Lesley: The Bottom Line
By Richard Manton from Janus 34. By popular demand, Lesley resumes her disciplinary adventures from Janus 13 & 21 . The house with the green verandah stood at the end of an elegant late-Georgian terrace, among tree-lined residential streets high above the city. Its classical façade was hidden by the screen of chestnut trees dividing the main road from the crescent of the private terrace-drive. There was nothing to indicate who lived in the house or what use it might be put to. Early on most afternoons several young women would arrive at intervals — never the same young women. Later on, one or two men would follow — never the same men. It was rare to see one of the girls leaving on foot or bicycle. As a rule they were collected by taxi or private car from the front door. The blouses, ties, and short pleated skirts of some of the girls suggested fifth-formers arriving for a lesson in deportment. Others, in...