Spoiler: How to proceed with The Affair of the Reluctant Bachelor?

I feel like the police inspector confronted with the locked room mystery: how did someone murder the victim but leave no trace of entry or exit? In my case, however, the problem to be solved is: how do I make a proper P.G. Wodehouse story out of the parameters I have given myself in the first chapter of The Affair of the Reluctant Bachelor (a title that’s likely to change, incidentally).

In case you haven’t figured it out yet, this is another example of me trying to work out a problem by asking an imaginary audience (five unique visitors today!) what to do. Let me give you a brief rundown of the situation. Charlotte has agreed to help Mr. Albert Worcester, who has “accidentally” gotten himself engaged to two women: Lady Evelyn Blankenship and Miss Stephanie Stilton. In the matter of Lady Evelyn (the title may disappear after editing), she has told her family that she is engaged to Mr. Worcester without his having ever proposed. She actually wishes to marry his friend, Mr. Bartholomew Cuthbertson, a penniless younger son, which she knows her family would not permit. Mr. Worcester, although an eligible weathly bachelor, has a very low reputation with Lady Evelyn’s father, who considers him a lunatic. She hopes that Mr. Cuthbertson might be more appealing to her family if she threatens them with marriage to Mr. Worcester. Lady Evelyn appeals to Mr. Worcester’s overly developed sense of chivalry and asks him to play along.

Shortly afterward, Mr. Worcester declares his betrothal to Miss Stilton after his aunt finds him in a compromising situation — “there was a Moon” — with that lady. He appeals to Miss Stilton to return his proposal, citing his exigent circumstances — he fears his aunt’s wrath — but she has her own motives for maintaining the fiction that she and Mr. Worcester are in love. She is in love with Mr. Clarence Potterthwaite, a curate who is afraid to ask Mr. Worcester’s Aunt Hermione for the living she controls. She hopes to goad Mr. Potterthwaite into asking for the living or else she will marry Mr. Worcester.

Charlotte agrees to help Mr. Worcester after he tells her that he, the two ladies, their families and his aunt will all shortly be visiting Bath (a change from the chapter currently online). He claims that he does not desire the hand of either women but is unsure how he can honorably extricate himself.

So here are the challenges Charlotte faces:

• Prevent the families of both ladies from knowing that Mr. Worcester is engaged to the other lady.
• Prevent his aunt from knowing of the engagement to Lady Evelyn.
• Unite the ladies with the men they actually love.

As to the first problem, I’ve already thought how to improve the situation from how it is explained in the current online chapter. Instead of moving all the parties to a third-party’s country home (and introducing even more characters), I will move all the parties to Bath, perhaps with Mr. Worcester and Miss Stilton staying with Mr. Worcester’s aunt. It should be easier to prevent the knowledge of the “other” engagement from cross pollinating. Also, it should move the action along faster if I don’t require a move to the country scene (also not the right time for a visit to the country).

Perhaps Charlotte will prevent news of the engagements from becoming public. With Lord Boxbury (Lady Evelyn’s father; again the title may disappear), she may warn him that it would be best not to make it known his daughter is to marry a dangerous lunatic. I am at present unable to envision how Charlotte will prevent Miss Stilton’s family from announcing the betrothal. (Update: actually Charlotte can suggest to Aunt Hermione that given Mr. Worcester’s record of broken engagements, it might be best to delay an announcement until it is certain.)

There is a futher complication of which Charlotte and Mr. Worcester are unaware: both Mr. Potterthwaite and Mr. Cuthbertson will also travel to Bath, hoping to influence their beloveds, and both quite angry with Mr. Worcester.

Of course, even Jeeves could not always find a perfect solution, necessitating Bertie’s removal from the premises by catching the milk train. And that may be the situation here.