Read Forbidden Lessons for Free Online Page A

yet often quite significant - that had passed the others by.
    "He looks at all of us," she said. "Probably to make sure we’re not messing around."

    "Dear Diary, I don’t what to make of today. I don’t if this is normal, or if I’m trying to read something into it because I want to. I should be excited about the Museum on Sunday, but all I can think of is the endless wait for the weekend to be over and it to be Monday and German again."

7. The new girl

    Mr Peters did not like Miss Wingrove. She had not been his first choice - or in fact his choice at all - for the English department. But she had been personally recommended by a close acquaintance of Mrs Grayson, who had decided to go above Mr Peters’ head on this occasion. The Headmistress was aware of the rumours surrounding the Head of English, but for as long as he kept getting a contingent of girls into Oxford and Cambridge each year she was under pressure not to disturb the waters.   After all, no girl nor parent had ever complained.
    So Mrs Grayson had decided that a sensible young woman like Miss Wingrove would be a useful addition to Mr Peter’s department, someone whom the girls might feel comfortable approaching if there were indeed any issues. Someone who also might be trusted - at some point - to keep her eyes open.  
    Mr Peters did not know any of this but the appointment alone was enough to rankle him. He had taken to calling her "Miss Winsome" sarcastically in his mind, and once or twice it had slipped out in class. The Lower School assumed it meant he fancied the new teacher and found it hilarious. The Sixth Form were a little more worldly wise and read his tone more accurately. Unfortunately for Mr Peters it only increased their liking of and loyalty towards the new teacher, rather than encouraging them to have any warmer feeling towards the Head of English.
    "Sir? Sir? I’ve forgotten my Merchant of Venice. Can I run back and get it?"  
    Irritated, he nodded. He wasn’t going to wait for the child. He couldn’t even remember her name, she wasn’t particularly bright or of any other interest to him. The girl, who was Mary Rudge, ran out to fetch the forgotten book.
    The Head of English was indeed having a difficult year. The school play being handed over to that simpering Miss Vine - for that foolish experiment with St Duncan’s - had enraged him. Quite apart from the fact that it was a huge obstacle to his customary private acting lessons, the sixth form girls would have their heads filled with pimply schoolboys. Eyeing the Lower School form in front of him, he idly wondered if he should take a leaf from Nabokov and set his sights a little younger this year.
    Charlotte Bevan looked older than her years, with her tall, shapely figure. She was also intelligent and spirited, qualities he admired. Her friend Laura Cardew piqued his interest slightly as well. Still waters, he thought. But neither girl was truly his type. He liked a darker, more Mediterranean appearance. The "Dark Lady" of Shakespeare’s sonnets as he rather foolishly liked to think.
    "We’ll read around the class. Charlotte, you’ll read Antonio." Having an attractive girl taking a male lead always gave him a frisson. "Laura, Portia." Teresa Hubert scowled at this, for she had wanted to be the heroine. He designated other roles. "I shall read Shylock," he proclaimed. Mr Peters always gave himself a character role, he adored the sound of his own voice.
    The lesson progressed, little Mary Rudge slipped in again almost unnoticed, and had to work out which page they were on from her neighbour. Charlotte and Laura had discovered there was a character called "Old Gobbo" which had given them a fit of the giggles. Charlotte kept having to cough to suppress her laughter as she spoke her lines and Mr Peters was getting progressively more irritated. It didn’t help that whenever Charlotte calmed down, Laura would murmur the offending name under her breath, setting Charlotte off again.