As he spoke these words, a feverish animation swept over Tuppy. His eyes glittered with a strange light, and he thumped the bed violently with his fist, nearly catching me a juicy one on the leg.
That was what hurt, Bertie. That was what stung. I hadn't so much as started on that pie. But that's a woman all over.
The eternal feminine.
She continued her remarks. 'You've no idea,' she said, 'how Mr. Glossop loves food. He just lives for it. He always eats six or seven meals a day, and then starts in again after bedtime. I think it's rather wonderful.' Your aunt seemed interested, and said it reminded her of a boa constrictor. Angela said, didn't she mean a python? And then they argued as to which of the two it was. Your uncle, meanwhile, poking about with that damned pistol of his till human life wasn't safe in the vicinity. And the pie lying there on the table, and me unable to touch it. You begin to understand why I said I had been through hell.
Quite. Can't have been at all pleasant.
Presently your aunt and Angela settled their discussion, deciding that Angela was right and that it was a python that I reminded them of. And shortly after that we all pushed back to bed, Angela warning me in a motherly voice not to take the stairs too quickly. After seven or eight solid meals, she said, a man of my build ought to be very careful, because of the danger of apoplectic fits. She said it was the same with dogs. When they became very fat and overfed, you had to see that they didn't hurry upstairs, as it made them puff and pant, and that was bad for their hearts. She asked your aunt if she remembered the late spaniel, Ambrose; and your aunt said, 'Poor old Ambrose, you couldn't keep him away from the garbage pail'; and Angela said, 'Exactly, so do please be careful, Mr. Glossop.' And you tell me she loves me still!
I did my best to encourage.
Girlish banter, what?
Girlish banter be dashed. She's right off me. Once her ideal, I am now less than the dust beneath her chariot wheels. She became infatuated with this chap, whoever he was, at Cannes, and now she can't stand the sight of me.
I raised my eyebrows.
My dear Tuppy, you are not showing your usual good sense in this Angela-chap-at-Cannes matter. If you will forgive me saying so, you have got anidee fixe.
A what?
Anidee fixe. You know. One of those things fellows get. Like Uncle Tom's delusion that everybody who is known even slightly to the police is lurking in the garden, waiting for a chance to break into the house. You keep talking about this chap at Cannes, and there never was a chap at Cannes, and I'll tell you why I'm so sure about this. During those two months on the Riviera, it so happens that Angela and I were practically inseparable. If there had been somebody nosing round her, I should have spotted it in a second.
He started. I could see that this had impressed him.
Oh, she was with you all the time at Cannes, was she?
I don't suppose she said two words to anybody else, except, of course, idle conv. at the crowded dinner table or a chance remark in a throng at the Casino.
I see. You mean that anything in the shape of mixed bathing and moonlight strolls she conducted solely in your company?
That's right. It was quite a joke in the hotel.
You must have enjoyed that.
Oh, rather. I've always been devoted to Angela.
Oh, yes?
When we were kids, she used to call herself my little sweetheart.
She did?
Absolutely.
I see.
He sat plunged in thought, while I, glad to have set his mind at rest, proceeded with my tea. And presently there came the banging of a gong from the hall below, and he started like a war horse at the sound of the bugle.
Breakfast! he said, and was off to a flying start, leaving me to brood and ponder. And the more I brooded and pondered, the more did it seem to me that everything now looked pretty smooth. Tuppy, I could see, despite that painful scene in the larder, still loved Angela with all the old fervour.
This meant that I could rely on that plan to which I had referred to bring home the bacon. And as I had found the way to straighten out the Gussie-Bassett difficulty, there seemed nothing more to worry about.
It was with an uplifted heart that I addressed Jeeves as he came in to remove the tea tray.
-13-
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 muchan 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 thattill, as he is so apt to do, he starts shoving his oar in and cavilling and obstructinghe 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?