Chapter 1

 

Marcus Preston took a careful look at the smartly dressed lady who sat opposite him in his spacious study. It was important that he got her measure quickly and worked out the best way to handle her.

He knew Victoria Le Fevre was about forty with a grown up child but she looked younger. She had the confidence that comes with good looks and a certain position in the world although he gathered she'd worked for her husband Sir Roland Le Fevre before they'd married and her origins were comparatively humble.

This morning she was dressed in a dark suit with skirt, plum coloured shirt and stockings- he wasn't sure if they hold up or if she was wearing suspenders. She crossed her slim legs at that moment and he couldn't help glancing down.

He knew he shouldn't allow himself to be distracted by a pretty woman, particularly this one. In truth she was more than pretty bordering on the beautiful, oval face, high cheek bones, retroussé nose, full lips (without enhancement he thought but then how would he know?) and hazel eyes under eyebrows that were not plucked out of sight. Marcus hated the pencil thin eyebrows favoured by some women.

She was wearing just a hint of eye makeup and a lipstick that matched the colour of her blouse, magenta or plum or purple red or whatever it was actually called. He noticed her nails were perfectly manicured and painted the same colour.

Of course Marcus appraised her physical attributes as far as he was able, judging she was curvy in the right places though she was slim and above average height for a woman, probably about five feet seven inches.

Her shiny dark hair was worn short which meant he could see her rather fetching white neck, not an area of the female body he usually spent time looking at but which hinted at fleshly delights under her expensive looking clothes.

She would not be a push over by any means but Marcus was sure he could manage her. It was essential he did. Although there was no doubt a Chairman of Governors had real power if he or she cared to use it, the Headmaster had to be the real leader and Marcus had no intention of letting Victoria Le Fevre undermine his authority any more than any other chairman he'd worked with in the past.

'Of course I don't expect to be just a figure head or a rubber stamp,' she said as if reading his mind.

'No, we welcome your active involvement Mrs Le Fevre.'

'Roland and I never invest in any venture unless we're fully committed. As a former pupil I'm very keen to see Marchbank Academy develop and prosper. We both have ideas we'd like to discuss with you.'

'Sounds interesting,' said Marcus with a distinct sinking feeling. Ideas were the last thing he wanted. He was glad of the cash injection Sir Roland was bringing along with the prestige that attached to his name but he wasn't looking for crack pot notions of how best to educate the young people in his charge.

'I think discipline is the key, don't you?'

Marcus felt a little frisson of feeling in his loins as he met the very direct look that accompanied the words. The feeling was increased when she said, 'You still use corporal punishment I hope?'

'Er...yes,' he replied, clearing his throat.

'What form?'

'We use the paddle, either the wooden variety or the knoppler slapper...made of leather.'

'I know what it is. Not the cane?'

'I sometimes use the cane for serious offences.'

'Bare bottom?'

'Oh, not these days!'

'In my day we were made to wear a spanking skirt. It had an opening in the back to expose the girl's bottom but modesty was preserved. The boys simply took their trousers down. I think these were valuable traditions. If corporal punishment is used it must really hurt otherwise the teachers are open to ridicule and authority is undermined.'

'Are you advocating a return to bare bottom punishments at Marchbank Academy Mrs Le Fevre?' Marcus said this to send up her old fashioned ideas and was amazed to hear her reply. 'I am advocating exactly that, Mr Preston. Any opposition can be forestalled by including the policy in a contact we require parents to sign as a condition of their child's entry to the school.'

'Well that's something we can think about,' said Marcus mildly.

'No, it's something I'd like implemented immediately.'

'I see.'

'I mean to be hands on. I'd like to take a look at the budget and accounts.'

'Oh, you needn't concern yourself with that degree of detail,' said Marcus.

'I'm a trained accountant. I used to work for Roland which is how we met. I'm obviously interested in how viable the school is at the time I take over and how much value we can add financially and in every other way.'

'I'm rather busy at the moment.'

'I won't need to trouble you personally unless I have any questions only you can answer as Headmaster. I take it you employ a bursar?'

'No I look after the finances myself,' said Marcus.

***

Charlotte, Marcus's wife, entered the study at that moment and was surprised to see how pale and shaken her husband looked, all his usual confidence seemed to have ebbed away in the presence of the visitor.

Victoria Le Fevre noticed it too.

She also noted what a handsome couple they made. Although her first impressions of the young Headmaster were not entirely favourable she had to concede he was an impressive physical specimen. She knew he had a considerable reputation as an all-round sportsman and an arctic explorer and at well over six feet tall and with a powerful frame he still looked fit and powerful despite leading a more sedentary existence in his role as Head of Marchbank Academy. His features were also strong though temporarily he looked ill at ease with a pained expression.

