Service With a Smile
Encyclopedia
Service with a Smile is a novel
by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States
on October 15, 1961 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York
, and in the United Kingdom
on August 17, 1962 by Herbert Jenkins
, London
. It is the eighth full-length novel set at the beautiful Blandings Castle
, and features the unstoppable Uncle Fred
in his fourth and final novel appearance.
, as Lord Emsworth
finds his idyllic home overrun not only with the local Church Lad's Brigade, but also old curmudgeon the Duke of Dunstable and publishing magnate (and fellow pig-lover) Lord Tilbury
, both scheming to get their hands on Emsworth's peerless pig, Empress of Blandings
. Meanwhile, star-crossed lovers battle the iron will of Lady Constance Keeble
. Fortunately, Uncle Fred
is also on hand, to sort things out.
, her London season having been cut short by Connie
to put a stop to Myra's unfortunate entanglement with impoverished East End
curate Bill Bailey. Her misery adds to Lord Emsworth
's woes, already weighing heavily thanks to the efficiency of his latest secretary Lavender Briggs and the presence of both the Duke of Dunstable, on another of his long visits to the castle, and a party of Church Lads, camping out by his beloved lake.
When Connie reveals plans to spend a day having her hair done in Shrewsbury
, Myra at once contacts Bailey, arranging to meet in a registry office and tie the knot. Bailey, with his friend Pongo Twistleton
and Pongo's Uncle Fred
in tow, waits at the selected spot, but Myra doesn't turn up. Uncle Fred, an old friend of Myra and her father and taking to Bailey from the off, runs into Emsworth (in town to attend the Opening of Parliament
), and wastes no time in inviting himself to Blandings, with Bailey in tow in the guise of "Cuthbert Meriweather", an old friend newly returned from Brazil
.
At the castle, Bailey and Myra are reunited, and the wrinkle in their love caused by the registry office mix-up easily smoothed out by Uncle Fred. The Church Lads trick Emsworth into diving into the lake to rescue one of their number, which turns out to be a log. This leads the Duke of Dunstable to once again question Emsworth's sanity, blaming the amiable peer's affection for his pig for his apparently crumbling mental state; while Emsworth, at Fred's suggestion, takes his revenge on the Church Lads by cutting the ropes of their tent in the small hours.
Recalling hearing Lord Tilbury
saying he would pay £2000 for such a superb specimen, Dunstable arranges to pay Lavender Briggs £500 to steal her for him, Briggs in turn hiring the untrustworthy Wellbeloved to help and claiming she has a second assistant available.
Uncle Fred hears from Myra that her beloved Bill is being blackmail
ed by Briggs, who has recognised him, into helping with the pig scheme, but before Fred can come up with a plan, Bailey has confessed all to Lord Emsworth, who in his wrath sacks both Briggs and Wellbeloved, but lets slip Bailey's true identity to Connie. Fred keeps Connie quiet by threatening to reveal to the county that Beach
cut the tent ropes, which would lead to embarrassment in the county and the loss of a superlative butler
, but Connie contacts James Schoonmaker, urging him to come to her aid.
When George Threepwood tells Dunstable that he has photographed his grandfather in the act of cutting the tent ropes, Dunstable realises that the sacked Briggs is no longer needed, as he can blackmail Emsworth into parting with the pig. He meets up with Tilbury at the Emsworth Arms, where Lavender Briggs, returned from a day out in London ignorant of the change in her situation, overhears him telling Tilbury he has cancelled her cheque; he also proposes to charge Tilbury £3000 for the pig. Briggs later approaches Tilbury, her former employer, offering to undercut Dunstable and steal the pig for Tilbury; he accepts and pays up, but on leaving the inn, Briggs meets Uncle Fred, who tells her of her sacking and advises her to head straight to London and pay in Tilbury's cheque.
Schoonmaker arrives, answering Connie's request, but Fred intercepts him too, and takes him to the Emsworth Arms, where they catch up on old times and Fred informs his old friend of Myra's engagement to Archie Gilpin (she having broken things off with Bailey after his rash confession). Schoonmaker reveals he loves Connie, but lacks the courage to propose, and later Gilpin tells Fred he has once again become engaged to Millicent Rigby, with whom he had had a minor falling out, and now finds himself engaged to two girls at once; he also wants £1000, to buy into his cousin Ricky's onion-soup business.
