Right Ho, Jeeves
"Jeeves," I said.
"Sir?"
"I've just been having a chat with young Tuppy, Jeeves. Did you happen to notice that he wasn't looking very roguish this morning?"
"Yes, sir. It seemed to me that Mr. Glossop's face was sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought."
"Quite. He met my cousin Angela in the larder last night, and a rather painful interview ensued."
"I am sorry, sir."
"Not half so sorry as he was. She found him closeted with a steak-and-kidney pie, and appears to have been a bit caustic about fat men who lived for food alone."
"Most disturbing, sir."
"Very. In fact, many people would say that things had gone so far between these two nothing now could bridge the chasm. A girl who could make cracks about human pythons who ate nine or ten meals a day and ought to be careful not to hurry upstairs because of the danger of apoplectic fits is a girl, many people would say, in whose heart love is dead. Wouldn't people say that, Jeeves?"
"Undeniably, sir."
"They would be wrong."
"You think so, sir?"
"I am convinced of it. I know these females. You can't go by what they say."
"You feel that Miss Angela's strictures should not be taken too much au pied de la lettre, sir?"
"Eh?"
"In English, we should say 'literally'."
"Literally. That's exactly what I mean. You know what girls are. A tiff occurs, and they shoot their heads off. But underneath it all the old love still remains. Am I correct?"
"Quite correct, sir. The poet Scott----"
"Right ho, Jeeves."
"Very good, sir."
"And in order to bring that old love whizzing to the surface once more, all that is required is the proper treatment."
"By 'proper treatment,' sir, you mean----"
"Clever handling, Jeeves. A spot of the good old snaky work. I see what must be done to jerk my Cousin Angela back to normalcy. I'll tell you, shall I?"
"If you would be so kind, sir."
I lit a cigarette, and eyed him keenly through the smoke. He waited respectfully for me to unleash the words of wisdom. I must say for Jeeves that--till, as he is so apt to do, he starts shoving his oar in and cavilling and obstructing--he makes a very good audience. I don't know if he is actually agog, but he looks agog, and that's the great thing.
"Suppose you were strolling through the illimitable jungle, Jeeves, and happened to meet a tiger cub."
"The contingency is a remote one, sir."
"Never mind. Let us suppose it."
"Very good, sir."
"Let us now suppose that you sloshed that tiger cub, and let us suppose further that word reached its mother that it was being put upon. What would you expect the attitude of that mother to be? In what frame of mind do you consider that that tigress would approach you?"
"I should anticipate a certain show of annoyance, sir."
"And rightly. Due to what is known as the maternal instinct, what?"
"Yes, sir."
"Very good, Jeeves. We will now suppose that there has recently been some little coolness between this tiger cub and this tigress. For some days, let us say, they have not been on speaking terms. Do you think that that would make any difference to the vim with which the latter would leap to the former's aid?"
"No, sir."
"Exactly. Here, then, in brief, is my plan, Jeeves. I am going to draw my Cousin Angela aside to a secluded spot and roast Tuppy properly."
"Roast, sir?"
"Knock. Slam. Tick-off. Abuse. Denounce. I shall be very terse about Tuppy, giving it as my opinion that in all essentials he is more like a wart hog than an ex-member of a fine old English public school. What will ensue? Hearing him attacked, my Cousin Angela's womanly heart will be as sick as mud. The maternal tigress in her will awake. No matter what differences they may have had, she will remember only that he is the man she loves, and will leap to his defence. And from that to falling into his arms and burying the dead past will be but a step. How do you react to that?"
"The idea is an ingenious one, sir."
"We Woosters are ingenious, Jeeves, exceedingly ingenious."
"Yes, sir."
"Sir?"
"I've just been having a chat with young Tuppy, Jeeves. Did you happen to notice that he wasn't looking very roguish this morning?"
"Yes, sir. It seemed to me that Mr. Glossop's face was sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought."
"Quite. He met my cousin Angela in the larder last night, and a rather painful interview ensued."
"I am sorry, sir."
"Not half so sorry as he was. She found him closeted with a steak-and-kidney pie, and appears to have been a bit caustic about fat men who lived for food alone."
"Most disturbing, sir."
"Very. In fact, many people would say that things had gone so far between these two nothing now could bridge the chasm. A girl who could make cracks about human pythons who ate nine or ten meals a day and ought to be careful not to hurry upstairs because of the danger of apoplectic fits is a girl, many people would say, in whose heart love is dead. Wouldn't people say that, Jeeves?"
"Undeniably, sir."
"They would be wrong."
"You think so, sir?"
"I am convinced of it. I know these females. You can't go by what they say."
"You feel that Miss Angela's strictures should not be taken too much au pied de la lettre, sir?"
"Eh?"
"In English, we should say 'literally'."
"Literally. That's exactly what I mean. You know what girls are. A tiff occurs, and they shoot their heads off. But underneath it all the old love still remains. Am I correct?"
"Quite correct, sir. The poet Scott----"
"Right ho, Jeeves."
"Very good, sir."
"And in order to bring that old love whizzing to the surface once more, all that is required is the proper treatment."
"By 'proper treatment,' sir, you mean----"
"Clever handling, Jeeves. A spot of the good old snaky work. I see what must be done to jerk my Cousin Angela back to normalcy. I'll tell you, shall I?"
"If you would be so kind, sir."
I lit a cigarette, and eyed him keenly through the smoke. He waited respectfully for me to unleash the words of wisdom. I must say for Jeeves that--till, as he is so apt to do, he starts shoving his oar in and cavilling and obstructing--he makes a very good audience. I don't know if he is actually agog, but he looks agog, and that's the great thing.
"Suppose you were strolling through the illimitable jungle, Jeeves, and happened to meet a tiger cub."
"The contingency is a remote one, sir."
"Never mind. Let us suppose it."
"Very good, sir."
"Let us now suppose that you sloshed that tiger cub, and let us suppose further that word reached its mother that it was being put upon. What would you expect the attitude of that mother to be? In what frame of mind do you consider that that tigress would approach you?"
"I should anticipate a certain show of annoyance, sir."
"And rightly. Due to what is known as the maternal instinct, what?"
"Yes, sir."
"Very good, Jeeves. We will now suppose that there has recently been some little coolness between this tiger cub and this tigress. For some days, let us say, they have not been on speaking terms. Do you think that that would make any difference to the vim with which the latter would leap to the former's aid?"
"No, sir."
"Exactly. Here, then, in brief, is my plan, Jeeves. I am going to draw my Cousin Angela aside to a secluded spot and roast Tuppy properly."
"Roast, sir?"
"Knock. Slam. Tick-off. Abuse. Denounce. I shall be very terse about Tuppy, giving it as my opinion that in all essentials he is more like a wart hog than an ex-member of a fine old English public school. What will ensue? Hearing him attacked, my Cousin Angela's womanly heart will be as sick as mud. The maternal tigress in her will awake. No matter what differences they may have had, she will remember only that he is the man she loves, and will leap to his defence. And from that to falling into his arms and burying the dead past will be but a step. How do you react to that?"
"The idea is an ingenious one, sir."
"We Woosters are ingenious, Jeeves, exceedingly ingenious."
"Yes, sir."