Cocktail Time by P. G. Wodehouse

Author:P. G. Wodehouse [P G Wodehouse]
Format: epub
Tags: Comedy
ISBN: 9781409035220
Publisher: Random House
Published: 2009-12-21T04:00:00+00:00

What knitting was to old Mr Saxby, fishing was to Lord Ickenham. He had not yet caught anything, nor was he expecting to, but sitting in a punt, watching a bobbing float, with the white clouds drifting across the blue sky above him and a gentle breeze from the west playing about his temples, helped him to think, and happenings at Hammer Hall of late had given him much to think about. The recent muster of the vultures had not escaped his notice, and, even had it done so, the fact that his room had been twice ransacked in the past two days would have drawn it to his attention. Rooms do not ransack themselves. There has to be a motivating force behind the process, and if there are vultures on the premises, one knows where to look for suspects.

Except for the nuisance of having to tidy up after these vultures, their arrival had pleased rather than perturbed Lord Ickenham. He was a man who always liked to have plenty happening around him, and he found the incursion of Cosmo Wisdom, closely followed by that of Gordon Carlisle and wife, a pleasant break in what was at the moment a dull visit. Enjoying the company of his fellows, he was finding himself distinctly short of it at Hammer Hall. He could scarcely, after what had occurred, hobnob with Beefy Bastable; Albert Peasemarch was hard to get hold of; and Johnny Pearce, racked with anxiety about his Belinda, had been for the last week a total loss as a companion.

So on the whole, he reflected, it was probably no bad thing to have a vulture or two about the home. They livened things up. What puzzled him about this current consignment was the problem of what had brought them to Hammer Hall and why, being there, they had ransacked his room. They were apparently searching eagerly for that letter of young Cosmo's, but he could imagine no reason for them to consider it of any value. Like Oily, he had seen immediately that Cosmo could quite easily write another, which would have precisely the same effect as the first. Eccentric blighters, these vultures, he told himself.

Another thing that perplexed him was that they seemed to be on such distant terms with one another. There was no mistaking the coolness that existed between Mr and Mrs Carlisle on the one side and Cosmo Wisdom on the other. One expects vultures, when they muster, to be a chummy bunch, always exchanging notes and ideas and working together for the good of the show But every time Gordon Carlisle's eye rested on Cosmo, it rested with distaste, and if Cosmo passed Gordon Carlisle in the hall, he did so without appearing to see him. Very curious.

He was roused from these meditations by hearing his name called, and perceived Phoebe standing on the shore. Reluctantly, for he would have preferred to be alone, he drew in his line and rowed to land. Disembarking and seeing her at close quarters, he was a good deal shocked by her appearance.

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