At Lady Molly's - post III

Having met his future wife the partners are again switched in the dance and Jenkins gets a chance to spend an evening in the company of lady Molly’s rather odd husband Jeavons.

Starting at a pub just off Oxford Street the two men decide to visit a club owned by Dicky Umfraville and are gossiping in the corner about different things when all of a sudden Peter Templer along with Widmerpool and his fiancé Mildred enter the club. They join forces but not before Jeavons has confided to Jenkins that he had a one night stand with Mildred during the last war. They seem to hit it off again and Widmerpool has to excuse himself suffering from the ill effects of jaundice.

Oddly for a first person narrative the details of the courtship and blossoming love for Isobel Tolland is almost completely absent from the story – might appear later on perhaps – which seems rather odd when other relationships have been so carefully examined.

There is also a sense in this book that the action takes place at night. Late night pub-crawls along with evening drinks at Lady Molly’s dominate the social landscape giving it a quite nocturnal feel.

Last chapter tomorrow…