Berry And Co. (31 page)

Yours respecfully,

G THORN.

But for the loss of the pearls, we should have been jubilant.

Three days had elapsed since the dog show.

The whole of the morning and part of the afternoon I had spent in a bathroom, supervising the disconnection, severance and inspection of the waste-pipe which served the basin. When, hot and dejected, I made my report at half-past three, Adèle thanked me as prettily as if I had found the pearls.

I retired to wash and change into flannels.

It must have been two hours later when I looked up from the operation of combing Nobby and took my pipe from my mouth.

“Oh, Adèle,” I said simply, “I do love you so.”

Adèle put out a hand and touched my hair.

“I’m glad you do,” she said gently.

As I got upon my feet, one end of her necklace hung trailing over the edge of my trousers where I had turned them up. They were the pair I had worn at tennis the day we had gone to the fair, and it must have fallen into the fold when we were finding the thorn.

Adèle saw it too, but, when I would have stooped, she shook her head.

Then I looked into her eyes, and there found such a light that I forgot the pearls and the rolling world with them.

As she slipped into my arms, she threw back her head.

“Once, at Port Said, you kissed me,” she whispered. “And again at Rome.” I nodded. “But this is your own home.”

“Yes,” I said steadily. “And here I plight thee my troth.”

The brown eyes closed, and a glorious smile swept into the beautiful face.

For a moment I gazed at her…

Then I kissed the red, red lips.

So we comforted one another.

The unexpected arrival of the laundry van at five minutes to eight, with, amongst other things, a month’s table-linen, had pardonably dislocated the service of dinner.

Whilst the table was being relaid we spent the time in the library, gathered about the violet-tongued comfort of a chestnut-root fire.

“You know,” said Jonah, looking up from an armchair, “if we don’t – Good Heavens!” His exclamation was so violent that we all jumped. “Why,” he cried, staring at Adèle, “you’ve found them!”

A common cry of amazement broke from Daphne, Berry and Jill, and our guest started guiltily and put a hand to her throat.

“O-o-oh, I” – she shot an appealing glance at me – “we quite forgot. Boy found them in the garden, whilst he was combing Nobby.”

Berry looked round.

“You hear?” he said. “They quite forgot… They stumble upon jewels worth a month of strike pay – baubles whose loss has stupefied the County, and forget to mention it. And I spent two hours this afternoon in a gas-mask studying the plan of the drains and calculating whether, if the second manhole was opened and a gorgonzola put down to draw the fire, Jonah could reach the grease-trap before he became unconscious.” He raised his eyes to heaven and groaned. “The only possible excuse,” he added, “is that you’re both in…”

His voice tailed off, as he met Adèle’s look, and he got suddenly upon his feet.

Jonah stood up, too.

Daphne took Adèle’s hands in hers and turned to me a face radiant with expectation.

Jill caught at my sleeve and began to tremble. I put my arm about her and looked round.

“We plead that excuse,” I said.

For a moment nobody moved.

Then Jonah limped to my dear and put her hand to his lips. Adèle stooped and kissed him.

“You beautiful darling,” breathed my sister. “Sargent shall paint you, and you shall hang at the foot of the stairs.”

The two kissed one another tenderly.

Then Adèle stretched out her white arms to grey-eyed Jill. My little cousin just clung to her.

“Oh, Adèle,” she whispered, “I’m so glad. B-but you won’t go away? He and you’ll stay with us, won’t you?”

“If you want me, darling.”

Berry cleared his throat.

“Of course,” he said, “as the head of the family – the overlord – I should have come first. However, I shall kiss her ‘Good night’ instead. Possibly I shall ker-rush her to me.” He turned to me. “This will be the second time within my memory that a Pleydell has married above him.”

“Very true,” said I. “When was the first ?”

“When I married your sister.”

I nodded dreamily.

“I think,” I said, “I think I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth.”

Berry shook his head.

