P. G. Wodehouse

Name: A Damsel in Distress — Chapter 1
Author: P. G. Wodehouse

A Damsel in Distress — Chapter 1 (1919)

Summary

“A Damsel in Distress — Chapter 1”, published in 1919, is a work by P. G. Wodehouse. It explores elements such as Marshmoreton, Maud and Reggie.

Quotes from A Damsel in Distress — Chapter 1 (P. G. Wodehouse)

P. G. Wodehouse, A Damsel in Distress — Chapter 1 (1919)

“ Lord Marshmoreton was the most enthusiastic amateur gardener in a land of enthusiastic amateur gardeners. He lived for his garden. The love which other men expend on their nearest and dearest Lord Marshmoreton lavished on seeds, roses and loamy soil. The hatred which some of his order feel for Socialists and Demagogues Lord Marshmoreton kept for roseslugs, rose-beetles and the small, yellowish-white insect which is so depraved and sinister a character that it goes through life with an alias—being sometimes called a rose-hopper and sometimes a thrips. ”

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Source: Wikisource

P. G. Wodehouse, A Damsel in Distress — Chapter 1 (1919)

“ Your only daughter becomes infatuated with a perfect stranger—a man we have never seen—of whom we know nothing, not even his name—nothing except that he is an American and hasn't a penny—Maud admitted that. And all you say is 'Oh, yes'!"
"But it's all over now, isn't it? I understood the dashed affair was all over."
"We hope so. But I should feel safer if Maud were engaged to Reggie. I do think you might take the trouble to speak to Maud."
"Speak to her? I do speak to her." Lord Marshmoreton's brain moved slowly when he was pre-occupied with his roses. "We're on excellent terms." ”

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Source: Wikisource

P. G. Wodehouse, A Damsel in Distress — Chapter 1 (1919)

“ The only time in the day when he ceased to be the horny-handed toiler and became the aristocrat was in the evening after dinner, when, egged on by Lady Caroline, who gave him no rest in the matter—he would retire to his private study and work on his History of the Family, assisted by his able secretary, Alice Faraday. His progress on that massive work was, however, slow. Ten hours in the open air made a man drowsy, and too often Lord Marshmoreton would fall asleep in mid-sentence to the annoyance of Miss Faraday, who was a conscientious girl and liked to earn her salary. ”

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Source: Wikisource

P. G. Wodehouse, A Damsel in Distress — Chapter 1 (1919)

“ I may briefly remark that the present Lord Marshmoreton is a widower of some forty-eight years: that he has two children—a son, Percy Wilbraham Marsh, Lord Belpher, who is on the brink of his twenty-first birthday, and a daughter, Lady Patricia Maud Marsh, who is just twenty: that the chatelaine of the castle is Lady Caroline Byng, Lord Marshmoreton's sister, who married the very wealthy colliery owner, Clifford Byng, a few years before his death (which unkind people say she hastened) : and that she has a step-son, Reginald. ”

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Source: Wikisource

P. G. Wodehouse, A Damsel in Distress — Chapter 1 (1919)

“ Lord Marshmoreton grunted, and continued to peer with a questioning eye in the awesome brew which he had prepared for the thrips.
"One thing is very satisfactory," said Lady Caroline. "I mean that Maud seems entirely to have got over that ridiculous infatuation of hers for that man she met in Wales last summer. She could not be so cheerful if she were still brooding on that. I hope you will admit now, John, that I was right in keeping her practically a prisoner here and never allowing her a chance of meeting the man again either by accident or design. ”

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Source: Wikisource

P. G. Wodehouse, A Damsel in Distress — Chapter 1 (1919)

“ He must leap into the middle of his tale with as little delay as he would employ in boarding a moving tramcar. He must get off the mark with the smooth swiftness of a jack-rabbit surprised while lunching. ”

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Source: Wikisource

P. G. Wodehouse, A Damsel in Distress — Chapter 1 (1919)

“ They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. Stuff! A girl of Maud's age falls in and out of love half a dozen times a year. I feel sure she has almost forgotten the man by now."
"Eh?" said Lord Marshmoreton. His mind had been far away, dealing with green flies.
"I was speaking about that man Maud met when she was staying with Brenda in Wales." ”

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Source: Wikisource

P. G. Wodehouse, A Damsel in Distress — Chapter 1 (1919)

“ Inasmuch as the scene of this story is that historic pile, Belpher Castle, in the county of Hampshire, it would be an agreeable task to open it with a leisurely description of the place, followed by some notes on the history of the Earls of Marshmoreton, who have owned it since the fifteenth century. Unfortunately, in these days of rush and hurry, a novelist works at a disadvantage. ”

P. G. Wodehouse

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Quotes from A Damsel in Distress — Chapter 1 (P. G. Wodehouse)

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