I opened my eyes. The pink of winter sunrise streamed into the white-walled hotel room, and I could hear the soft sounds of gently splashing water. Turning my head in the direction of the noise, I realised it was Nell at the bowl on top of the dresser. I quickly turned away again, embarrassed, but she must have seen my movement in the mirror.
"Morning! I hope I didn't wake you. I don't think you slept very well last night - you kept tossing and turning. And I suppose we were up rather late... I was trying to let you sleep now, sorry."
"I don't think you woke me. I hope I didn't keep you awake with my restlessness, though." We had spent a wonderful evening, talking in the salon downstairs until after all the girls had been returned and sent to bed, eventually retiring to our room shortly after midnight - only to talk even more. I kept my face ostentatiously towards the wall.
"You didn't - I just don't sleep much. I brought you some coffee. You can look now." She sounded faintly amused. I turned and sat up, reaching gratefully for the coffee set down beside my bed, and studiously avoided watching her finish buttoning her blouse. My mouth felt dry, in spite of the hot drink.
Nell's attention had turned to her hair, which she was deftly pinning into her usual bun. "Your hair is really long! I had no idea." I said, almost without thinking, but glad to have not burst forth with any of my other observations at this moment.
Nell flashed a smile at me in the mirror. "Too long! I'd cut it all off tomorrow if it were up to me, but somehow I suspect that's not quite the look deemed appropriate for a school mistress and I'd rather avoid the inevitable scandal."
"I like it." I ventured. Nell raised her eyebrows. "Though I think you'd look good with it short, too..." I trailed off and stared out of the window, feeling the colour in my cheeks. Nell gave a short cough and - though I couldn't be certain - I had the distinct impression she was choking back laughter. When I dared to look back, she was smiling gently.
"Well, thank you." Polite, honest, amused. She slipped a final pin into her hair and gave herself a careful glance in the mirror. "I'm going to go and rouse any layabeds in our number now - you've plenty of time, don't worry, but somehow the slightest change to their morning routine and the whole operation runs much more slowly. You would expect that a jug and bowl saves minutes compared to their baths at school, but experience tells me otherwise!" And with that, she was gone.
***
After Fruhstuck, the girls quickly packed their night things away and we set off through the snow to the Stubaitalbahn. Jo was characteristically most enthused by the more touristic journey we had planned, delighting the younger girls in her tales of Andreas Hofer and Napoleon as we passed through the Andreas Hofer Strasse. All the girls, that is, except for Eustacia, who seemed equally characteristically determined to disagree.
"Aren't you biting your tongue to keep from jumping in?" Nell muttered discreetly to me, keeping her eyes carefully on our charges as they marched solemnly along listening to the two girls lock horns on the subject of Napoleon.
I smiled. "I don't think I could do without seeming hopelessly partisan, which would hardly improve our weekend. You know, they remind me of discussions I had at Oxford. I hope Jo will go on to read History when she leaves school. She'd be good at it, and it'd be good for her."
Nell opened her mouth to reply, but at that moment Eustacia uttered a smug rejoinder on the subject of poor history teaching, and Nell's face fell to sudden outrage. "Well! I'm biting my own tongue, now. Of all the cheek...!"
"Shh." I chuckled the rebuke softly. I was not offended by Eustacia's parroted and impersonal judgment, however much I was charmed by Nell's defensiveness. All in all, our arrival that moment at the station could not have been better timed.
By now the sun was properly in the sky, and the mountain train ran a slow and scenic route to Fulpmes, crossing a number of valleys and passing through tiny villages so picturesque they seemed more like paintings than real homes. The enchanting views provided a welcome distraction for the girls, and they watched through the windows in wonder, calling quietly to each other whenever they spotted a particularly beautiful feature.
Nell's attention, in the meantime, had settled on me. "You look tired." She said softly, putting a tentative hand to my cheek. "Goodness! Con, you're cold." It was cold on the train, and I could feel my disturbed night catching up with me. I could hardly tell her the truth - that lying in bed, knowing she was just feet away from me with nothing but blankets and air in between, had made it almost impossible for me to sleep - so I shrugged lightly.
