Back to full sized books this week with Three Go to the Chalet School, first published in 1949. There is an unspecified gap in the timeline between Rosalie and this book, which could be two, three or even four years depending on which events and character ages you consider. This is the last book set at Plas Howell, and follows the escapades of Mary-Lou Trelawney, Verity-Ann Carey and Clem Barrass as they join the ranks of the school and settle in to become long-standing characters. Notable events:
Mary-Lou Trelawney is living at Polquenel, a small village by the sea, with her mother and grandmother, and has befriended Clem and Tony Barrass, the children of two artists, who a year before moved in next door. Although approving of the friendship at first as Mary-Lou has no other friends, the two Mrs Trelawneys have come to disapprove of it due to Clem and Tony’s harum scarum ways which have turned Mary-Lou into a tomboy. They also disapprove of the Barrass parents, especially Mr Barrass and his bad language. They tell Mary-Lou to drop the friendship, and announce that due to various reasons they will be moving in six weeks’ time anyway to somewhere more inland where Mary-Lou can go to school. A dismayed Mary-Lou tells Clem and Tony her news, but they accept it cheerfully and tell her they have moved plenty of times and enjoy new places. Clem reveals that they too will be moving shortly anyway. Mr Barrass interrupts their conversation when he comes down to the beach in a rage, Tony having filled his paint box with crabs and jellyfish for a joke. Clem manages to calm him down, and he leaves the beach vowing they will be leaving as soon as possible. They depart for London at the end of the week, with plans to go to the Hebrides afterwards. Meanwhile, at the home of her just-deceased grandfather, ten year old Verity-Ann Carey has an interview with her grandfather’s solicitor Mr James, who is now her guardian. She has been brought up by her elderly grandparents and governess, and Mr James is struck by her self-possession and quaint speech and manners. When he tells her that, as her father is on an expedition and cannot be contacted, she will be going to the Chalet School where his own daughters Joan and Pamela went, she is disgusted and vows to him that she will hate it and never become a modern schoolgirl. Two days after moving into Carn Beg in Howells, Mary-Lou, left to herself for the afternoon, explores the back garden and orchard, and discovers a meadow beyond the hedge where the triplets, Steve and Charles are fishing in the pond with nets under the eye of Anna. Mary-Lou wriggles through the hedge and is introduced to them and invited to join them for the afternoon. We learn that a sixth Maynard, Michael, arrived five months ago, and that Charles has a lot of influence over his siblings with his ability to make them feel guilty just by looking at them. Mary-Lou learns that she will be going to the Chalet School, and, having heard about it from the triplets, becomes reconciled to the idea. She goes to tea at Plas Gwyn and the Round House, and is introduced to the Russells and Bettanys. The winter term begins, and Jo takes Mary-Lou, who is to be a day girl, up to the school and introduces her to Miss Wilson, who tells her that she will be in Upper Second A with Josette Russell. Sybil takes her along to the form room and hands her over to Vi Lucy, who is astonished at encountering another new girl with a double name, as Verity-Ann, who has already arrived, has also joined their ranks. Mary-Lou and Verity-Ann begin to talk, and discover that their fathers are both on the Murray-Cameron expedition up the Amazon. What they do not know is that there has been no news from the expedition for eighteen months, and there is grave anxiety over what has happened. Miss Wilson takes the beginning of term assembly as Miss Annersley is in Armiford, and she announces that the school will be resuming its trilingual policy, much to the girls’ horror. Back in the form room, Verity-Ann causes a sensation by announcing to the form at large, as well as Miss Linton, that she doesn’t approve of German. At Break, the girls ask Verity-Ann why she doesn’t want to learn German, and she says that the Germans are horrid. They point out that she will have to speak German when the school goes back to the Tyrol, but Verity-Ann snubs them so hard that they end up leaving her alone. At the end of the day, Mary-Lou is collected by her mother and concedes that she thinks she will like school all right. Mary-Lou settles into school life after a few weeks, but Verity-Ann remains as quaint and on her dignity as ever. The staff and prefects discuss her and what to do about her, and Mollie Avery, during the prefects’ meeting, yawns repeatedly before being sent for by Matron. By the end of the week Mollie, Gay Lambert, Jacynth Hardy and Frances Coleman are down with jaundice, and by the end of another week half of the Sixth forms and several of the Fifths have joined them, forcing Miss Annersley to impose a quarantine on the Seniors. By the time half-term arrives, the weather has turned so bad that it is decided Mary-Lou and the triplets will be boarders for the rest of the term and the whole of the next. Mary-Lou is deeply dismayed at the idea of having no privacy at night, but gets no sympathy from anyone. She spends the half-term weekend at Plas Gwyn and the Round House, as Jo knows of the situation with the Murray-Cameron expedition and that the Trelawneys are losing hope fast of any more news, and wants to keep it from Mary-Lou for as long as possible. While at the Round House, the Russells, Bettanys and Maynards have a game of Red Indians, and find some red ochre with which they douse themselves, much to Madge’s annoyance and Jo’s amusement. Returning to school as a boarder after half-term, Mary-Lou resignedly goes up to her new dormitory, which she