One of the first people James meets at Eton is an older boy called George Hellebore. George is an arrogant, American bully and a cheat. He quickly becomes James’s worst enemy, but it is obvious that it is George’s father who has made him the way he is.
‘He was different from the English boys. He looked healthier – as if he’d been pumped up with vitamins and goodness, with orange juice and milk and fat steaks. He had wide shoulders and clear, sun-tanned skin. His big, strong, jaw was packed with gleaming white teeth and his eyes were so blue they looked unreal…’