“Not a spoon,” he said. “A soup-ladle.”

(in order of first publication)

These titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels

(in order of first publication)

These titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels

(in order of first publication)

These titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels

(in order of first publication)

Published by House of Stratus

Adèle & Co This is the first full-length novel featuring Yates’ finest comic creation, Bertram ‘Berry’ Pleydell. The popular character of Adéle is based on the author’s first wife, Bettine, a highly gregarious American dancer and actress. Written in response to massive public demand for the Berry stories, this is regarded as one of Yates’ best books. Amongst the madcap escapades of the Pleydell clan as they career about the French countryside you will find ‘crime, criminals, and some of the funniest writing in the English language’.

And Berry Came Too Eight stories in which we encounter ‘the hair-raising adventures and idiotic situations of the Pleydell family’ ( Punch ). Along with John Buchan and ‘Sapper’, Yates dominated the adventure book market of the inter-war years, and Berry is regarded as one of British comic writing’s finest creations, including Tom Sharpe amongst his fans. Read these and weep (with laughter).

As Berry & I Were Saying Reprinted four times in three months, this semi-autobiographical novel is a humorous account of the author’s hazardous experiences in France, at the end of the World War II. Darker and less frivolous than some of Yates’ earlier books, he describes it as ‘really my own memoir put into the mouths of Berry and Boy’, and at the time of publication it already had a nostalgic feel. A great hit with the public and a ‘scrapbook of the Edwardian age as it was seen by the upper-middle classes’.

B-Berry & I Look Back This is Yates’ final book, a semi-autobiographical novel spanning a lifetime of events from the sinking of the Titanic to the notorious Tichborne murder case. It opens with Berry, one of British comic writing’s finest creations, at his funniest, and is a companion volume to As Berry and I Were Saying . Pure, vintageYates.

Berry & Co This collection of short stories featuring ‘Berry’ Pleydell and his chaotic entourage established Dornford Yates’ reputation as one of the best comic writers in a generation, and made him hugely popular. The German caricatures in the book carried such a sting that when France was invaded in 1939 Yates, who was living near the Pyrenées, was put on the wanted list and had to flee.

The Berry Scene These stories, written by huge popular demand, give us classic Berry Pleydell – Yates’ finest comic character – at the top of his form. The first story sees Berry capturing a German spy at a village cricket match in 1914, and things get more bizarre from then on. A self-consciously nostalgic work harking back to more decorous days, here are tense plotting and high farce of the best kind.

Blind Corner This is Yates’ first thriller: a tautly plotted page-turner featuring the crime-busting adventures of suave Richard Chandos. Chandos is thrown out of Oxford for ‘beating up some Communists’, and on return from vacation in Biarritz he witnesses a murder. Teaming up at his London club with friend Jonathan Mansel, a stratagem is devised to catch the killer. The novel has compelling sequels: Blood Royal , An Eye For a Tooth, Fire Below and Perishable Goods .

Blood Royal At his chivalrous, rakish best in a story of mistaken identity, kidnapping, and old-world romance, Richard Chandos takes us on a romp through Europe in the company of a host of unforgettable characters. This fine thriller can be read alone or as part of a series with Blind Corner , An Eye For a Tooth , Fire Below and Perishable Goods .

Brother of Daphne Daphne is ‘well-born, elegant, beautiful, and not especially bright’. In this, Yates’ earliest collection of stories, we meet the Pleydell clan and encounter their high-spirited comic adventures. It is a world of Edwardian gentility and accomplished farce that brought the author instant fame when the stories appeared in Windsor Magazine .

Cost Price A story from Dornford Yates’ later career, of stolen treasure, set against a backdrop of World War II: adventure, a travelling circus and much more besides. Lots of favourite Yates characters are here, as well as some new ones, like the Portuguese mule in trousers, and a few striking villains. This is the legendary Chandos’ final fictional appearance. A tense, assured plot and vintage comedy from a master of the genre.