Jeeves and the Missing Manuscript - Chapter 10

[mellifluous-gel.livejournal.com]

Stiffy always struck me as one of Bertie's meaner female acquaintances. She'll blackmail, lie, cheat, and use just about any unscrupulous means at her disposal to get what she wants.

Title: Jeeves and the Missing Manuscript
Chapter: 10/16
Pairing: Jeeves/Bertie
Rating for Chapter: PG
Summary: Bertie meets a young Agatha Christie and hits it off with her at a garden party. She even offers to let him read and comment on her latest manuscript, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, before she posts it to her publisher. Of course, mayhem ensues when the manuscript is stolen and Jeeves and Bertie must find and return it to the rightful owner. Mix in a dash of danger, anger, angst, and unrequited feeling, and it's the perfect storm for 'certain whatsits' to come to light.
Disclaimer: Jeeves, Bertie, and all characters associated with their idyllic world belong to P.G. Wodehouse. Mrs. Christie belongs to herself last I checked.

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(Back to Chapter 9)
(Onward to Chapter 11)

More from Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture 1890 - 1940

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"Chapter 11: "Pansies on Parade": Prohibition and the Spectacle of the Pansy

... Prohibition years of 1920-33, they [gays] acquired unprecedented prominence throughout the city, taking a central place in its culture. As a "pansy craze" swept through New York, ... drag balls they organized attracted thousands of spectators, and the nightclubs were they performed became the most popular in the city.

... the culture of the speakeasies did encourage middle-class men and women to interact even more casually and to experiment further with the norms governing acceptable public sociability... Hundreds of slummers had attended the Greenwich Village balls during the 1910s to catch a glimpse of "Homosexualists,"... grew tremendously during Prohibition. .."it was fashionable for the intelligentsia and the social leaders of both Harlem and the downtown area to occupy boxes at this ball and look down from above at the queerly assorted throng on the dancing floor." The Vanderbilts, the Astors... along with Broadway celebrities ... such as Beatrice Lillie, Clifton Webb, Jay Brennan, and Tallulah Bankhead. "Fag Balls Exposed" screamed a headline..."

So Bertie would be able to figure out where to go. Not only that - it was the thing to do.