Uncle Fred tricks Dunstable into thinking Schoonmaker is broke, and persuades him to pay out £1000 to get his nephew out of his engagement to Myra; he helps Schoonmaker build up the nerve to propose to Connie, and persuades him that Bill Bailey is a more suitable match for Myra; and on a tip-off from Lavender Briggs, he shows Dunstable that he has proof (in the form of a tape-recording
) that Dunstable schemed to steal the pig, thus extracting from him the compromising photos of Lord Emsworth.
With Bill and Myra off to a register office, Archie back with Millicent and set up in business, Connie and Schoonmaker engaged and Dunstable well and truly scuppered, Fred smiles at the services he has done to one and all.
(1939), while Tilbury showed up there in Heavy Weather
(1933), as well as appearing, like Uncle Fred, in several non-Blandings stories.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on October 15, 1961 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
on August 17, 1962 by Herbert Jenkins
Barrie & Jenkins
Barrie & Jenkins was a small British publishing house that was formed in 1964 from the merger of "Herbert Jenkins" and "Barrie & Rockcliffe". One of their most notable authors was P. G...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. It is the eighth full-length novel set at the beautiful Blandings Castle
Blandings Castle
Blandings Castle is a recurring fictional location in the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being the seat of Lord Emsworth , home to many of his family, and setting for numerous tales and adventures, written between 1915 and 1975.The series of stories which take place at the castle,...
, and features the unstoppable Uncle Fred
Uncle Fred
Frederick Altamont Cornwallis Twistleton, 5th Earl of Ickenham, commonly known as Uncle Fred, is a fictional character who appears in short stories and novels written by P. G. Wodehouse between 1935 and 1961...
in his fourth and final novel appearance.
Plot introduction
More turmoil at Blandings CastleBlandings Castle
Blandings Castle is a recurring fictional location in the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being the seat of Lord Emsworth , home to many of his family, and setting for numerous tales and adventures, written between 1915 and 1975.The series of stories which take place at the castle,...
, as Lord Emsworth
Lord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
finds his idyllic home overrun not only with the local Church Lad's Brigade, but also old curmudgeon the Duke of Dunstable and publishing magnate (and fellow pig-lover) Lord Tilbury
George Alexander Pyke, Lord Tilbury
George Alexander Pyke, Lord Tilbury is a recurring fictional character in the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. Pyke is a publishing magnate, the founder and owner of the Mammoth Publishing Company. Outside his business, he has a passion for pigs and is the owner of a prize pig...
, both scheming to get their hands on Emsworth's peerless pig, Empress of Blandings
Empress of Blandings
Empress of Blandings is a fictional pig, featured in many of the Blandings Castle novels and stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Owned by the doting Lord Emsworth, the Empress is an enormous black Berkshire sow, who wins many prizes in the "Fat Pigs" class at the local Shropshire Agricultural Show, and is...
. Meanwhile, star-crossed lovers battle the iron will of Lady Constance Keeble
Lady Constance Keeble
Lady Constance Keeble is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being Lord Emsworth's most formidable sister, a strikingly handsome woman, with a fair, broad brow, and perfectly even white teeth...
. Fortunately, Uncle Fred
Uncle Fred
Frederick Altamont Cornwallis Twistleton, 5th Earl of Ickenham, commonly known as Uncle Fred, is a fictional character who appears in short stories and novels written by P. G. Wodehouse between 1935 and 1961...
is also on hand, to sort things out.
Plot summary
Myra Schoonmaker is in durance vile at Blandings CastleBlandings Castle
Blandings Castle is a recurring fictional location in the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being the seat of Lord Emsworth , home to many of his family, and setting for numerous tales and adventures, written between 1915 and 1975.The series of stories which take place at the castle,...
, her London season having been cut short by Connie
Lady Constance Keeble
Lady Constance Keeble is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being Lord Emsworth's most formidable sister, a strikingly handsome woman, with a fair, broad brow, and perfectly even white teeth...
to put a stop to Myra's unfortunate entanglement with impoverished East End
East End of London
The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is the area of London, England, United Kingdom, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Although not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries, the River Lea can be considered another boundary...
curate Bill Bailey. Her misery adds to Lord Emsworth
Lord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
's woes, already weighing heavily thanks to the efficiency of his latest secretary Lavender Briggs and the presence of both the Duke of Dunstable, on another of his long visits to the castle, and a party of Church Lads, camping out by his beloved lake.
When Connie reveals plans to spend a day having her hair done in Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is a civil parish home to some 70,000 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council...
