@Brightamethyst I'm thinking that she wasn't entirely informed of what she would be helping finance. Or if she was, then they never explicitly told her to what extent the business would be handling tea and just assumed it would be all about the black tea that is most commonly served in the west.
@mechpolaris I assume she knows better than to consume too much tea each day, or at least not too much of certain teas. I'm not an expert, but it makes sense that there should be some teas that are fine to consume often while others not so much. Sleeping issues alone makes me think of how chamomile tea can help one sleep despite many teas being caffeinated, so surely some teas are less potent than others. Then there's also how strong or weak any given tea is, and more importantly how tolerant Chloe's body is regarding tea. Some people can consume tea very often and have no issues, whereas others can only drink it sparingly or risk uncomfortable and painful side affects(far as I'm aware, anyway).
I can understand the Duke's concern with a financial advisor's gender. A man would be more inclined to look down on her, solely because she's a woman. Regardless of how powerful her growing merchant empire is.
Would probably just assume she had previous help from her husband or another advisor.
Wow, I never knew that beverage bonding was so powerful... Lol, I mean, my brother and one of his friends bonded over spicy food, but I thought that was more of a guy thing, lol.
@Vasqueztion what you said could be true but I got the impression the Duke's concern about gender had less to do with gender bias in business and more to do with his own jealousy for his wife. Because it involves her business, it would be expected that his wife would have to spend a fair amount of time with her financial advisor. With that being the case, he doesn't want to have a man cozying up to his wife (whether that would be the gentleman's intentions or not).