‘Now the hotel is doing so much better,’ she began, ‘and I think we all know why that is?’ She sent Justin an adoring look under her fluttering eyelashes. ‘We thought it’s time for us to leave Newton-cum-Hardy and take over the kitchen here. Just can still help Raoul if he needs it. It’s so handy the two hotels being so close to each other.’
Meg stared at her, wondering what on earth she was saying.
‘Justin will do the all the main cooking and I will take over the dessert side of things. For those of you that don’t know …’
Which was almost everyone, thought Meg.
‘… I’m a trained pastry chef. So I’ll do that and Meg – lovely Meg who we all value so much – will have a very special role making the cakes and scones and sandwiches and things for the afternoon teas.’
‘Lovely idea, Laura my dear,’ said Colin. ‘But have you given any thought to the cost? Nightingale Woods is scraping along the bottom on one chef. It could never afford to pay for three. Isn’t that right, Andrew?’
‘I’m afraid it is. Justin, have you costed any of this?’ asked Andrew.
Justin looked at Laura as if unsure what to say.
Meg couldn’t bear it. The thought of working alongside the man she loved and his glamorous, ‘trained pastry chef’ girlfriend was too painful. ‘It’s all right, everyone. I have a plan of my own. I won’t be available to make cakes for the hotel.’
‘Why ever not?’ asked Laura.
‘I’m going to France. I’m going to work in a restaurant and learn my trade,’ she said.
‘As a waitress?’ suggested Colin. ‘Can you speak French?’
‘Not as a waitress. In the kitchen. It’s what’s called doing astage,’ Meg explained.
‘What’s astage?’ asked Laura. ‘I don’t understand.’ She was obviously a bit put out.
‘Astageis when a young chef, someone who wants to learn, works in a professional kitchen,’ Justin explained. ‘They’re not usually paid and they are worked to the bone.’ He paused. ‘That said, there’s no better way to learn, and if Meg has managed to persuade a chef to take her on, she should absolutelydo it. She’s far too talented a chef to waste her skills making Victoria jam sponges,’ he finished.
‘Could you get a French chef to let you work in his kitchen?’ asked Andrew. ‘I thought the French were terribly conventional about things like that?’
‘I wouldn’t have thought that a restaurant kitchen is a suitable place for a lovely young girl like you,’ said Colin. ‘They’re terrible places. Isn’t that right, Justin?’
‘Meg is a talented and experienced chef. She has worked in professional kitchens before. This is a great opportunity for her. She should definitely take it,’ Justin said firmly.
‘But that means I’d have to make all the cakes!’ Meg heard Laura whisper to Justin.
‘Yes,’ said Meg. ‘And apart from making Victoria jam sponges, a fresh one every day, you’ll need to make a good Dundee cake, ginger cakes, coffee cakes, chocolate cakes, flapjacks, shortbread and, of course, scones.’ Meg smiled. ‘But for a professionally trained pastry chef, that will be – literally – a piece of cake!’
Laura continued to address Justin from behind her hand but at a lower volume this time. ‘We didn’t do any of those things in Switzerland.’
Meg got up. ‘Now, if everyone will excuse me, I’d better go and pack.’
‘When are you going, darling?’ asked Louise, anxious.
‘Tomorrow,’ said Meg. ‘It’s for the best.’
She left the dining room with her head held high but once in her room she sat on the bed and staredinto space. She felt utterly shocked and bereft. She was too upset to cry.
A little later Louise came in. She was carrying two mugs of hot chocolate and a pile of broken, home-made biscuits. ‘Are you all right, darling?’
She put her arms round her daughter and it was only then that Meg allowed herself to burst into tears.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Sadly for Meg’s pride, she couldn’t disappear from Nightingale Woods just like that. She had to arrange her journey to France, apart from cooking until Justin took over. However much she yearned to leave the hotel and not face anyone the following morning, she found that she couldn’t let the hotel down.
Andrew came into the kitchen early, while Meg was planning what to cook for dinner and lunch, should anyone be in. Breakfasts were simple and could easily be managed by Susan and Cherry, especially as Louise was back looking after the office side of things, so Cherry could be in the kitchen.
