The Secret Prince by Violet Haberdasher Read Free Book Online Page B

his essay, a shadow fell over his page. He looked up. Lord Havelock glared down at him with his signature Havelook of Doom.
    “Sir?” Henry asked, his throat dry.
    “Forgotten something, Mr. Grim?”
    “No, sir,” Henry whispered. “I read the book. I just—er—had it on loan.”
    “Couldn’t afford to buy one, Grim?” Theobold asked nastily.
    Henry bit his lip and said nothing. Lord Havelock hadn’t told them to
purchase
a copy, just to
read
it. And yet, though he’d followed the assignment to the letter, Henry still felt as though he’d turned up with his homework unfinished.
    “And, Mr. Beckerman,” said Lord Havelock. “What is
your
excuse?”
    “Er—forgot mine,” Adam mumbled.
    Belatedly Henry remembered Adam insisting that he’d get around to the reading eventually, probably on the train. And yet they’d read silly magazines and chatted with Edmund and Luther the whole way.
    “Such a pity … and did you enjoy the engravings, Mr. Beckerman?” Lord Havelock asked innocently.
    “Yeah, loads,” Adam fibbed.
    Henry winced.
    “There were no engravings in
Revolution Through the Ages
,” Lord Havelock whispered, and the temperature in the room seemed to drop.
    “No, sir,” mumbled Adam.
    “You may leave the room, Mr. Beckerman,” said Lord Havelock. “Tomorrow I shall expect a
five
-page essay under the door of my office before chapel. Do I make myself clear?”
    “Very clear, sir,” mumbled Adam, packing his things.
    “And you, Mr. Grim,” Lord Havelock continued. “If you will be requiring a
charity fund
to purchase books in the future, I trust that you will notify the headmaster well in advance.”
    Henry blushed furiously. With enormous effort he turned his attention back to the essay and did not let his mind wander until class was dismissed.
    * * *
    Henry had been looking forward to visiting Professor Stratford during his hour free, but the moment Protocol ended, Adam whined so piteously about Lord Havelock’s essay that Henry found himself agreeing to help—or at least to keep Adam company in the library instead.
    “Don’t worry about the essay,” Henry said as they walked through the first-floor corridor with the suits of armor that grasped for invisible weapons, long since removed. “Lord Havelock just wanted to make an example of you.”
    “I’m not worried about the essay.”
    “You haven’t said a word since we left Turveydrop’s classroom,” Henry pointed out.
    Adam was suddenly fascinated by a bit of loose thread on his blazer pocket. “I … I heard you and Rohan talking last night.”
    “Why didn’t you say something?”
    “Dunno.” Adam shrugged. “But if that’s how Rohan feels about Frankie, he can go off and be friends with Theobold and that lot.”
    “You don’t mean that,” Henry said.
    “Yeah, I do.” Adam glared. “It’s as though he wants to forget about everything that happened lastterm and pretend that our biggest problem was being unpopular.”
    “Well,” Henry said, considering, “Rohan was already back home when everything happened with Sir Frederick. He didn’t go up against the board of trustees and tell them the truth about the Nordlands. And he didn’t spend his holiday in the city. Maybe he feels as though we’re leaving him out and he needs other options.”
    “That’s ridiculous,” Adam muttered stubbornly. “And anyway, I’ve decided to be cross with him no matter what.”
    “He
did
lend you his copy of
Revolution Through the Ages
,” Henry said as they turned the corner and the great wooden doors to the library came into view.
    “While he went off to play checkers with
James
.” Adam made a face.
    “What’s wrong with James?”
    Neither of them could help it—they burst out laughing. James, while friendly enough, talked of nothing except sports. Ever.
    Adam had tested this theory at the end of last term, asking James an innocent question about Latin grammar, which had hilariously started him off on a