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Title A Gentleman of Leisure

Author	P. G. Wodehouse
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Genre(s)	Novel
Publisher	Alston Rivers, Ltd.
Released	November 15, 1910
Media type	Print (Serial)
ISBN	NA

A Gentleman of Leisure is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse. The story was first released as a serial in Ainslee's magazine in the United States, commencing December 1909, under the title The Gem Collector. It was first published as a book in the US, in a revised version under the title The Intrusion of Jimmy, on May 11, 1910 by W.J. Watt and Co., New York; it was then serialised in the United Kingdom under that title in the magazine Titbits, commmencing August 1910, and was finally published as a book under the Gentleman of Leisure title on November 15 the same year, by Alston Rivers, Ltd., London.

The book has been republished many times; good condition first editions of both the U.S. and UK versions regularly sell for over $1000.

Two silent, black-and-white film version were made of the story, in 1915 and 1923.

Contents 1 Plot summary 2 Main characters 3 Full plot 4 The Gem Collector 5 External links

The action begins with playboy bachelor Jimmy Pitt in New York; having fallen in love on a transatlantic liner, he befriends a small-time burglar and breaks into a police captain's house as a result of a bet. The cast of characters head to England, and from there on it's a typically Wodehousian romantic farce, set at the stately Dreever Castle, overflowing with imposters, detectives, crooks, scheming lovers and conniving aunts.

• James Willoughby Pitt, a well-off young man
  • Spike Mullins, a thief, who becomes Pitt's valet
• Molly McEachern, a pretty girl Pitt saw on a boat
  • John McEachern, Molly's father, a policeman
• "Spennie", Earl of Dreever, an impecunious young Earl
  • Lady Julia Blunt, Spennie's imperious aunt
  • Sir Thomas Blunt, her wealthy husband
• Charteris, a keen organiser of amateur theatre
• Hargate, a card-sharp who preys on Lord Dreever

Wealthy playboy Jimmy Pitt falls for a girl on the boat back from England. In New York he finds his old cronies excited by The Cracksman, a new play in the Raffles vein. He makes a bet with his friend Arthur Mifflin, star of the play - he will break into a house that very night. Brooding on how to accomplish such a feat, his house is broken into by Spike Mullins, who he persuades to accompany him on his mission.

They pick a house recommended to Mullins by a friend, and break in, only to be caught by John McEachern, who they convince that Pitt is a prominent London jewel thief. He arranges to be paid off, but his daughter Molly enters, and she and Jimmy recognise each other from their boat-trip. To keep his secret graft a secret, McEachern pretends to Molly that Pitt is a friendly passer-by.

After a year wandering the globe, unable to find or forget Molly, Pitt is in London once more. Seeing a stranger in need in a restaurant, he comes to his aid, and so befriends Lord Dreever, known to all as Spennie. Wandering the streets with his new friend, they run into Spike Mullins, Jimmy's only link to Molly, who has fallen on hard times. Pitt takes him in.

Next day, Spennie invites Jimmy to Dreever Castle, and he decides to take Spike with him as his valet. Spennie's Aunt Julia, we learn, owns a valuable necklace, and her husband Sir Thomas has hired a detective to protect it.

Arriving at Dreever, there is no space in the car, so Jimmy volunteers to walk. He catches a riderless horse, and when he finds the rider, it is none other than Molly, who is also staying at Dreever. Her father is highly suspicious of Jimmy, even more so when he sees Spike also on the premises, but is unable to denounce them for fear of his own secret coming out, so he hires a detective to keep an eye.

The house party prepares for some amateur theatricals, and it becomes clear to Jimmy that a plot is afoot to bring Molly and Spennie together. They are soon bullied into an engagement, although Spennie loves another and Molly sees Spennie as a little boy. Pitt makes an enemy of Hargate, a hustler he recognises trying to fleece Spennie, while Spike spots the detectives hired by McEachern and Blunt around the house.

Jimmy dodges these footpads, and drags Molly out onto the lake, where he declares his love; she returns it, but happiness is scuppered by her fear of upsetting her father. Meanwhile, Spennie is once more sharped by the hustler, who asks him to drive Pitt from the castle, and Spike, after observing Sir Thomas' detective arrest Galer, the man hired by McEachern, takes advantage of the lull in vigilance to swipe the precious necklace.

Spennie, desperate to repay his debts, is reduce to stealing from his uncle, but is caught and stopped by Molly. Hearing a noise, they hide in Sir Thomas' dressing-room, and see Pitt enter, to return the jewels stolen by Spike. They confront him, and he explains about the bet that led him to Molly's house, and his dubious man Mullins; he also unveils Hargate as a card sharp. Spennie hides just in time as his uncle enters, catching Pitt with the jewels.

Pitt reveals the necklace is a fake, and Spennie uses the power of his uncle's secret to regain his independence. The young lord then tells McEachern of his daughter's affection for Pitt, just before the big ex-policeman is arrested by Blunt's detective, for being in league with Galer. Pitt helps him clear his name, and explains to McEachern the background to the similar mix-up that chilled relations between the two of them, offering Arthur Mifflin, now in London with a new play, as witness to the bet which started it all. McEachern is persuaded to come clean to his daughter.

Pitt and Molly marry, and Spike returns to America, disappointed that his idol turned down the gems - until he learns they were fake...

In the earlier version of the story, the story is different in details only. The first section in America is missing, and much of Pitt's history is filled in later - he was a jewel thief in New York, and was friends with Molly there. Since then, he has inherited a baronetcy, and later inherits his fortune from an estranged uncle. Lord Dreever is called Spennie Blunt; his mother is married to McEachern, who has bought the big house, here known as Corven Abbey, with his ill-gotten wealth; Spennie's uncle Sir Thomas Blunt, and his wife Lady Julia, are visitors at the house-party. The cardsharp's name is Wesson. The rest of the plot remained unchanged.

• The Russian Wodehouse Society's page, with photos of book covers and a list of characters
• Fantastic Fiction's page, with details of published editions, photos of book covers and links to used copies
• The Intrusion of Jimmy, available at Project Gutenberg.
• The Gem Collector, available at Project Gutenberg.
• A Gentleman of Leisure (1915) at the Internet Movie Database
• A Gentleman of Leisure (1923) at the Internet Movie Database