Much Obliged, Jeeves

but, as you are aware, he has had a Past.’
    ‘Not much of one.’
    ‘Sufficient, however, to prejudice the voters, should they learn of it.’
    ‘Which they can’t possibly do. I suppose he’s in the club book-‘
    ‘Eleven pages, Sir.’
    ‘-But you assure me that the contents of the club book will never be revealed.’
    ‘Never, sir. Mr. Winship has nothing to fear from that quarter.’ His words made me breathe more freely.
    ‘Jeeves,’ I said, ‘your words make me breathe more freely. As you know, I am always a bit uneasy about the club book. Kept under lock and key, is it? ‘
    ‘Not actually under lock and key, sir, but it is safely bestowed in the secretary’s office.’
    ‘Then there’s nothing to worry about.’
    ‘I would not say that, sir. Mr. Winship must have had companions in his escapades, and they might inadvertently make some reference to them which would get into gossip columns in the Press and thence into the Market Snodsbury journals. I believe there are two of these, one rigidly opposed to the Conservative interest which Mr. Winship is representing. It is always a possibility, and the results would be disastrous. I have no means at the moment of knowing the identity of Mr. Winship’s opponent, but he is sure to be a model of respectability whose past can bear the strictest investigation.’
    ‘You’re pretty gloomy, Jeeves. Why aren’t you gathering rosebuds? The poet Herrick would shake his head.’
    ‘I am sorry, sir. I did not know that you were taking Mr. Winship’s fortunes so much to heart, or I would have been more guarded in my speech. Is victory in the election of such importance to him? ‘
    ‘It’s vital. Florence will hand him his hat if he doesn’t win.’
    ‘Surely not, sir?’
    ‘That’s what he says, and I think he’s right. His observations on the subject were most convincing. He says she’s a perfectionist and has no use for a loser. It is well established that she handed Percy Gorringe the pink slip because the play he made of her novel only ran three nights.’
    ‘Indeed, sir ? ‘
    ‘Well documented fact.’
    ‘Then let us hope that what I fear will not happen, sir.’
    We were sitting there hoping that what he feared would not happen, when a shadow fell on my whisky and s and I saw that we had been joined by another member of the Junior Ganymede, a smallish, plumpish, Gawd-help-us-ish member wearing clothes more suitable for the country than the town and a tie that suggested that he belonged to the Brigade of Guards, though I doubted if this was the case. As to his manner, I couldn’t get a better word for it at the moment than ‘familiar’, but I looked it up later in Jeeves’s Dictionary of Synonyms and found that it had been unduly intimate, too free, forward, lacking in proper reserve, deficient in due respect, impudent, bold and intrusive.
    Well,when I tell you that the first thing he did was to prod Jeeves in the lower ribs with an uncouth forefinger, you will get the idea.
    ‘Hullo, Reggie,’ he said, and I froze in my chair, stunned by the revelation that Jeeves’s first name was Reginald. It had never occurred to me before that he had a first name. I couldn’t help thinking what embarrassment would have been caused if it had been Bertie.
    ‘Good afternoon,’ said Jeeves, and I could see that the chap was not one of his inner circle of friends. His voice was cold, and anyone less lacking in proper reserve and deficient in due respect would have spotted this and recoiled. The Gawd-help-us fellow appeared to notice nothing amiss. His manner continued to be that of one who has met a pal of long standing.
    ‘How’s yourself, Reggie?’
    ‘I am in tolerably good health, thank you.’
    ‘Lost weight, haven’t you? You ought to live in the country like me and get good country butter.’ He turned to me. ‘And you ought to be more careful, cocky, dancing about in the middle of the street like that. I was in that cab and I thought you were a goner. You’re Wooster, aren’t you?’
    ‘Yes,’ I said, amazed. I hadn’t known I was such a public figure.
    ‘Thought so. I don’t often forget a face. Well, I can’t stay chatting with you. I’ve got to see the secretary about something. Nice to have seen you, Reggie.’
    ‘Goodbye.’
    ‘Nice to have seen you, Wooster, old man.’
    I thanked him, and he withdrew. I turned to Jeeves, that wild surmise I was speaking about earlier functioning on all twelve cylinders.
    ‘Who