A United Chalet School
Synopsis
School Facts
The School is at the Tiernsee
St. Scholastika's have joined up with the Chalet School, but are still feeling separate
Mademoiselle Leppatre is still seriously ill
Miss Annersley is Head
Series Characters Whereabouts
Jo Bettany has left school, but still makes her presence felt
Wanda von Gluck (was von Eschenau) has had a second baby
Robin Humphries is at the Annexe
In order to punish the middles for breaking bounds, the prefects decree that they must perform their decidedly sketchy play in front of the whole school, including the juniors and mistresses. The results are remarkably funny and the climax is reached when the elastic in the "hero's" knickers break during a duel scene and he has to fight the rest of the duel holding them up with one hand. The audience nearly have hysterics with laughing and Elizabeth Arnett is much annoyed to find her play which she had regarded as a great tragedy being treated as if it was pure farce.
When Robin and Jo go to stay with Wanda von Gluck at half-term, they find two un-welcome visitors in the forms of Maria and Mario di Balbini, who turn out to be distant relations of the von Eschenau family. But recent events (see The New Chalet School) have quite subdued them.
Due to Anne Seymour's carelessness, a fire is started on the last day of term and Louise, in a mad attempt to save the copy of Joey's book, rushes into hall and Hilary Burn follows to drag her out. Luckily the fire is put out in time with no major damage.
We learn at the end of the book that Gillian Linton is to be the next Head Girl and as she is leaving in a year, Hilary Burn is already being talked of as her successor.
contributed by Sindhu Menon, India __ working from a paperback edition