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Surprising as it might seem to pedants, Robert was right when he said he held women in high esteem. In fact, so high was the esteem he held them in that he had decided years ago to remove himself from circulation. He wasn’t up to standard; he would have only been a disappointment, as had been proven over and over again. No woman stayed with him for long once they found out what he was really like. Too meek, too mild, perhaps?
Take the new teacher, for example. Alice, or Miss Ayers as she was known to her pupils, was about his age and had a similarly nervous disposition to himself, along with wide eyes and a prominent nose. Some might have said her larger than average nose detracted from her other features, but Robert believed the opposite. …show more content…

And with that he’d smiled, pushed open the door to her room and walked out into the fray.
He’d been able to see at once what she’d had to put up with. She’d was lumbered with the worst possible collection of half-wits and thugs, most of them only one step above the inhabitants of the nearby zoo. If he had had his way, he’d have had them all shot – not that he agreed with capital punishment per se. But as with every rule, there are exceptions.
Class settled, and under threat of execution should trouble flare up again, Robert had left and returned to Alice. She had recovered her composure and was pacing the room with a slightly troubled expression hanging over her features.
“It’s best if you don’t go back in there. I’ll keep an eye on them.”
“Really? Thank you.”
“Do have anything to do? A book to read?”
“Not so much a book to read as marking to mark.”
“I’m surprised you don’t want to step back into the breach if that’s the alternative.”
Alice had smiled, “I take it you don’t enjoy marking?”
“You could put it that way.” He pointed at his desk. “Just look at that little lot.”
“I don’t mind it myself. I sit down with a mug of coffee, stick a CD on and work through the pile.”
“Whereas I lock myself in a darkened room, chain myself to a desk and physically force

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