, Myra at once contacts Bailey, arranging to meet in a registry office and tie the knot. Bailey, with his friend Pongo Twistleton
Pongo Twistleton
Reginald "Pongo" Twistleton is a character in the Uncle Fred books by P. G. Wodehouse. A member of the Drones Club in London, he's a nervous young man described by Sally Painter, the woman who loves him, as a "baa-lamb"...
and Pongo's Uncle Fred
Uncle Fred
Frederick Altamont Cornwallis Twistleton, 5th Earl of Ickenham, commonly known as Uncle Fred, is a fictional character who appears in short stories and novels written by P. G. Wodehouse between 1935 and 1961...
in tow, waits at the selected spot, but Myra doesn't turn up. Uncle Fred, an old friend of Myra and her father and taking to Bailey from the off, runs into Emsworth (in town to attend the Opening of Parliament
State Opening of Parliament
In the United Kingdom, the State Opening of Parliament is an annual event that marks the commencement of a session of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is held in the House of Lords Chamber, usually in November or December or, in a general election year, when the new Parliament first assembles...
), and wastes no time in inviting himself to Blandings, with Bailey in tow in the guise of "Cuthbert Meriweather", an old friend newly returned from Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
.
At the castle, Bailey and Myra are reunited, and the wrinkle in their love caused by the registry office mix-up easily smoothed out by Uncle Fred. The Church Lads trick Emsworth into diving into the lake to rescue one of their number, which turns out to be a log. This leads the Duke of Dunstable to once again question Emsworth's sanity, blaming the amiable peer's affection for his pig for his apparently crumbling mental state; while Emsworth, at Fred's suggestion, takes his revenge on the Church Lads by cutting the ropes of their tent in the small hours.
Recalling hearing Lord Tilbury
George Alexander Pyke, Lord Tilbury
George Alexander Pyke, Lord Tilbury is a recurring fictional character in the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. Pyke is a publishing magnate, the founder and owner of the Mammoth Publishing Company. Outside his business, he has a passion for pigs and is the owner of a prize pig...
saying he would pay £2000 for such a superb specimen, Dunstable arranges to pay Lavender Briggs £500 to steal her for him, Briggs in turn hiring the untrustworthy Wellbeloved to help and claiming she has a second assistant available.
Uncle Fred hears from Myra that her beloved Bill is being blackmail
Blackmail
In common usage, blackmail is a crime involving threats to reveal substantially true or false information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a demand is met. It may be defined as coercion involving threats of physical harm, threat of criminal prosecution, or threats...
ed by Briggs, who has recognised him, into helping with the pig scheme, but before Fred can come up with a plan, Bailey has confessed all to Lord Emsworth, who in his wrath sacks both Briggs and Wellbeloved, but lets slip Bailey's true identity to Connie. Fred keeps Connie quiet by threatening to reveal to the county that Beach
Sebastian Beach
Sebastian Beach is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. He is the butler at Blandings Castle, seat of Lord Emsworth and his family, where he serves for over eighteen years.- Background and character :...
cut the tent ropes, which would lead to embarrassment in the county and the loss of a superlative butler
Butler
A butler is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some also have charge of the entire parlour floor, and housekeepers caring for the entire house and its...
, but Connie contacts James Schoonmaker, urging him to come to her aid.
When George Threepwood tells Dunstable that he has photographed his grandfather in the act of cutting the tent ropes, Dunstable realises that the sacked Briggs is no longer needed, as he can blackmail Emsworth into parting with the pig. He meets up with Tilbury at the Emsworth Arms, where Lavender Briggs, returned from a day out in London ignorant of the change in her situation, overhears him telling Tilbury he has cancelled her cheque; he also proposes to charge Tilbury £3000 for the pig. Briggs later approaches Tilbury, her former employer, offering to undercut Dunstable and steal the pig for Tilbury; he accepts and pays up, but on leaving the inn, Briggs meets Uncle Fred, who tells her of her sacking and advises her to head straight to London and pay in Tilbury's cheque.
Schoonmaker arrives, answering Connie's request, but Fred intercepts him too, and takes him to the Emsworth Arms, where they catch up on old times and Fred informs his old friend of Myra's engagement to Archie Gilpin (she having broken things off with Bailey after his rash confession). Schoonmaker reveals he loves Connie, but lacks the courage to propose, and later Gilpin tells Fred he has once again become engaged to Millicent Rigby, with whom he had had a minor falling out, and now finds himself engaged to two girls at once; he also wants £1000, to buy into his cousin Ricky's onion-soup business.
