Chapter 1. School Days.
Jenny laid back feeling strangely elated even though their coupling had been hurried. It had been so sweet, the taking of Mark's virginity, however briefly.
"I'll never forget you," he murmured.
She smiled and replied gently, "Yes you will, darling, because you must; you'll go away and the memory of me will fade and you'll meet some nice girl, marry her and have children and that is how it should be."
It was his last day at St. Barnabas, a private school for boys. She had often thought it a strange and frustrating place to educate boys and, in their final year, what were really young men. They were cut off from female company except for the school matron, a few women who worked as cleaners and kitchen staff, and wives of house masters like herself. Then again, she was isolated herself in the system.
At eighteen she had lost both her parents. Six months after their death she had taken a short holiday at a seaside resort. There she had met Roger. Six weeks later they were married.
It was an incongruous union since Roger was forty, a bachelor and housemaster at St. Barnabas; yet at the time they seemed to meet each other's needs. She saw in him the father figure that she had missed so desperately since the death of her real father.
Roger had reached that point in his life when after years of celibacy he saw a lovely young girl whom he thought would fill the lonely years ahead. They were rather like two people clinging to a life raft in an endless sea.
Within a short time after their marriage they both knew it had been a mistake, but neither had found the courage to admit it. Roger was unable to give Jenny what she as an ardent young woman needed. This meant frustration for her and feelings of inadequacy for Roger.
When he brought her back to St. Barnabas and his housemaster's residence, there had been a furore among the dowdy and middle-aged wives of the other masters. These wives were jealous of her youthful beauty and were very aware of the interest their husbands took in her.
Their spitefulness and envy were hidden under such remarks as, "What does Roger think he's doing, marrying a girl her age? He must be mad and she's probably a tart on the make." What exactly Jenny was to "make" given Roger's unremarkable salary was never defined.
In short, Jenny found herself on the outer in a narrow academic world that was itself on the outer, or shall we say, isolated from much of mainstream life. Roger too shared some of this isolation, since he was the object of the harridans' wrath because he had brought Jenny into their little world.
The one bright spot in Jenny's new life were the boys. Their ages ranged from about twelve to eighteen, and not unexpectedly for boys going through that time of raging sex hormones with its accompanying overflowing sperm count, they took particular interest in this lovely wife of "Old Brandyballs" as they had named Roger – his name was Roger Brandon.
One of the rituals of the school was the housemaster's teas. These was held by the housemaster during the course of each term, and consisted of small groups of boys who were invited, or more accurately commanded, to attend his housemaster and his wife, if he had one, in their residence for afternoon tea.
The boys generally hated or even dreaded these boring gatherings, but short of a near death experience attendance could not be avoided. With the arrival of Jenny as a housemaster's wife, for the boys in Roger's house, life took on new meaning.
The first couple of groups soon after Jenny's arrival attended Roger's teas with more enthusiasm than usual just to get a closer look at his new wife; word soon passed around the school that Jenny was not only good to look at, but she was lively and fun loving.
This gave rise to more envy - the envy of the boys who were not in Roger's house. In the meantime, and much to Roger's surprise, when invitations were extended for tea, the boys accepted with more alacrity than he had ever witnessed before. The afternoon teas became, if not boisterous, at least more animated than Roger had experienced before, and it is surprising he never discovered why this sudden change occurred.
For Jenny these teas became bright spots in an otherwise dreary social landscape. She was, after all, closer in age to many of the boys than she was to Roger.
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Chapter 2.The New Boy
Jenny arrived at the school at the start of the academic year with its intake of new students. At first she was hardly able to distinguish one boy from the next since there were so many of them, but in time the various personalities began to emerge and she got to know them not only by name but also by temperament and character.
It was during the third term of that first year one boy began to stand out. At first it had been Roger who had drawn her attention to him. "That boy is going to be exceptional," he predicted.
The boy in question was named Mark Philips, and as Roger was won't to say, "Mark will make his mark; you mark my words, ha, ha, ha."
