'Yes, sir.'
'After eating our bread and salt, dammit?'
'I fear, sir,' sighed Jeeves, 'that when it comes to a matter of cooks, ladies have but a rudimentary sense of morality.'
'Half a second, Bingo,' I said, as the fellow seemed about to plunge into something of an oration. 'How does this fit in with the other thing, Jeeves?'
'Well, sir, it has been my experience that no lady can ever forgive another lady for taking a really good cook away from her. I am convinced that, if I am able to accomplish the mission which Mrs Travers entrusted to me, an instant breach of cordial relations must inevitably ensue. Mrs Little will, I feel certain, be so aggrieved with Mrs Travers that she will decline to contribute to her paper. We shall therefore not only bring happiness to Mr Travers, but also suppress the article. Thus killing two birds with one stone, if I may use the expression, sir.'
'Certainly you may use the expression, Jeeves,' I said cordially. 'And I may add that in my opinion this is one of your best and ripest.'
'Yes, but I say, you know,' bleated young Bingo. 'I mean to say—old Anatole, I mean—what I'm driving at is that he's a cook in a million.'
'You poor chump, if he wasn't there would be no point in the scheme.'
'Yes, but what I mean—I shall miss him, you know. Miss him fearfully.'
'Good heavens!' I cried. 'Don't tell me that you are thinking of your tummy in a crisis like this?'