Best Kept Secret

tracked her down to a Barnardo’s home in Bridgwater. When he came to the end,
Sebastian only had one question.
    ‘And when will you tell her the truth?’
    ‘I ask myself that same question every day.’
    ‘But why have you waited so long, Papa?’
    ‘Because I don’t want her to have to go through what you told me your friend Vic Kaufman experiences every day.’
    ‘Jessica will go through far worse if she stumbles across the truth herself,’ said Sebastian.
    Harry was shocked by his next question.
    ‘Do you want me to tell her?’
    Harry stared in disbelief at his 17-year-old son. When does a child become an adult, he wondered. ‘No,’ he finally said. ‘Your mother and I must take that responsibility. But
we’ll have to find the right moment.’
    ‘There won’t be a right moment,’ said Seb.
    Harry tried to recall the last time he heard those words.
    The third incident arose when Sebastian fell in love for the first time. Not with a woman, but a city. It was love at first sight, because he’d never come across anything so beautiful,
demanding, desirable and tempting all at the same time. By the time he turned his back on her to go back to Beechcroft, he was even more determined to see his name printed in gold leaf on the
school’s honours board.
    Once Sebastian had returned from Cambridge, he began to work hours he hadn’t realized existed, and even the headmaster was beginning to believe that the unlikely might prove possible. But
then Sebastian met his second love, which caused the final incident.
    He had been aware of Ruby’s existence for some time, but it wasn’t until his final term at Beechcroft that he really noticed her. He might not have done so even then if she
hadn’t touched his hand while he was standing at the serving plate waiting for a bowl of porridge. Sebastian assumed it was an accident, and wouldn’t have given it a second thought if
it hadn’t happened again the next day.
    He was queuing for a second helping of porridge, despite the fact that Ruby had already given him more than anyone else the first time round. As he turned to go back to his table, Ruby pressed a
slip of paper into his hand. He didn’t read it until he was alone in his study after breakfast.
    See you in Skool Lane at five?
    Sebastian was well aware that School Lane was out of bounds, and if a boy was caught there he would get six of the best from his housemaster. But he thought it was worth the risk.
    When the bell rang to announce the end of the final lesson, Seb slipped out of the classroom and took a long, circuitous route around the playing fields before climbing over a wooden fence and
stumbling down a steep bank into School Lane. He was fifteen minutes late, but Ruby appeared from behind a tree and headed straight for him. Sebastian thought she looked quite different, and not
just because she wasn’t wearing an apron and had changed into a white blouse and a black pleated skirt. She had also let her hair down, and it was the first time he had seen her wearing
lipstick.
    They didn’t find a lot to talk about, but after that first encounter they met twice, sometimes three times a week, but never for more than half an hour, as they both had to be back in time
for supper at six o’clock.
    Seb had kissed Ruby several times during their second get-together before she introduced him to the sensation of what happened when their lips parted and their tongues touched. However, he
didn’t progress much beyond groping and trying to discover different parts of her body as they hid behind a tree. But with only a fortnight to go before the end of term, she allowed him to
undo the buttons of her blouse and place a hand on her breast. A week later he located the clip on the back of her bra, and decided that once the exams were over, he was going to graduate in two
subjects.
    And that’s when it all went wrong.

28
    ‘R USTICATED ?’
    ‘You have left me with no choice, Clifton.’
    ‘But there are only four days to go before the end of term, sir.’
    ‘And heaven knows what you’d get up to during that time if I didn’t rusticate you,’ countered the headmaster.
    ‘But what have I done to deserve such a harsh punishment, sir?’
    ‘I think you know only too well what you’ve done, Clifton, but if you wish me to spell out how many school rules you’ve broken in the last few days, I will happily do
so.’
    Sebastian had to stop himself from grinning as he recalled his latest