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Authors: P. G. Wodehouse
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instant a display of the Miller fire and impetuosity—that these Lionels and what not were a very poor lot compared with some of the men she had met more recently.
"Good-bye," he said, pressing her hand with respectful tenderness.
"Good-bye, Mr. Adair. And thank you for helping us."
"Thank you for giving me the opportunity of helping you," said Jeff.
She hurried out, and Jeff, turning to bid farewell to Lord Uffenham, found that mountainous individual regarding him with an unwinking stare.
"Ha!" said Lord Uffenham. "Ha! Hey, what?"
Jeff inclined his head in courteous interrogation. Lord Uffenham jerked a thumb at the door through which Anne had passed.
"In love with her, ain't yer, hey?"
The question was so sudden and unexpected that Jeff found himself answering with the automatic candour of a hypnotised subject on a platform.
"Yes," he said.
"Thought as much," said Lord Uffenham. "Stuck out a mile. She's like me, that girl."
"Er—in what way?" asked Jeff, who had not been struck by any resemblance.
"No woman has ever been able to resist me," said Lord Uffenham modestly, "and no young feller I've ever seen has been able to resist her."
He navigated laboriously through the door, to reappear like the Cheshire Cat and fix Jeff with that tense, unblinking stare.
"Well, wish yer luck," he said, and disappeared again, this time permanently. And Jeff, after a few moments of profound meditation, made his way slowly down the stairs and went back to Halsey Chambers.
Some minutes later, when it had become absolutely clear to him that he had the office to himself, Chimp Twist emerged from the cupboard, gave his moustache a thoughtful twirl and sat down at the desk to smoke a cigarette.
His brain was working briskly.
CHAPTER VII
Anne Benedick had been waiting in the hall of Lord Uffenham’s club some ten minutes before his lordship finally appeared, descending the broad staircase with one hand glued to the arm of a worried-looking Bishop, with whom he was discussing Supralapsarianism. At the sight of Anne, he relaxed his grip, and the Bishop shot gratefully off in the direction of the Silence Room. Lord Uffenham eyed his niece with a guilty sheepishness which he endeavoured to conceal beneath a bluff exterior.
"Hullo, my dear. Just arrived, hey? Capital. Late, ain't yer?"
"No, I am not late," said Anne, with the severity which she was so often called upon to employ in her dealings with the head of the family. "And I have not just arrived. They took my name up to you a quarter of an hour ago."
"So they did, so they did. I remember now. I was showing some of the boys a trick with matches, and lost track of the time. I'll fetch my hat."
"You've got it on."
"Have I? Then let's go."
"We'd better. I shall have to drive with terrific speed, if I'm to get you back before you're missed."
"Didn't I tell you it was my afternoon out?"
"No, you didn't. Do you mean you've let me fret myself to a shadow, when all the time I needn't have worried?"
"It's this memory of mine. Very uncertain it has become in many respects."
They made their way to where the two-seater stood, and Anne moved back to allow her companion to enter. There had been a time when, sharing a car with him, she would have taken her seat first, but a few experiences of having the vehicle play cup-and-ball with her under the impact of that enormous mass had taught her prudence. It was Lord Uffenham's practice, when he intended to sit, to hover poised for a moment and then, relaxing limply, to come down with a bump, like an avalanche.
Silence fell between them at the outset of the journey. Anne preferred not to talk in London traffic, and Lord Uffenham was thinking of all the good things he could have said to the Bishop, if he had not been so pressed for time. That rigid look came over his face and limbs, and until they had passed through the suburbs he was simply not to be numbered among those present, the impression he conveyed being that he
"Good-bye," he said, pressing her hand with respectful tenderness.
"Good-bye, Mr. Adair. And thank you for helping us."
"Thank you for giving me the opportunity of helping you," said Jeff.
She hurried out, and Jeff, turning to bid farewell to Lord Uffenham, found that mountainous individual regarding him with an unwinking stare.
"Ha!" said Lord Uffenham. "Ha! Hey, what?"
Jeff inclined his head in courteous interrogation. Lord Uffenham jerked a thumb at the door through which Anne had passed.
"In love with her, ain't yer, hey?"
The question was so sudden and unexpected that Jeff found himself answering with the automatic candour of a hypnotised subject on a platform.
"Yes," he said.
"Thought as much," said Lord Uffenham. "Stuck out a mile. She's like me, that girl."
"Er—in what way?" asked Jeff, who had not been struck by any resemblance.
"No woman has ever been able to resist me," said Lord Uffenham modestly, "and no young feller I've ever seen has been able to resist her."
He navigated laboriously through the door, to reappear like the Cheshire Cat and fix Jeff with that tense, unblinking stare.
"Well, wish yer luck," he said, and disappeared again, this time permanently. And Jeff, after a few moments of profound meditation, made his way slowly down the stairs and went back to Halsey Chambers.
Some minutes later, when it had become absolutely clear to him that he had the office to himself, Chimp Twist emerged from the cupboard, gave his moustache a thoughtful twirl and sat down at the desk to smoke a cigarette.
His brain was working briskly.
CHAPTER VII
Anne Benedick had been waiting in the hall of Lord Uffenham’s club some ten minutes before his lordship finally appeared, descending the broad staircase with one hand glued to the arm of a worried-looking Bishop, with whom he was discussing Supralapsarianism. At the sight of Anne, he relaxed his grip, and the Bishop shot gratefully off in the direction of the Silence Room. Lord Uffenham eyed his niece with a guilty sheepishness which he endeavoured to conceal beneath a bluff exterior.
"Hullo, my dear. Just arrived, hey? Capital. Late, ain't yer?"
"No, I am not late," said Anne, with the severity which she was so often called upon to employ in her dealings with the head of the family. "And I have not just arrived. They took my name up to you a quarter of an hour ago."
"So they did, so they did. I remember now. I was showing some of the boys a trick with matches, and lost track of the time. I'll fetch my hat."
"You've got it on."
"Have I? Then let's go."
"We'd better. I shall have to drive with terrific speed, if I'm to get you back before you're missed."
"Didn't I tell you it was my afternoon out?"
"No, you didn't. Do you mean you've let me fret myself to a shadow, when all the time I needn't have worried?"
"It's this memory of mine. Very uncertain it has become in many respects."
They made their way to where the two-seater stood, and Anne moved back to allow her companion to enter. There had been a time when, sharing a car with him, she would have taken her seat first, but a few experiences of having the vehicle play cup-and-ball with her under the impact of that enormous mass had taught her prudence. It was Lord Uffenham's practice, when he intended to sit, to hover poised for a moment and then, relaxing limply, to come down with a bump, like an avalanche.
Silence fell between them at the outset of the journey. Anne preferred not to talk in London traffic, and Lord Uffenham was thinking of all the good things he could have said to the Bishop, if he had not been so pressed for time. That rigid look came over his face and limbs, and until they had passed through the suburbs he was simply not to be numbered among those present, the impression he conveyed being that he
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