The Finishing School by Muriel Spark

the school’s small staff, mainly Albert Hertz the lovely garden boy, Elaine Valette and her sister, Célestine, Chris’s midnight lover. They met at tea and coffee breaks for a chat and a pause, and this afternoon they were joined by Claire Denis, the daily maid. Claire’s apparently formidable task of cleaning and washing up was considerably lightened by the apperance, once a month, of a housecleaning team from Geneva, and the fact that the students were obliged to tidy up their rooms. Even so, Claire worked hard.
    Their working hard was today partly the theme of the four who were gathered for tea and an understandable discussion of how they stood or would stand at College Sunrise when the new school year should begin in late January next. There was also the question of where the school would be located, since it was, by its foundation, free and mobile. Would their jobs be safe? Did they, individually, want the jobs to be safe?
    As usual, the staff knew more about the crisis at the management end than Rowland and Nina or any of the students suspected.
    Albert said, “The lease runs out at the end of the year, but if they don’t renew it someone else will take on the house. I like the garden, it’s small but I’ve made it mine.”
    “The marriage is finished,” said Célestine. “Nina stays late with Israel Brown, and Rowland, wouldn’t you know, is making for me. Would you believe it . . . his jealousy of Chris. And he thinks I’ll sleep with him instead of Chris, some hope.”
    “Are you that fond of Chris?” said Claire.
    “Oh yes, of course,” said Célestine, “and he’s got a great future. The publisher’s arriving tomorrow. Rowland could kill him. I won’t leave Rowland alone in my kitchen in case he puts poison in the food and kills us all to take Chris with us.”
    “I wouldn’t exaggerate,” said her sister. “But I wonder what Chris will do when the school breaks up? You won’t see him again.”
    “I’d like a job in the hotel,” Célestine said.
    “I’m thinking of a tourist bureau in Geneva,” said Elaine.
    Claire said, “I think of some sort of tragedy. Pallas’s father has been arrested for smuggling a stolen picture. Israel’s aunt Giovanna spotted it in a friend’s gallery. They get to know everything in that world.”
    Albert said, “Nina’s hoping the school’s name will be famous through Chris’s success. Put up the fees. But if it gets known about the picture . . . a small El Greco, if it’s real, worth fifteen.”
    “Fifteen what?” said Claire.
    “Million dollars.”
    “But Chris,” said Célestine, “helped Pallas to smuggle it out of Switzerland. It was in the hothouse with the tomatoes for a few weeks. Very bad for the paint.”
    “And all the other students are so sweet,” said Elaine. “I love Lionel, he’s serious, Leg’s fun, Tilly’s rather a bitch but, well, she’s Tilly. Lisa, Joan, Mary, especially Mary, who adores Rowland—they’re charming. And Opal’s going to be a woman priest, how long will that last?”
    “Maybe I’ll marry Opal,” said Albert. “She grows on me.”
    “The parents will be looking for a match, a bon parti .”
    “I will marry her while the parents are still looking.” It was understood by all present that Albert had already made headway with Opal.
    “I can always get a domestic job,” said Claire, “but if Nina doesn’t keep me on, I’ll miss the school. —Albert, will you take your feet off the coffee table?”
    “Will you travel?” said Célestine.
    “Oh, yes.”
    “Rowland won’t go,” said Célestine. “They are bound to part.”
    The prospective publisher of Chris’s novel checked in next day at the nearby hotel. Before Chris went to meet him he invited Rowland to accompany him.
    “It would be nice, you know, if you represented the school as patron of the arts. You could let it be understood you were the mentor of the book.”
    “Although I’m not,” said Rowland.
    “Although you’re