Celia turned away from the punishment being meted out. Sure, she was entertained by the idea of watching Richard give Gemma her remaining seven lashes, but she had more important things to do.<br/><br/>She moved a stack of papers and perched casually on the edge of her desk. Richard himself held no real interest for her, other than as a work colleague she enjoyed teasing occasionally. She tolerated his hands, purely because she knew that if she told Mistress he'd been groping her and asked permission, it would be<em>him</em>spread-eagled on the punishment rack...<br/><br/>But her main concern right now was her own undisciplined student. Her smile was back, although it was somewhat harder. "Effie dear, you disobeyed a direct instruction from a teacher, your personal tutor, and worst, the deputy head. That in itself is a punishable offence. The fact that you seem to think that<em>you</em>have a better idea of what is right than those placed in authority over you is also a punishable offence."<br/><br/>She rummaged through the papers on her desk and found two copies of the school rules. "Here. Read this, sign one copy to say you've read and understood, keep the other copy yourself." As Effie read, and Richard punished Gemma, she sat dwn in the other chair next to the girl and gently fondled her knee.<br/><br/>"Honey, you are probably wondering about this school. Well, we are a special school for especially troublesome students. Some are sent here because they are unmanageable. Others are sent here for special training. You, it seems, were sent here by your father's creditors to receive special instruction. Once you have achieved  a satisfactory level of performance in this, you will be returned to them."<br/><br/>She giggled softly at the expression on Effie's face. "Oh, you poor naive child. There are many. many ways of paying debts, and there people and places to whom the law does not apply. Including this school!!