"Пэлем Грэнвил Вудхауз. Much obliged, Jeeves (Премного обязан, Дживс; англ.)" - читать интересную книгу автора

The Woosters do not like drinking alone, particularly with a
critical eye watching them to see if their arteries are hardening,
so I declined the proffered snort -reluctantly, for I was athirst -
and came straight to the main item on the agenda paper. On my way
to Barribault's I had, as you may suppose, pondered deeply on this
business of him standing for Parliament, and I wanted to know the
motives behind the move. It looked cock-eyed to me.
'Aunt Dahlia tells me you are staying with her in order to be
handy to Market Snodsbury while giving the electors there the old
oil,' I said.
'Yes, she very decently invited me. She was at school with my
mother.'
'So she told me. I wonder if her face was as red in those days.
How do you like it there?'
'It's a wonderful place.'
'Grade A. Gravel soil, main drainage, spreading grounds and
Company's own water. And, of course, Anatole's cooking.'
'Ah!' he said, and I think he would have bared his head, only
he hadn't a hat on. 'Very gifted, that man.'
'A wizard,' I agreed. 'His dinners must fortify you for the
tasks you have to face. How's the election coming along?'
'All right.'
'Kissed any babies lately?'
'Ah!' he said again, this time with a shudder. I could see that
I had touched an exposed nerve. 'What blighters babies are, Bertie,
dribbling, as they do, at the side of the mouth. Still, it has to
be done. My agent tells me to leave no stone unturned if I want to
win the election.'
'But why do you want to win the election? I'd have thought you
wouldn't have touched Parliament with a ten-foot pole,' I said, for
I knew the society there was very mixed. 'What made you commit this
rash act?'
'My fiancee wanted me to,' he said, and as his lips framed the
word 'fiancee' his voice took on a sort of tremolo like that of a
male turtle dove cooing to a female turtle dove. 'She thought I
ought to be carving out a career for myself.'
'Do you want a career?'
'Not much, but she insisted.'
The uneasiness I had felt when he told me the beasel had made
him knock off cocktails deepened. His every utterance rendered it
more apparent to an experienced man like myself that he had run up
against something too hot to handle, and for a moment I thought of
advising him to send her a telegram saying it was all off and, this
done, to pack a suitcase and catch the next boat to Australia. But
feeling that this might give offence I merely asked him what the
procedure was when you stood for Parliament - or ran for it, as
they would say in America. Not that I particularly wanted to know,
but it was something to talk about other than his frightful
fiancee.
A cloud passed over his face, which I ought to have mentioned