Of course matron did not really approve of all the punishments that Mr Jacks gave the boys. She could not help see the marks on the boys , especially por Cuthbert whose bottom never seemed to be without fresh or fading stripes. She didn't know how he took it but she tried to provide him with as much love and comfort as she could. He and the younger boy Jamie would often come to her small room by the dorms and cuddle her. She loved the wya they nesstled into her breast and she 'mothered' them with hugs. She felt he was unfair to pick on certain boys and punish them harder than the others but.....
Matron's sons had grown now and left home, although she still saw them regularly. One of her sons was a groundsman at The Grange but she had a policy not to discuss things she saw in school with anyone.
Mr Jacks had made it perfectly clear that discipline in the house was his domain to administer as he saw fit.
This was matron's last job before retirement and she did not want to cause trouble. Jacks was aware that matron disapproved of his strictness but had ignored her feelings for so long that it did not matter to him now.
That afternoon Jacks had been inspecting the dorms. The prefects had made certain that they were tidy. Cuthbert, as head of house certainly did not want another beating so he had reminded the other boys that a 'batting' awaited anyone who failed to come up to the measure.
He was relieved when Mr Jacks pronounced the dorms satisfactory, and breathed a sigh of relief.
Jacks returned to his office for an hour of rest. He planned to see Jamie in his study at the boy's bedtime and sat back in his large leather chair planning the evenings events with the eight year old.