'Did you find those boys difficult to manage? asked Mr Prendergast, filling his pipe.
'Not at all, said Paul.
'Ah, you're lucky. I find all boys utterly intractable. I don't know why it is. Of course my wig has a lot to do with it. Have you noticed that I wear a wig?
'No, no, of course not.
'Well, the boys did as soon as they saw it. It was a great mistake my ever getting one. I thought when I left Worthing that I looked too old to get a job easily. I was only forty‑one. It was very expensive, even though I chose the cheapest quality. Perhaps that's why it looks so like a wig. I don't know. I knew from the first that it was a mistake, but once they had seen it, it was too late to go back. They make all sorts of jokes about it.
'I expect they'd laugh at something else if it wasn't that.
'Yes, no doubt they would. I daresay it's a good thing to localize their ridicule as far as possible. Oh dear! oh dear! If it wasn't for my pipes, I don't know how I should manage to keep on. What made you come here?
'I was sent down from Scone for indecent behaviour.
'Oh yes, like Grimes?
'No, said Paul firmly, 'not like Grimes.