This infamy was more than he could own to, and he kept
his counsel concerning it. Fortunately he was safe in doing so, for
Dr. Skinner, pedant and more than pedant though he was, had just sense
enough to turn on Theobald in the matter of the school list. Whether
he resented being told that he did not know the characters of his
own boys, or whether he dreaded a scandal about the school I know not,
but when Theobald had handed him the list, over which he had
expended so much pains, Dr. Skinner had cut him uncommonly short,
and had then and there, with more suavity than was usual with him,
committed it to the flames before Theobald's own eyes.
Ernest got off with the head boys easier than he expected. It was
admitted that the offence, heinous though it was, had been committed
under extenuating circumstances; the frankness with which the
culprit had confessed all, his evidently unfeigned remorse, and the
fury with which Dr. Skinner was pursuing him tended to bring about a
reaction in his favour, as though he had been more sinned against than
sinning.
As the half year wore on his spirits gradually revived, and when
attacked by one of his fits of self-abasement he was in some degree
consoled by having found out that even his father and mother, whom
he had supposed so immaculate, were no better than they should be.
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