Fic: Redemption, part 27 (PG)

[hazeltea.livejournal.com]

Thank you to everyone who has been patient with the long time between updates. My personal like has been a bit of a shambles lately, but things are looking up now <3

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This has been rattling around in my brain since I read Yours, Plum: The Letters of P.G. Wodehouse a few years ago.I wanted to try continuing the 1953 fanfic by J. Maclaren-Ross , which was lovingly transcribed here by chaoticchaos13

Pairing:Jeeves/Bertie
Disclaimer: I make no profit from the lovely world of Wodehouse.

Part 1: http://community.livejournal.com/indeedsir/849688.html#cutid1
Part 2: http://community.livejournal.com/indeedsir/851698.html#cutid1
Part 3: http://community.livejournal.com/indeedsir/853433.html#cutid1
Part 4: http://community.livejournal.com/indeedsir/854770.html#cutid1
Part 5: http://community.livejournal.com/indeedsir/856387.html#cutid1
Part 6: http://community.livejournal.com/indeedsir/861280.html#cutid1
Part 7: http://community.livejournal.com/indeedsir/864721.html#cutid1
Part 8: http://community.livejournal.com/indeedsir/867046.html#cutid1
Part 9: http://community.livejournal.com/indeedsir/870100.html#cutid1
Part 10: http://community.livejournal.com/indeedsir/871794.html#cutid1
Part 11: http://community.livejournal.com/indeedsir/875432.html#cutid1
Part 12: http://community.livejournal.com/indeedsir/876502.html#cutid1
Part 13: http://community.livejournal.com/indeedsir/880681.html#cutid1
Part 14: http://community.livejournal.com/indeedsir/881405.html#cutid1
Part 15: http://community.livejournal.com/indeedsir/881540.html#cutid1
Part 16: http://community.livejournal.com/indeedsir/890509.html#cutid1
Part 17: http://community.livejournal.com/indeedsir/896757.html#cutid1
Part 18: http://community.livejournal.com/indeedsir/899617.html#cutid1
Part 19: http://community.livejournal.com/indeedsir/904805.html#cutid1
Part 20: http://community.livejournal.com/indeedsir/913398.html#cutid1
Part 21: http://community.livejournal.com/indeedsir/935186.html#cutid1
Part 22: http://community.livejournal.com/indeedsir/939558.html#cutid1
Part 23: http://indeedsir.livejournal.com/946312.html#cutid1
Part 24: http://indeedsir.livejournal.com/960845.html#cutid1
Part 25: http://indeedsir.livejournal.com/968533.html#cutid1
Part 26: http://indeedsir.livejournal.com/970780.html#cutid1



“Bertie, you’re shaking.” Catsmeat scolded, as I fidgeted with my lapels. It was true, I was as nervous as I’d ever been as a lad when my Aunt Agatha requested a special audience with me. Catsmeat had taken a professional interest in Mr. Richard Mason, international playboy, once he had heard of my plight. Having somehow let word spread that he would welcome a chat on the telly re: the Pumpkin Club and his hope that sister clubs “might rekindle the jolly spirit of young men so sorely lacking these days”, Dick Mason had sprung at the chance, offering to stand Catsmeat lunch one day, should he ever happen upon the Savoy on a Thursday. Catsmeat, for his part, was acting more nonchalantly than I ever could have, letting a week lapse since the invitation, and then arriving with self in tow, as though he hadn’t come to lunch for any particular reason.

“Sorry.” I managed, nodding absently at the door man as we passed over the threshold. I felt a twinge of guilt as I noticed the tensing of his shoulders when we sat, the determined glint in his eyes as he surveyed the crowd and ordered a plain soda. I followed suit, and couldn’t help but reach across the table to gently squeeze his hand in thanks. He relaxed a bit, and turned his charming grin on me, offering the menu.

“There.” I whispered, as we were making our way through the soup course.

Catsmeat nodded. “Let him come to us.” He advised. “That sort always will.”

I’m not altogether certain when it was that Catsmeat had gotten so wise and experienced, but he was bally well right. The blister was over to see us within ten minutes- well, Catsmeat, at any rate. Me, he looked at as though my Aunt Agatha had gotten to him first with a warning.

“Mr. Potter-Pirbright, isn’t it.” He began, extending his hand. “Dick Mason. I’m glad you’ve come around.”

Catsmeat took his hand and shook it. “Claude, please.” He answered. “We’re all friends here, what? Speaking of which, this is my old chum Bertie Wooster. He was a regular at the Pumpkin Club when he used to visit New York.”

Mason eyed me warily, and shook my hand, while facing Catsmeat. “Look, I don’t mean to be out of line, here, but your chum’s employer has been giving me a frightful time of it. I’ve a rotten headache, and I’m not in a state to discuss my brother.”

I stammered, unsettled by how blunt the man was. He was in a class with old Stilton Cheesewright.

“Business is the last thing Bertie wants to discuss today, I’m sure.” Catsmeat replied. “I’m not too keen for serious talk myself, to be honest, except, of course, for asking you to confirm the fact that you’d like to drop by the studio to film a bit about the old club sometime soon?”

It appeared that Dick Mason had a one track mind, and once he’d been derailed, he forgot to look on me as a caterpillar in his salad. “You bet I will.” He replied, and motioned for a round of drinks. Catsmeat did most of the talking, and Mason, all of the drinking. I watched my old pal in action, seemingly enchanted by everything Mason had to say; and if I didn’t know Catsmeat as well as I did, I would have believed that he was. I’d always thought of acting as a bit of a soft profession, you know, perhaps something I might have liked to do if I didn’t have such stage fright. Watching him in action, however, I could see that it was a gift. More distracting and worrisome to this Wooster was the strain in his voice. His eyes flickered across the tale, and I knew that he was thinking of nothing so much as the carafe of wine wafting its scent across the table, and then to me, and then again to Mason. Lunch seemed to go on for hours, and the delicacies were as ashes in my mouth.

When we were at last making short work of the cheese, we parted with a promise that Catsmeat would film a bit about the Pumpkin Club the following week, and an informal invitation for me to visit the man and comment on Uncle Tom’s old silver. This last bit astonished me, for a mere hour under Catsmeat’s spell had charmed the man utterly- at least for the moment.

We rode back to the flat in silence, for Catsmeat looked too troubled to chat. He watched the scenery through the window, and only smiled at me when I thanked him, yet again.

Jeeves was reading the paper when we arrived, and stood immediately, as he had in the past, somehow sensing that he was needed. “I- Can we talk?” blurted out Catsmeat, before his hat was even on the closet peg.

Jeeves nodded, and ushered him into his office. They stayed closeted for over an hour, during which I fretted for my friend and marveled at his loyalty. I began to plan the evening meal in order to keep my hands and mind occupied. You know how it is, of course. A meal learned from the books of the Junior Ganymede is a welcome salve to the nerves that all three of us would need at the end of this day. I’d always understood that, but never so much as now, when I was the one preparing it.

Comments

[erynn999.livejournal.com]

Ah, so good to see you continuing with this! Poor, dear Catsmeat, doing his very best by Bertie and Jeeves. It's wonderful to see that they have such a loyal friend.

Thanks for giving us another taste of this story. I can't wait to see what happens!

[hazeltea.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm hoping to produce a longer chapter this weekend.

After all of Bertie's crummy friendship experiences, I think he's owed a bit of good karma, don't you?

[erynn999.livejournal.com]

Gods, yes, the poor dear. He really desperately needs a happy ending, as does Jeeves. That poor man has been through way too much and he needs his Bertie very very much. He may look functional but I sometimes think he's more broken than Bertie is, with that huge burden of guilt he carries around.