In the hushed atmosphere of a provincial museum, Evelyn is drawn to a display that seems to pulse with an unspoken invitation. In a meticulously preserved 1950s classroom, the ominous presence of a crook handled cane hints at discipline long past, yet somehow still alive. Custodian of the Cane is a tale of curiosity awakened and boundaries tested. For Evelyn, this encounter with history will reveal desires she never thought she could admit.
Echoes of Discipline
The Living Museum of Yesteryear was a tapestry, each exhibit a thread woven with meticulous care to transport visitors to another time. These whispers and echoes of the past were not merely remembered, but breathed and lived. The air was thick with the scent of aged parchment and the faintest must of relics, as if the walls held memories of generations.
Evelyn wandered through the corridors, her tummy fluttering with a mix of curiosity and something else, something closer to anticipation. A miner’s cottage, a bathtub before a coal fire, a butcher’s shop with an apple-cheeked actor behind the counter. Each of these scenes provoked only passing smiles. But then she turned a corner and stopped.
At St Cuthbert’s, discipline was rarely administered, but never forgotten. When Tom Allardyce, a model prefect in his final year, makes one reckless mistake, he finds himself summoned to a place he never imagined he’d be. In the hands of his formidable Housemistress, justice is swift, solemn, and strictly by the book. But behind the ritual of punishment lies something more enduring: a lesson in humility, trust, and the quiet beginning of self-discovery. A story of regret, resolve, and the sting of becoming the man you're meant to be.
There was less than a month to go before the end of term. Devastated, Tom Allardyce found himself outside Miss Harding's private study. St Cuthbert's was a progressive boarding school, but he had committed a cardinal sin.
Corporal punishment was rare, remaining on the books for only a few offences. Smoking, drinking, theft, bullying. He knew this as well as anyone. He'd reached his final year of the upper-sixth and had never faced that awful sanction.
When Delia Hastings is summoned to the headmistress’s study during her final week at St. Eleanora’s Summer School for Young Ladies, she expects a stern talking-to, not a formal correction in front of her peers. But tradition runs deep at St. Eleanora’s, and decorum must be restored. What follows is a quiet reckoning: six strokes, six memories, and a lesson in grace that may stay with her far longer than she ever expected.
“No summer ever came back, and no two summers ever were alike.” (Christina Rossetti)
Chapter 1: Miss Hastings is Summoned
Delia Hastings stood in front of the desk with her hands clasped before her, not because she had been told to, but because anything else felt entirely out of place. She had hoped it would prevent her from fidgeting, though she still felt jittery, her tummy fluttering like a butterfly.
Clementine turns to a trusted advice column after an ill-advised bout of early morning skinny dipping leaves her quite literally exposed and at the mercy of Rose, the gardener’s assistant, whose bamboo cane proves surprisingly persuasive. A blushing confession of barefaced mischief, botanic discipline, and a young lady’s deepening appreciation for blooms and blushes.
The Skinny Dipping Incident
A breathless confession from Little Dithering, where one debutante's morning dip turns unexpectedly educational…