Victoria observed the swagger he'd exhibited when she'd first entered his study had disappeared and his loud voice had become less stentorian. She was shrewd enough to have noticed that the change in Mr Preston's manner had come about at the point where she'd mentioned taking a look at the school's accounts.

For the moment at least he was saved by the entrance of his wife.

Charlotte was even younger than Marcus; a very pretty, rather voluptuous, blonde girl of around twenty six or seven Victoria guessed. It was obvious immediately she represented an asset as a Headmaster's wife both in terms of her looks and her poise.

'I'm delighted to meet you, Mrs Le Fevre,' she said in a voice devoid of accent but pleasant in tone and accompanied by a sincere smile in an open face. 'I'm so looking forward to meeting Sir Roland,' she said. 'I've seen him on TV of course.'

Victoria was equally warm in response to Charlotte's greeting and when tea and sandwiches arrived the two women chatted to each other to the near exclusion of the still agitated husband.

When later Victoria was left alone in an office to look at the accounts on a computer screen she quickly identified a heading 'General Expenses' as an area of concern; the amounts under the catch-all heading varied from month to month going back over a long period and were not itemised.

When she summoned Marcus who was hovering in the main office he admitted these were his own expenses.

'Were these expenses authorised by the governors' finance sub-committee?'

'Not exactly.'

'What does that mean? Don't give me evasive answers Mr Preston.'

'I assume the governors know I re-reimburse myself for expenses I incur.'

'These are large amounts. What sort of expenses are we talking about?'

'Er...travel...that sort of thing.'

'Has the school been financing one of your arctic expeditions?'

'No, of course not.'

'I'm amazed you thought it proper to help yourself to expenses of this order on top of a generous salary. Did any governors even know how much you were siphoning off each month?'

'I resent that expression,' said Marcus.

'Don't bluster and bullshit me Preston and answer my question.'

'They never asked about any specifics.'

'That's hardly the point, is it? You've had your hand in the till for ages haven't you? It hardly requires an accountant to see what's been going on. You're obviously very stupid as well as corrupt.'

'I...er...'

'You've been using the school's money as your own private bank account. I suspect I'll find other irregularities when I look more closely. Isn't that correct?'

'I don't know what to say.'

'When were the school accounts last audited?'

'Not recently.'

'Have they ever been audited?'

'No Mrs Le Fevre.'

'I feel sorry for Charlotte. She seems a very nice girl. This is going to cause her huge embarrassment.'

'She knows nothing about this.'

'What have you been doing with the money?'

'I bet on the horses and other things. It makes me sound very stupid. I'm sorry.'

'I'll have to let the police know. The sooner the better I think.'

'Please don't do that Mrs Le Fevre...'

'I don't think I have a choice, do I?'

'It will attract bad publicity and the school will suffer.'

'We'll just have to ride out the storm and make a fresh start when all the fuss dies down. It's a bit late for you to profess concern for the school's reputation.'

'I do care.'

'You're obviously a weak willed creature hardly worthy to hold such a privileged position. The sooner you're gone the better.'

'Please don't involve the police. If I pay back the money...'

'You think you're in a position to pay it all back? It will take a long time I think.'

'I'll pay back every penny and I'll do anything else you ask.'

Victoria Le Fevre paused and looked Marcus up and down. She was sitting on the desk facing him and his was standing before her shifting his weight from foot to foot and twisting his hands like a naughty school boy. Under her relentless gaze he had the same feeling he'd experienced before when she'd talked about corporal punishment.

'You say you'll do anything?'

'Anything at all Mrs Le Fevre.'

'I think you better start by showing me a bit of respect.'

'I'm not sure what you mean. I do respect you. You're obviously a very intelligent woman as well as being very attractive if I may say...'

'I don't succumb to that sort of flattery Preston. I think you better address me as ma'am.'

'Really? If that's what you want. Won't people think it a little odd?'

'I'll be taking over the running of the school though I may keep you on as a figure head, a sort of puppet leader. I think that sounds right for someone totally without any backbone.'

'Yes ma'am.'

'I'll need to discuss it with my husband. He may decide we should throw you to the wolves.'

'Please ma'am. I'll accept any conditions you see fit to impose.'

'And any punishment I see fit to administer.'

'Yes ma'am.'

'Where do you keep the paddles and canes we were discussing?'

'In my study ma'am but...'

'We better adjourn to the said study. However, I think you better drop the possessive pronoun. Nothing here really belongs to you anymore.'