Then the hardest bit was when there was a knock on the door, and in came my brother – the first time I had seen him since the incident. He looked at me, and my eyes filled with tears, and I said ‘I’m sorry for letting you down’. But the headmaster, who was basically a kindly man, who had the welfare of his charges at heart, said ‘It’s all over now – go and enjoy your holiday.’
According to the ‘ethos’ of our family, I could never say I hadn’t deserved it. All the slipperings I had, I felt were just. But I wasn’t slippered or caned again after that incident.