Sir Bucktone Abbott, Bart., has no money and is saddled with a large, ugly and impossible Victorian country house, Walsingford Hall. He is taking paying guests and hopes to sell the house to a very rich and horrid Princess Heloise von und zu Dwornitzchek. Joe Vanringham is the Princess's step-son and they have parted brass rags. Joe, a good buzzer and obviously the hero, works for a dishonest publisher, Mortimer Busby, who has published Sir Buckstone's My Sporting Memoirs at Sir Buckstone's expense (£500) and is now trying to charge him an extra £96 3s 11d for 'incidental expenses'. Joe has written a play in which his step-mother is the scarcely concealed villainess. It has got good notices for its first night in London and Joe is going to leave Busby's. Sir Buckstone's daughter Jane (obviously the heroine) has gone up to London to plead with Busby's to reduce the bill. Joe meets her, falls in love, gets the bill cancelled and takes her to the Savoy for lunch and proposes marriage. Jane is foolishly engaged (secretly) to wet Adrian Peake who thinks she will inherit a lot of money. He is the Princess's gigolo currently and secretly engaged to her too. The Princess sees Joe's play, recognises herself and has it taken off. This leaves Joe without a play, without a job and without money. Sir Buckstone's easy-going (American) wife has an unexpected brother, Sam Bulpitt, a retired 'plasterer' (process-server). His last job is to plaster Tubby Vanringham (Joe's foolish younger brother) for breach of promise and heart-balm to Prudence Whittaker, Sir Buckstone's secretary - very Knightsbridge ('quate').

The Princess goes off with Adrian and won't buy the hall. Joe and Jane will marry. Then Sam Bulpitt turns out to be very rich and a fairy godfather. He buys the hall and gives Jane $500,000 as a wedding present - Pecunia omnia vincit.

Bulpitt the plasterer is a rather surprising Wodehouse character. The Princess, wicked step-mother and not a bit funny, is the most un-Wodehousian character in all the books. The rest of the cast here are from Wodehouse stock and Joe Vanringham is a really good buzzer.

Source: Richard Usborne. Plum Sauce. A P G Wodehouse Companion.