Because of the Lockwoods Part III

As Thea is on the verge of leaving school, planning to go to University, she learns that the three Lockwood girls and girls from other well to do families are all going to France for a year to learn French. She desperately want to go. She is eager to learn as much as she can. She finds that she can go as an “au pair” at the school. She will teach English, in exchange for board and French lessons. She won't be paid, but she will not have to pay school fees. The Lockwoods are not pleased that one of the Hunters is going with them...When they all travel to France they treat her with their usual haughtiness and are rude. Clare, the youngest girl is nicer, but desperately preoccupied with her own homesickness. Thea feels guilty that she has managed to have this opportunity of travel and further education when Molly and Molly are stuck in dull jobs and her mother is managing on a small annuity… However when they get there, they all have a shock. The school is shabby and not very comfortable. The English girls are surprised by the very basic facilities in the school, no bathrooms, simple food etc and they want to go home. Thea finds that her new employer has no intention of giving her French lessons and is determined to get as much work out of her as possible. Thea finds the headmistress unkind and harsh. She finds that the lady is willing to let the Lockwoods and their friends stay in school, but they are not expected to do any studying. The Headmistress does not want to lose them, so she lets them ignore lessons and just hopes they will stay for the year... Thea realises that with the problems of trying to teach unruly French girls and keep within the restrictions that are imposed on young girls in provincial France, she has lost much of her old obsessive dislike of the Lockwoods…