"Just a restless night. I'm sure I'll sleep much better tonight." I promised with all the reassurance I could muster.
A queer expression crossed her face briefly, but I couldn't quite place it. In any case, I hadn't the luxury of sitting and wondering, for just then the little engine drew up before the platform of the Bahnhof of Fulpmes. Here we all tumbled out, and Nell looked round for someone to direct us to our pension. A tall lanky fellow, in faded green coat and breeches, with huge shawl-like scarf wound round his shoulders, came forward, hat in hand, to bow, and ask in a pleasant voice if these were the gracious ladies for the Pension Gisela.
Our baggage had arrived ahead of us, and was already waiting in our rooms when we reached the pretty pension and were welcomed by the big-hearted Frau Blitzen, and the girls fizzed with excitement as they inspected their charming rooms and readied themselves for Mittagessen. Their preparations completed, they ran downstairs to the Gastzimmer, where bowls of soup awaited them.
"Eggs in it!" murmured Anne as she lifted the first spoonful to her lips. "What a weird idea!"
"Oh, they often serve it that way," said Jo. "The worst part of it is they just let the eggs look at the soup, and they are so light that they are gluey!"
And so the girls found them. Still, the novelty of it reconciled them to that, and even when the soup was followed by pink boiled ham served with prunes, they only laughed. This course ended, and there came plates of something that looked, and tasted, not unlike porridge, and with this they ate cherries steeped in spirits. The whole meal was topped off by excellent coffee and rolls split and spread with jam of some kind. Eustacia looked rather askance at this queer mixture, and Nell saw to it that the Robin had only two cherries, and I wondered at her rather excessive caution; but the others enjoyed it all with keen appetite.
When the meal was finished, Nell sent the girls to unpack their suitcases and we retired to our room to undertake the same task. With characteristic efficiency, she finished long before I did and sat on her bed to watch me, grey eyes twinkling. "Don't tell Matey!"
I laughed, and remembered what I'd meant to ask earlier. Treading carefully - I wasn't yet completely sure where to trace the fine line between Nell's irreverent humour and her deep and serious commitment to her vocation and the girls she was responsible for - I asked about the Robin and the cherries.
Nell shrugged. "I don't know, really, but from Dr Jem's thinking it's always better to be safe than sorry as far as Robin is concerned. And it's not as if it seems any great hardship to her - that's not her nature. She has only two cherries, she simply delights in those cherries and doesn't ask for more. She certainly won't see the glacier, but she's thrilled just to be here with the others - especially Jo. Jem calls it instant obedience - I'm not sure that's quite what it is, myself, but the end result is the same. Mind you, they were a bit fierce, didn't you think? I could - eventually! - live with myself for accidentally permitting the other girls to grow tipsy on mysterious pudding accompaniments but, somehow, getting the Robin intoxicated seems an error of a different magnitude entirely!"
I laughed, pushing my now empty suitcase into the corner beside Nell's. "Did you think they were quite strong?" I built up my courage and hoped it wasn't misplaced. I couldn't look her at her as I spoke. "Strong enough that I might explain away any inappropriate actions as being committed under the influence, for example?" I held my breath, realising I had, at once, been both too vague and too obvious.
Nell laughed, too, but her laught had a very different quality to my own one only seconds earlier. I dared to turn and face her, meeting her gaze full on. She had the same smile she had given earlier, when I had been wittering about her hair. "'Inappropriate' is such an imprecise term, don't you think Con? I don't think I could possibly assess the alcoholic content of those cherries in such an unsatisfactorily vague context. Now, what do I think? I think the cherries were delightful, and I think we ought to round up our little darlings before they come looking to round up us, and return to this very interesting question later, by which time you certainly won't be under any alcoholic influence you might, very theoretically, be under at the present moment." And with that, she donned her coat, her hat and her scarf and whisked out of the room, leaving me to feebly rush to copy her and follow the party down the stairs.