Sylvia nodded. ‘Yes, a new employment protection law passed last year. But only women who’ve been in their job for two years will benefit – and it’s not in force yet.’ She stopped herself thinking any more about that – to consider if she would be eligible for maternity leave was to acknowledge a reality she was trying hard to suppress.

‘And now you have Madame Thatcher – surely she’s going to make things even better for women if she gets into power.’

‘La dame de fer!’ Nina laughed. ‘Switzerland must seem like the most backwards place to you.’

Sylvia thought of turning up at Dirty Dan’s door to find him in his bathrobe, coincidentally just out of the shower even though her tutorial times were fixed weeks in advance. She thought of Clive squeezing her waist in false bonhomie as he brushed past her in the office kitchen. And the way all the men in the newsroom talked to Marnie’s substantial chest rather than her face.

‘Not exactly,’ she said. ‘I’m grateful for the legislative progress that’s been made back home. But there’s still so much to do, and just like here, attitudes take longer to change. Feminists aren’t exactly championed in the media.’

‘We know all about that. Here we’re either cast as old ladies in flat shoes or hysterical banshees,’ Nina said.

‘In the UK they think we’re all hard-faced, bra-burning ball-crushers.’ Sylvia smiled. ‘And as for Thatcher, though it’s wonderful we have a woman as leader of the opposition, she’s hardly the ultimate feminist. I think she’s out for herself, not for all women.’

‘But she’s a symbol, at least,’ Monique said. ‘Whatever she’s actually like, she shows women that they can do it, they can get there. We need that here. I mean, it will probably come, now we can vote and stand for office, but there still aren’t any women in the Federal Council.’

Sylvia nodded. The Swiss cabinet, she knew from her research.

‘It might take years yet because women weren’t in a position to get any experience of federal politics until we got the vote. And you can’t change the world in five years.’

‘Especially when society is against us right from the start.’ Evelyne leaned forward. ‘I mean, did you know that in many schools here, girls don’t even have the same education path as boys? They’re forced to take classes in needlework and knitting and homemaking, leaving them less time for maths and science. Girls are literally being brought up to be housewives.’ She took a swig of wine and Sylvia saw her eyes were slightly glazed.

‘And that’s why we’re doing this.’ Monique said. ‘Maths not knitting – shall we put it on a banner?’