Wherein Bertie Dines and Is Acquainted with a Young Gentleman of Scottish Origin

[bertiewwooster]

Dinner was a quiet affair for me that evening.  Or at least it was until I met a young fellow by the name of Laurie (short for Lawrence) who proved to be as spiffing a dinner companion as a chap could ask for.  A Scottish bird, you see, with all the pipe-smoking ginger-hairedness one would expect of that breed.  And, let me tell you, the johnnie

Comments

[bertiewwooster]

Well, I was blowed if I knew what that meant, but I gave Jeeves a nod as he oiled off to fold my clothes properly.

The bath, when I lowered myself into it, certainly didn't seem hard to me, rather it was quite the perfect temperature, smelling pleasingly of lavender, or some other such flora-scented bubble bath. After soaping the Wooster limbs liberally, I picked up Ernie, the rubber duck who accompanies me in my baths.

'What ho, old thing,' I said quietly, so as not to arouse Jeeves's curiosity as to who I was talking to in the bath. It would, after all, have been a bit rum if I had someone in there with me. Ernie, of course, said nothing back, and I resumed my thinking in silence.

In the spy novels, the detective cove always puts together a list of evidence, which seems to inevitably lead him to the conclusion he's looking for, so I figured I'd try for something similar. I leaned back in the bath, wracked the old coconut, and began to make up a list.

Item One. Jeeves acting rum lately.

Item Two. How? Giving Bertram queer looks, standing closer than usual, inquiring after health when there is nothing wrong, etc.

Item Three. Perhaps am simply imagining things; wishful thinking, or some other such loony doctor rot.

Item Four. Or, it could be Jeeves suspects, and is trying to get me to let it slip through increased contact.

Item Five. Suspects and reciprocates?

Item Six. Never.

Item Seven. In case of Item Four being true, Bertram must be even more careful than usual. If Jeeves stands close, let him do so; any reaction will clue him into my affections.

Item Eight. Must remember the calibre of the Jeevesian brain. Very careful.

I sighed to myself, looking to Ernie as to a sympathetic chum. 'Do you ever have these problems, old thing? I can't imagine you do, being a rubber duck. Lucky bugger.'

[jr_ganymede]

Jeeves cannot come to a conclusion.

At first, he had settled quite firmly at the idea of, well, simply putting the matter away for now. Tabling it, if you will, until such a time as he could obtain more definitive evidence one way or the other. To rush to conclusions - or indeed, more thorough investigations - could prove disastrous. To have to find a new employer would be... undesirable at best.

But now Jeeves is faced with new, unhunted-for evidence that seems so clearly obvious to him as to be undeniable. Trousers, undershirt, dress shirt, and even the socks have been carefully folded one way or another and laid atop each other; where the abundance of creases and lumps would normally cause someone such as Jeeves to flinch, this is a different matter entirely. He has been in Mr. Wooster's employ too long to misread this.

From the bathroom, soft murmuring sounds can be heard underneath the splashes. Jeeves, torn from the sight on the bed corner, turns to look toward the door. Ernie has been privy to many a conversation with Mr. Wooster, most memorably when the duck was trusted with the information that Bertram was dreadfully glad that Jeeves had returned after the musical instrument incident.

Jeeves, very slowly, smiles. And begins to refold.

[bertiewwooster]

Though my grey matter was still troubled, I enjoyed my bath nonetheless, and it was a contented Bertram who emerged some time later clad in pyjamas and once again wrapped in my dressing gown. Rather than let the sandman work his magic right away, however, I settled down in an armchair with a contemplative cigarette and one of the detective novels of earlier mention.

I could sense, rather than hear Jeeves shimmering about the place behind me, doing whatever it was the chap does in the evenings. A little grin curled about the Wooster mouth. Not to say that everything was oojah-cum-spiff on that count, not in the least, but I had done some thinking and felt a bit more at ease with myself. At any rate, I could now properly steel my backbone and charge ahead. Or hang back, as is more accurate, but either way, I could do it properly now.

[jr_ganymede]

Jeeves does indeed shimmer, and even allows himself a few cursory glances in Bertram's direction from time to time. It's more than he's allowed himself in the last few years. As the night draws to a close, he lets the curtains down and goes briefly to his own room, unneeded for now.

[bertiewwooster]

It wasn't long before I retired to bed as well (I presumed that Jeeves had done so, but I suppose I could have been wrong.) Diverting though the adventures of Sam Westingham undoubtedly were, it wasn't quite enough to silence the thoughts bouncing noisily about on the inside of my skull.

Unusually for me, sleep was dashed slow in coming that eve. I was, you see, plunged deep in thought. Extraordinary how I kept doing that as of even date. It just shows what life is like now. I don't suppose in the old days I would have been plunged in thought more than about once a month. But there was naught to be done for it, so I simply waited, counting the sheep which danced before my tired peepers before I drifted off.