This is the opening chapter of School of Love, introducing the characters and the school.
All students at the School of Love are over 18.
****
I arrived in Lausanne, eager to take up my new post as a tutor at the exclusive École Château de l'Amour. All my interviews for the job had taken place in London, including a rather extensive medical. I was here and yet I knew next to nothing about the school which had employed me.
I had seen pictures of the splendid fifteenth-century castle on the bank of Lake Léman, just west of Lausanne. The château had been a Swiss finishing school for girls in the nineteenth century, and then it became a women's private college for high-school leavers and university students in the middle of the twentieth century. I had found that 'private' was the operative word: the school was not just privately funded, but it kept a very low profile, almost secretive. I heard rumours of the daughters of rock stars, tycoons, maharajas and Saudi royalty among the student body. The school's response to any prying was that they wished to maintain the privacy of their students.
I had been collected from Geneva Airport by limousine, and put up in the opulent Beau-Rivage Palace hotel in Lausanne, with views over Lake Léman (as the Lausannois preferred to call their end of Lake Geneva) and the Chablais Alps beyond. This experience was so different from the life I knew, living in a student flat while writing up my doctoral thesis. Rather than being taken straight to the château, I was here first to have dinner in the city with Marie-Luce Foy, the school's director — or, to use her official title,
Madame la Directrice de l'École
.
We met in the lobby. Madame Foy was perhaps in her early forties, tall, slim and elegantly dressed in a charcoal skirt suit and black kitten heels. She looked every part the head of of an expensive ladies' college, with her hair tied in an immaculate chignon, and tortoiseshell-frame glasses. Rather than a business handshake, she offered me three cheek-kisses in the Swiss fashion. Her perfume was understated, with dark wine notes.
We went through to the hotel's gastronomic restaurant where she ordered us each a kir royal to sip as we perused the menu.
Madame Foy's English was perfect, with a flawless British Home Counties accent. "Mr Harris, it is good to meet you at last. I have read all of the reports from your London interviews. Miss Bakewell seems very impressed with you", she began.
I swallowed nervously at the mention of the sexy, young functionary who had conducted my interviews.
She smiled. "I cannot say that I have read all of your doctoral thesis, but I am pleased to welcome you to l'École Château de l'Amour as our new history tutor." She paused and took a sip of her kir.
I mirrored her, taking a sip from my drink, as the waiter came to take our order.
"Please, everything is on the school tonight."
This was just as well, given the prices in this two-Michelin-star restaurant. I gestured that she order first, then I gave my order to the waiter in French. The sommelier approached, and Madame Foy ordered a bottle of 2009 vintage Cornalin du Valais that matched our food choices perfectly.
"Madame Foy, I am looking forward to joining you and the staff at the École Château de l'Amour. I must admit that all of this — the rather comprehensive interviews and medical, the first-class flight to Geneva and now this hotel — this is so far removed from my life as a doctoral student, you know."
"We are an exclusive, specialised institute of education, and we do not like to take chances. I am very protective of the school and my girls. That's why I prefer to meet new staff in the city and get to know them before bringing them to the château. We'll get to that tomorrow morning." As she spoke, I was aware that her British English accent was so flawless that she couldn't actually be British, but that she could only be the product of an international-school education.
She took another sip of her kir. "How did you find the interview process?"
"Well, the academic interview was even more thorough than my doctoral defence!" I laughed. "And I got quite a shock when I met with the private investigator who had put together a thick file on my background, even including ex-girlfriends and internet history."
"Yes, there were a few interesting items in that report, Mr Harris." The
directrice
raised one eyebrow.
With embarrassment, I took a great gulp of my kir, and almost choked on its bubbles. At that moment, our immaculately presented starters arrived.
When I had composed myself, I continued, "Madame Foy, I must tell you that I feel a bit like a fish out of water because of all of this."
"Mr Harris... or do you prefer Dr Harris — I know the English prefer their academic titles — whichever, may I call you Ben?"
I nodded, "Yes, of course".
"My name is Marie-Luce, but actually everyone calls me Emmelle, so please do use that name.
En français, tu peux me tutoyer.
"
"
Je parle pas bien le français
", I responded with a little hesitation, knowing that my French wasn't that good. I could read historical documents and academic papers in French, order a coffee and some food, but I always got a little flustered with conversational French. I switched back to my mother tongue and gave her a name check, "But thank you... Emmelle... for putting me at my ease".
"Your French is a little accented, but passable. In school, we speak English in general, but you'll need French in Lausanne. At school, in front of the students, I should always be referred to as '
Madame la Directrice
' or simply '
Madame
'. The girls should address you as 'Master' at all times — even when speaking French, our tradition is to use the English title, as the French translation does not quite cut it — and you should place any girl who fails to address you properly on report.
En français, elles doivent nous vouvoyer.
"
"It is a little more strict than I am used to, I'm afraid."
"Don't worry. We are all one happy family at the school. It's a small institute of learning, and so we have to strike the right balance between discipline and intimacy."
Our starters were cleared. Emmelle told me that she had been a '
royale
' at the school, a term they use for those students who study there for the maximum of four years — two years after leaving high school, then she took three years in Cambridge, followed by a further two years back at the school after graduating university. She had worked for a master's degree in social anthropology at Lausanne University during her postgraduate time at the school, and had now been its
directrice
for eight years.
As we spoke together, she made sure to keep our wine topped up, so that we had managed to drain the whole bottle by the time our mains were cleared. We ordered some dessert, and she ordered us each a double measure of organic Peyrat XO cognac.
"So Ben, tell me, how did you find Lucy Bakewell in London?" she asked.
I was a little intoxicated, but I knew I had to play it cool with my new boss. "Mmm... I would say she is a very intelligent, professional young woman..."
"Attractive?"
"Erm... yes, I would say so", I replied while my mind was shouting 'smoking-hot body' at me.
"You know that she is also a former student of the school?"
"Ah, yes, I think she did mention it in passing."
"Don't worry, fellow
diplômées
of the school tell each other everything."
"Uh-huh", I responded gormlessly, not sure where this was going.
"She told me that she slept with you after the interview", Emmelle said, boring into me with her piercing grey eyes.
I coughed in shock. When I had composed myself, I said, "I am very sorry, Madame Foy. I hope that this will not be problem".
She smiled warmly at me, "
Au contraire
, Lucy strongly commended you to me. She evidently enjoyed your — how shall we say — ministrations".
The alcohol and embarrassment combined to make me flush red. I took a sip of the expensive cognac, before realising that more alcohol wasn't helping.
"And, Ben, please do call me Emmelle".
I nodded, "Sorry, Emmelle, but I was a bit taken aback that you knew I had made that indiscretion with Lucy".
"But not at all! You see, I must say that I am a little drunk, and I think you are too." She leant across the table a little and lightly stroked the back of my hand with her fingertips. "It is good for me to get away from the school for an evening. I think we shall get along well. Shall we let our hair down a little, and be honest with each other? I think Lucy has a very beautiful body. How was she in bed?"