here without the
foggiest idea of indulging in the tender pash. I hadn't the slightest
intention of proposing to anybody. Yet no sooner had I entered those
romantic grounds than I found myself reaching out for the nearest girl in
sight and slapping my soul down in front of her. It's something in the
air."

"I see exactly what you mean. That's just what I want to be able to
do--work up to it. And in London--curse the place--everything's in such a
rush that you don't get a chance."

"Quite. You see a girl alone for about five minutes a day, and if you
want to ask her to be your wife, you've got to charge into it as if you
were trying to grab the gold ring on a merry-go-round."

"That's right. London rattles one. I shall be a different man altogether
in the country. What a bit of luck this Travers woman turning out to be
your aunt."

"I don't know what you mean, turning out to be my aunt. She has been my
aunt all along."

"I mean, how extraordinary that it should be your aunt that Madeline's
going to stay with."

"Not at all. She and my Cousin Angela are close friends. At Cannes she
was with us all the time."

"Oh, you met Madeline at Cannes, did you? By Jove, Bertie," said the poor
lizard devoutly, "I wish I could have seen her at Cannes. How wonderful
she must have looked in beach pyjamas! Oh, Bertie----"

"Quite," I said, a little distantly. Even when restored by one of
Jeeves's depth bombs, one doesn't want this sort of thing after a hard
night. I touched the bell and, when Jeeves appeared, requested him to
bring me telegraph form and pencil. I then wrote a well-worded
communication to Aunt Dahlia, informing her that I was sending my friend,
Augustus Fink-Nottle, down to Brinkley today to enjoy her hospitality,
and handed it to Gussie.

"Push that in at the first post office you pass," I said. "She will find
it waiting for her on her return."

Gussie popped along, flapping the telegram and looking like a close-up of
Joan Crawford, and I turned to Jeeves and gave him a precis of my
operations.

"Simple, you observe, Jeeves. Nothing elaborate."

"No, sir."

"Nothing far-fetched. Nothing strained or bizarre. Just Nature's remedy."

"Yes, sir."

"This is the attack as it should have been delivered. What do you call it
when two people of opposite sexes are bunged together in close
association in a secluded spot, meeting each other every day and seeing a
lot of each other?"

"Is 'propinquity' the word