TWENTY-THREE
"And a blessed Yule to you too, my dear lady," Bernard roared, downing yet another cup of wine. But that did not stop him from pouring another. Some of it splashed into the pot of chestnuts he'd painstakingly shelled several hours before. He stared at the pot for a moment, as if making a decision of great import, before he upended the wine jug and doused the chestnuts entirely. He added a generous spoon of honey, before hanging the pot over the fire. "My sweet lady, I am about introduce you to a dish so royal, I am certain you have never eaten it before. It was the King's command that no one else should eat it, for it was his favourite. And as I learned to make it best, better even than his own cooks, more than once this royal dish rescued me from other, more unpleasant tasks