will be sharing with only one other girl, who is new. To her amazement and delight, the new girl is none other than Clem. Clem explains that she has been put into Upper Third A, and she and Tony have been sent to school for the next year at least, as Tony played another trick on Mr Barrass which was the final straw for him. Tony has been sent to a prep school on the Lancashire moors, and Mr Barrass met Miss Annersley at Armiford on the first day of term and persuaded her to take Clem at half-term. The girls go down to class, and Miss Linton informs Upper Second A – in French – that they will be having a carol concert that term instead of the usual Christmas play. Mary-Lou meets up with Clem at Break, and Clem admires how well Mary-Lou is picking up French, she having a natural talent for it. Mary-Lou makes up her mind to gain her remove to Lower Third by the end of term, and persuades Clem to help her at night with her sums so that she can get up to the required level in arithmetic. The extra work soon takes its toll on her, however, and she begins sleeping badly and is irritable during the day. Matey soon spots Mary-Lou’s symptoms, but is at a loss to understand what the problem is. One night while she is discussing the matter with the Heads, Miss Linton and Miss Edwards, Clem bursts in and announces that Mary-Lou has woken up delirious. Matey whisks the feverish Mary-Lou off to the San while a badly-frightened Clem confesses to the Head about the night-time studying. Miss Annersley explains that Mary-Lou has overworked herself, and makes Clem promise never to do lessons after eight o’clock again. Mary-Lou remains in the San for several days, and wonders why her mother and Gran haven’t come to see her. After four days, Jo arrives and tells her that news has come of the Murray-Cameron expedition; all but two of the men were attacked and killed, including Professor Trelawney. Commander Carey, Verity-Ann’s father, was one of the survivors and will be coming home as soon as he has recovered from his injuries. Mary-Lou is at first worried that she feels no bitter grief at her father’s death because she was only three years old when he left and she has no memories of him, but Jo assures her it is natural to feel that way. Clem receives a letter from her mother to say that a Mr Young, who is a friend of Mr Barrass – and also happens to be Clem’s godfather – has been to visit them and has promised to visit both Clem and Tony at their schools and take them out for the day. Tony sends a letter describing his own day out and gives a positive opinion of Mr Young. Miss Linton, who is taking the Lucy girls into Armiford to spend the day at their home, drops Clem and Mary-Lou off with Mr Young, who takes an immediate interest in her. He takes Clem and Mary-Lou to visit the picture gallery at the City Library and then the Cathedral. After lunch they meet up again with the Lucys and Miss Linton at the cinema, and by the time the latter takes the girls back to school, she has arranged to meet up with Mr Young again on her day off. Mary-Lou goes home for a weekend for the first time since the news of her father’s death arrived, and is struck at the change in her mother and especially Gran. Later, she learns that Commander Carey wrote to her mother and told her that Professor Trelawney had had the chance to escape the attack, but had instead rushed in to help his friends and been killed in the process. Mary-Lou is awed and proud at this revelation, and asks her mother to tell her all about her father. A rainy day means all games are postponed one afternoon, and the entire school is sent to begin practising carols for the concert with Mr Denny instead. Upon seeing that one of the carols is a German one by Bach, Verity-Ann refuses to open her mouth when the other are singing. Mr Denny notices it, and hauls her up to the front and demands she sing it on her own. She repeatedly refuses, and neither he, Miss Cochrane nor Miss Burnett who is chaperoning can budge her. Eventually she is sent to bed, and told that as she refuses to sing in German, she will not take part in the concert at all. As she loves music, she finds this an awful punishment, but she still refuses to give in. Verity-Ann continues to refuse to sing in German, and nobody, including Miss Annersley and even Jo, can make her change her mind. She becomes increasingly miserable as she finds herself out of all the fun, but is too stubborn to climb down and change her mind. Jo eventually hits upon the idea of writing to Commander Carey, who is now in England and in hospital. He finally comes up to the school, and Verity-Ann is ecstatic to see him. He succeeds where everyone else failed in getting her to relent in her hatred of all things German. As the end of term approaches, Clem begins to grow restless that there has been no update on the situation between Miss Linton and Mr Young, as she fully expected them to be engaged by now. She confides in Mary-Lou one night when the latter is supposed to be asleep, and they are caught by none other than Miss Linton herself. Mary-Lou asks her straight out about it, and, although indignant, she grudgingly tells them to wait and see. On the last day of term, she summons them to the staffroom where she is alone, and shows them her engagement ring. The carol concert is held, and various guests include Commander Carey, Mr Young and Tony.
So, thoughts on this book? What do you think of the Three of the book’s title? Did you like the storyline about Mary-Lou trying to catch up with Clem? Verity-Ann's battle with Plato? The Miss Linton/Mr Young subplot?
One thing I noticed while doing this summary: you know EBD goes through phases of using certain words obsessively throughout a book, like 'brats' in Joey Goes? 'Moke' is the one for this book. I'm sick of the sight of it now!
_________________ 'I'm sorry, I only play for sport.' - Lara Croft
|