Having had her attention drawn to Mark, Jenny took particular note of him thereafter. Being one of the new intake he was only twelve at the time, but was already shaping up to be a good looking boy. His dark hair and slightly bronze complexion gave him a gipsy appearance. He showed no signs of the pimples that so often accompany youth, having a clear skin, and Jenny was most struck by his almost black brooding eyes.
If anything he was quieter than his fellow students and those dark eyes seemed to follow Jenny around the room. She was both flattered and slightly embarrassed by this attention since it seemed a little more intense than the eager gazes of the other boys. She told herself that it was probably because he was missing his mother, although being only seven or eight years older than Mark she hardly seemed to qualify for the maternal role.
Roger's words regarding Mark had been prophetic indeed. As he went on from year to year he became what was called, "An ornament for the school." He seemed to excel in everything he attempted, whether academic or on the sports field.
Over those years Jenny watched him grow in stature as well as achievement. Although he remained one of the quieter boys he was immensely popular and, youth being what it is and having something to prove, he had a fine way of defending the smaller or younger boys from bullying by those doing the proving.
Jenny had to admit to herself that she was drawn to him more than the other boys, although she tried to hide this from Roger, and to some extent from herself.
On speech and prize days Mark's parents would arrive at the school. His father proved to be a Colonel in the army, a tall handsome man, and his mother a stunningly beautiful woman, and immediately Jenny could see where Mark got his dark hair and bronze complexion from. His mother looked as if she was of Middle Eastern origin, and when Jenny was introduced to her she smiled and said, "You know, when Mark comes home during the vacations he talks about you constantly, I can see why now."
Jenny got the opportunity to know Mark more intimately when his father got an overseas posting for twelve months. It seemed that there were no close relatives to take Mark during the shorter vacations, and it did not seem worthwhile his going to join his parents for the limited time.
Thus arrangements were made for Mark to remain in the school. This was not unusual since a few of the other boys' parents lived and worked in distant places. It did mean, however, that the housemaster was expected to take a closer personal interest in the boy.
During those short vacations Mark came to spend more time with Roger and Jenny. Jenny got to ask him personal questions than she would have been able to do in the presence of the other boys during the teas.
He told her about his goal of taking a medical course, but along with that she learned of his enormously wide interests in all manner of subjects. His enthusiasm for the arts and sciences fired some interest in Jenny, whose education had been cut short by her early marriage.
As for that marriage, it went along in dreary fashion. Roger continued gentle and kind but as the years passed the possibility of their relationship developing into a passionate one receded and then disappeared. Jenny often wondered how Roger had even managed to take her virginity; this he had succeeded in doing only on the third night after their marriage.
She often thought of divorcing him, but his very kindness and devotion to her made her feel guilty at the thought of divorce. This became even more impossible when Roger was diagnosed as having what he called, "A dicky heart." Jenny even hoped that Roger would not make any attempt to make love with her since that dicky heart might give up during the act.
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Chapter 3. A Goodbye
With Mark there developed an ever closer bond, and not being completely naïve Jenny realised that there was a strong sexual element in his attachment to her.
During his final year Mark became school captain and this gave him even more freedom than was accorded to the other final year students. Along with this freedom, and as school captain, went a greater entrée to the housemaster and his residence. Consequently Mark had more access to Jenny.
Mark was now eighteen and he had fulfilled all the promise of being a fine looking young man. Jenny, now twenty six, had ambivalent feelings about Mark's impending departure from the school.
Despite their intimacy she had always managed to keep the necessary distance from Mark that was expected of a housemaster's wife. One sign of that was that Mark always addressed her as "Mrs. Brandon." This, however, had not prevented Mark from making occasional mildly flattering remarks like, "You're hair looks very nice, Mrs. Brandon," or, "You look very attractive in that dress."
Jenny had accepted these comments lightly, saying things like, "You look very smart yourself, Mark."
