Otherwise they might say no,” Judy explained.
There was an awed silence from the three girls around the table who had never thought about the future, never planned further ahead than the next holiday. As in a child’s colouring book,
everything in the picture of their future life was clear and simple and the responsibility of someone else. Eternal bliss awaited each of them beyond the altar, and the only bit that hadn’t
been filled in was Prince Charming’s face. To the Hirondelles, Judy’s work sounded
real,
as opposed to chopping onions for the cookery mademoiselle or half-heartedly typing,
“Please believe in my most distinguished sentiments” at the bottom of a business letter copied from a textbook.
Eagerly, Kate questioned Judy about the language lab.
“Yes, the courses really
are
concentrated,” Judy answered, “and it’s just as well, because I’ve only got one year to learn fluent French and German. All the
other students are in just as much of a hurry. They’re all older than me,
really
old—some of them are over thirty! If they need an extra language for business, they fly into
Gstaad from all over the world and sit all day in little booths with earphones. My German isn’t yet good enough for conversation. I shouldn’t really talk to Nick at all, I suppose. I
should be practicing German instead.”
Nick looked at her fondly. “We hardly get any time to talk as it is. We only get to our bedrooms to sleep. I start at seven laying tables for breakfast, then we work in the restaurant
straight through until three in the afternoon. Then there’s a break until six-thirty and we’re back in the restaurant until eleven. Unless there’s a function, in which case we
work until two in the morning and
still
get up at seven.”
“We’re lucky to have such good sleeping quarters here,” Judy said. “The student waiters who are on loan from the Lausanne Palace say that there it’s five to a room
under the roof, and at the Palace Saint Moritz I hear that the temporary staff have to sleep in the basement.”
“Goodness, I feel as if l’Hirondelle is a rest cure,” said Pagan, who rather enjoyed the slack tedium of the school routine—unlike Kate, who was exasperated by the
laziness and boredom of the lessons.
After that meeting, Judy always saved a table at the Chesa for the girls on Wednesday afternoon when they each took two hours to drink one expensive cup of chocolate, and Nick
took them all out for tea on Sunday afternoons when they ate their heads off.
Judy’s obvious independence immediately fascinated the other three girls, who envied her energy, her stamina and her cheerfulness, not realising that Judy had to push herself every morning
to survive the drudgery of her day. Reluctantly, the girls followed their school timetable, but Judy set her own harsh timetable, and she stuck to it grimly. The Hirondelles were also intrigued by
the forceful way that Judy spoke. She said exactly what she thought, whereas the three more privileged girls had been brought up to hide their feelings and not express their own wishes and
opinions.
The girls quickly realised that while Nick was besotted with Judy to the exclusion of anyone else, here was the older brother they had all longed for—to admire them, to protect them, to
tease them, to provide them with introductions to other boys and to pay for their outings. Nick was safe. He wasn’t part of the sexual success-or-failure, scalp-collecting game, so the three
Hirondelle girls instinctively developed a special way of flirting with Nick. They could be outrageously provocative with Nick with no fear of the consequences; they could practice their act with a
safety net, as it were.
Nick was flattered and delighted with his new role as escort to three attractive but undemanding girls. Brought up in the stone-cold confines of the traditional British boarding school, a timid
child, living in the country, he hadn’t had much chance to
There was an awed silence from the three girls around the table who had never thought about the future, never planned further ahead than the next holiday. As in a child’s colouring book,
everything in the picture of their future life was clear and simple and the responsibility of someone else. Eternal bliss awaited each of them beyond the altar, and the only bit that hadn’t
been filled in was Prince Charming’s face. To the Hirondelles, Judy’s work sounded
real,
as opposed to chopping onions for the cookery mademoiselle or half-heartedly typing,
“Please believe in my most distinguished sentiments” at the bottom of a business letter copied from a textbook.
Eagerly, Kate questioned Judy about the language lab.
“Yes, the courses really
are
concentrated,” Judy answered, “and it’s just as well, because I’ve only got one year to learn fluent French and German. All the
other students are in just as much of a hurry. They’re all older than me,
really
old—some of them are over thirty! If they need an extra language for business, they fly into
Gstaad from all over the world and sit all day in little booths with earphones. My German isn’t yet good enough for conversation. I shouldn’t really talk to Nick at all, I suppose. I
should be practicing German instead.”
Nick looked at her fondly. “We hardly get any time to talk as it is. We only get to our bedrooms to sleep. I start at seven laying tables for breakfast, then we work in the restaurant
straight through until three in the afternoon. Then there’s a break until six-thirty and we’re back in the restaurant until eleven. Unless there’s a function, in which case we
work until two in the morning and
still
get up at seven.”
“We’re lucky to have such good sleeping quarters here,” Judy said. “The student waiters who are on loan from the Lausanne Palace say that there it’s five to a room
under the roof, and at the Palace Saint Moritz I hear that the temporary staff have to sleep in the basement.”
“Goodness, I feel as if l’Hirondelle is a rest cure,” said Pagan, who rather enjoyed the slack tedium of the school routine—unlike Kate, who was exasperated by the
laziness and boredom of the lessons.
After that meeting, Judy always saved a table at the Chesa for the girls on Wednesday afternoon when they each took two hours to drink one expensive cup of chocolate, and Nick
took them all out for tea on Sunday afternoons when they ate their heads off.
Judy’s obvious independence immediately fascinated the other three girls, who envied her energy, her stamina and her cheerfulness, not realising that Judy had to push herself every morning
to survive the drudgery of her day. Reluctantly, the girls followed their school timetable, but Judy set her own harsh timetable, and she stuck to it grimly. The Hirondelles were also intrigued by
the forceful way that Judy spoke. She said exactly what she thought, whereas the three more privileged girls had been brought up to hide their feelings and not express their own wishes and
opinions.
The girls quickly realised that while Nick was besotted with Judy to the exclusion of anyone else, here was the older brother they had all longed for—to admire them, to protect them, to
tease them, to provide them with introductions to other boys and to pay for their outings. Nick was safe. He wasn’t part of the sexual success-or-failure, scalp-collecting game, so the three
Hirondelle girls instinctively developed a special way of flirting with Nick. They could be outrageously provocative with Nick with no fear of the consequences; they could practice their act with a
safety net, as it were.
Nick was flattered and delighted with his new role as escort to three attractive but undemanding girls. Brought up in the stone-cold confines of the traditional British boarding school, a timid
child, living in the country, he hadn’t had much chance to
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