St. Denis eyed the lobster, which Jack had not yet finished. "Distracted by this possible ancestor's stories of feasts of shellfish and crustaceans, I did not immediately read Denys' biography." St. Denis paused to order more Champagne.
"If", he said to Jack, "you read this book written over 300 years ago on the shores of Baie des Chaleurs harbor, you will read of 'an abundance of all kinds of shellfish; plenty of Mussels, Flounders, Lobsters', described as 'very good eating with all kinds of sauces'. You will read of meadows beside waters where mussels and oysters are there in abundance; 'This place is beautiful and pleasing ...the trees are fine, mostly Cedars, Pines, Firs, around the margins, and farther inland, Maples, Ashes, Birches, Black Birches, Oaks, and other kinds of woods'; and in the waters, 'quantities of shell-fish of all kinds good to eat.'
As if it was poetry -- quoted from memory by students in a time where that was a part of education -- as the champagne arrived, Nicolas St. Denis spoke these words: "'At the foot of this cape there are rocks which form a little basin ; here it is possible to find shelter for a boat in bad weather in case of need ; it has entrances from both sides. There are found quantities of Lobsters among all those rocks. If one is imprisoned here by bad weather, he can always find something for subsistence.'"
"Marguerite Lafitte?" Jack repeated the question.
Because of conflicting claims about the history of my family," St Denis reiterated, "I was not interested in genealogies, nor was I familiar with the work of Nicolas Denys until -- having heard the tale of my romantic pursuit of beautiful Canadian skater Anne-Merry Lafitte -- Uncle Pierre showed up on my doorstep with Description and Natural History of the Coasts of North America. 'Read this', the uncle who controls my trust fund commanded."