I confess that his words filled me with a certain apprehension. I had heard gentlemen in whose employment I’ve been talk in very much the same way before, and it had almost invariably meant that they were contemplating matrimony. It disturbed me, therefore, I’m free to admit, when Mr. Wooster addressed me in this fashion. I had no desire to sever a connection so pleasant in every respect as his and mine had been, and my experience is that when the wife comes in at the front door the valet of bachelor days goes out at the back.
“It’s not your fault, of course,” went on Mr. Wooster, regaining a certain degree of composure. “I’m not blaming you. But, by Jove, I mean, you must acknowledge—I mean to say, I’ve been thinking pretty deeply these last few days, Jeeves, and I’ve come to the conclusion mine is an empty life. I’m lonely, Jeeves.”
“You have a great many friends, sir.”
“What’s the good of friends?”
“Emerson,” I reminded him, “says a friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of Nature, sir.”
“Well, you can tell Emerson from me next time you see him that he’s an ass.”
“Very good, sir.”
“What I want—Jeeves, have you seen that play called I-forget-its-dashed-name?”
“No, sir.”
“It’s on at the What-d’you-call-it. I went last night. The hero’s a chap who’s buzzing along, you know, quite merry and bright, and suddenly a kid turns up and says she’s his daughter. Left over from act one, you