Uncle Fred tricks Dunstable into thinking Schoonmaker is broke, and persuades him to pay out £1000 to get his nephew out of his engagement to Myra; he helps Schoonmaker build up the nerve to propose to Connie, and persuades him that Bill Bailey is a more suitable match for Myra; and on a tip-off from Lavender Briggs, he shows Dunstable that he has proof (in the form of a tape-recording
Tape recorder
An audio tape recorder, tape deck, reel-to-reel tape deck, cassette deck or tape machine is an audio storage device that records and plays back sounds, including articulated voices, usually using magnetic tape, either wound on a reel or in a cassette, for storage...
) that Dunstable schemed to steal the pig, thus extracting from him the compromising photos of Lord Emsworth.
With Bill and Myra off to a register office, Archie back with Millicent and set up in business, Connie and Schoonmaker engaged and Dunstable well and truly scuppered, Fred smiles at the services he has done to one and all.
Characters in "Service With a Smile"
- Lord EmsworthLord EmsworthClarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
, absent-minded master of Blandings Castle- Lady Constance KeebleLady Constance KeebleLady Constance Keeble is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being Lord Emsworth's most formidable sister, a strikingly handsome woman, with a fair, broad brow, and perfectly even white teeth...
, Emsworth's domineering sister - George Threepwood, Emsworth's grandson
- Lavender Briggs, Emsworth's latest efficient secretary
- Empress of BlandingsEmpress of BlandingsEmpress of Blandings is a fictional pig, featured in many of the Blandings Castle novels and stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Owned by the doting Lord Emsworth, the Empress is an enormous black Berkshire sow, who wins many prizes in the "Fat Pigs" class at the local Shropshire Agricultural Show, and is...
, Emsworth's cherished prize pig- George Cyril Wellbeloved, the Empress' keeper
- Lady Constance Keeble
- Frederick Twistleton, 5th Earl of IckenhamUncle FredFrederick Altamont Cornwallis Twistleton, 5th Earl of Ickenham, commonly known as Uncle Fred, is a fictional character who appears in short stories and novels written by P. G. Wodehouse between 1935 and 1961...
, Uncle Fred, Emsworth's friend and protector- Pongo TwistletonPongo TwistletonReginald "Pongo" Twistleton is a character in the Uncle Fred books by P. G. Wodehouse. A member of the Drones Club in London, he's a nervous young man described by Sally Painter, the woman who loves him, as a "baa-lamb"...
, Fred's put-upon nephew
- Pongo Twistleton
- James Schoonmaker, an American millionaire, friends with both Fred and Connie
- Myra Schoonmaker, James' pretty daughter
- The Reverend Cuthbert "Bill" Bailey, a curate friend of Pongo's, engaged to Myra
- Myra Schoonmaker, James' pretty daughter
- Alaric, Duke of Dunstable, a cantakerous peer
- Archie Gilpin, Dunstable's handsome artist nephew
- George Alexander Pyke, Lord TilburyGeorge Alexander Pyke, Lord TilburyGeorge Alexander Pyke, Lord Tilbury is a recurring fictional character in the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. Pyke is a publishing magnate, the founder and owner of the Mammoth Publishing Company. Outside his business, he has a passion for pigs and is the owner of a prize pig...
, publishing magnate and pig lover- Millicent Rigby, Tilbury's secretary, romantically entwined with Archie
- BeachSebastian BeachSebastian Beach is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. He is the butler at Blandings Castle, seat of Lord Emsworth and his family, where he serves for over eighteen years.- Background and character :...
, butler at the castle
See also
Dunstable and Uncle Fred had both previously visited the Castle in Uncle Fred in the SpringtimeUncle Fred in the Springtime
Uncle Fred in the Springtime is a novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on August 18, 1939 by Doubleday, Doran, New York, and in the United Kingdom on August 25, 1939 by Herbert Jenkins, London....
(1939), while Tilbury showed up there in Heavy Weather
Heavy Weather (novel)
Heavy Weather is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on July 28, 1933 by Little, Brown and Company, Boston, and in the United Kingdom on August 10, 1933 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
(1933), as well as appearing, like Uncle Fred, in several non-Blandings stories.
External links
- The Russian Wodehouse Society's page, with a list of characters
- Fantastic Fiction's page, with details of published editions, photos of book covers and links to used copies