“In this immense, luxurious hotel, situated two thousand odd metres
above sea-level, as the announcement-cards stuck everywhere say, more
than a hundred of us gather in the dining-room at lunch-time. The
greatest coolness, the most frozen composure reigns among us.
“It is obvious that, thus harboured and united by chance in this hotel,
we disturb one another; a wall of prejudices and conventionalities
separates us. The English old maids read their romantic novels; the
German families talk among themselves; some Russian or other drinks
champagne while he stares with vague and inexpressive eyes; and
some swarthy man from a sultry country appears to be crushed by the
lugubrious silence.
“Through the windows one can see Lake Leman, closed in near here by
mountains, blue like a great turquoise, ploughed by white, triangular
sails. From time to time one hears the strident noise of a steamboat’s
siren and the murmur of the funicular train.”