think you a prey for anything. Gesine needs help, and I want to sleep in a bed with warm curtains come the winter.” He looked into her eyes. “Yesterday, you apologised for your harsh words. Didn’t you mean it?”
Ursula stared back for a second, blushing and with her eyes brimming, before she whispered an apology.
“I’m sorry, Master Joseph. I don’t know what it is that I cannot keep a civil tongue with you. You did no wrong by me, you were even friendly in your forgiveness, and I really should not treat you with suspicion.”
In that moment Joseph had an idea, and he immediately acted on it. He raised the small bell and shook it. The silvery sound made Gesine come into the shop.
“Yes, Master?”
“Have we still some milk?”
“Yes, Master.”
“Be a dear, Gesine, and bring two stof1 of milk to a boil.”
“Heat milk? Master, it will stick to the pot.”
“Do it anyway and hurry,” Joseph answered firmly, but with a smile.
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