Linton House Preparatory School has mislaid its French master and James Hoskins is asked back for a second innings. His diaries, and letters to an old friend, show that he has not found the return to teaching to be as fulfilling as he had hoped it would be. Various characters at the school conspire to make his life difficult, principally the Matron and Form IIIB with whom he clashes too frequently for his liking. With the Second World War imminent...