A caning in any context was of course a punishment to be feared. But to be sent to be caned in the Headmaster’s study was really scary. Entering that private sanctuary to which you were rarely summoned. Alone with this distant authority figure. Under his complete authority. You were totally helpless and powerless in his presence, on his territory. You knew that the reason you were there was to have extreme pain applied to your backside. But the unfamiliar place, the loneliness away from all your classmates, the placing yourself in his power somehow made the punishment far, far worse.

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