As is often true, Stout's first chapter sparkles. Here, even though the plot premise is a bit strained, I really don't care. We get something better: in a quartet of dialogues -- through Archie's eyes, and through Fritz's & Wolfe's -- we see Archie at his Archie-est.
A few brief tastes of these four:
First dialogue, with a new male character. He calls out-of-the-blue to invite Archie to a very elite, possibly strained dinner party. After toying with him, Archie says to himself,
"If I hadn't had my full share of ego I might also have been curious as to why he had picked on me, since we were not chums, but of course that was no problem. If your ego is in good shape you will pretend you're surprised if a National Chairman calls to tell you his party wants to nominate you for President of the United States, but you're not really surprised.
"...the fact was that that idea [of the dinner party] appealed to me. It would be a new experience and should increase my knowledge of human nature. It might also be a bit ticklish, and even dismal, but it would be interesting to see how they handled it. Not to mention how I would handle it myself."
Second dialogue, with another new character - an older very rich female snob, who neither likes nor trusts Archie. Starting with Archie:
"Okay. I accept the invitation as a favor to your nephew. Thank you."
"Very well." A pause. "Of course it is not usual, on inviting a dinner guest, to caution him about his conduct, but for this occasion some care is required. You appreciate that?"
"Certainly."
"Tact and discretion are necessary."
"I'll bring mine along," I assured her.
"And of course refinement."
"I'll borrow some." I decided she needed a little comfort. "Don't' worry, Mrs. Robilotti, I understand the setup and you can count on me through to the coffee and even after. Relax. I am fully briefed. Tact, discretion, refinement, black tie, seven o'clock."
"Then I'll expect you. Please hold the wire."
Third dialogue, one of Stout's nicest Archie/Fritz playful bantering scenes. In the brownstone's kitchen, again, starting with Archie:
"...and I would appreciate some suggestions on how I act this evening."
He snorted. "Act with women? You? Ha! With your thousand triumphs! Advice from me? Archie, that is upside down?"
"Thanks for the plug, but these women are special." With a finger I wiped up a speck of anchovy butter that had dropped on the table and licked it off. "Here's the problem. This Mrs. Robilotti's first husband was Albert Grantham, who spent the last ten years of his life doing things with part of the three or four hundred million dollars he had inherited - things to improve the world, including the people in it. I assume you will admit that a girl who had a baby but no husband needs improving."
Fritz pursed his lips. "First I would have to see the girl and the baby. They might be charming."
And finally, from a Wolfe/Archie dialogue, the longest of the four and one of several nice one's in this book. Starting with Wolfe:
"...Buffoonery. A burlesque of hospitality. Do you mean you are abetting it?"
"I wouldn't say abetting it. A man I know named Austin Byne phoned and asked me to fill in for him because he's in bed with a cold and can't go. Anyhow, it will give me a fresh outlook. I will harden my nerves. It will broaden my mind."
His eyes had narrowed. "Archie."
"Yes, sir."
"Do I ever intrude in your private affairs?"
"Yes, sir. Frequently. But you think you don't, so go right ahead."
"I am not intruding. If it is your whim to lend yourself to that outlandish performance, very well. I merely suggest that you demean yourself. Those creatures are summoned there for an obvious purpose. It is hoped that they, or at least one of them, will meet a man who will be moved to pursue the acquaintance and who will end by legitimating, if not the infant already in being, the future produce of the womb. Therefore your attendance there will be an imposture, and you know it. I begin to doubt if you will ever let a woman plant her foot on your neck, but if you do she will have qualities that would make it impossible for her to share the fate of those forlorn creatures. You will be perpetrating a fraud."
I was shaking my head. "No, sir. You've got it wrong. I let you finish just to hear it.... And don't be so sure I don't meet my doom. It's a scientific fact that some girls are more beautiful, more spiritual, more fascinating, after they have had a baby. Also it would be an advantage to have the family already started."
"Pfui."
Archie, always a wonderful character, shines throughout this tale. But there are several other highspots: Hackett, the Robilotti butler, is given several neat scenes. (Stout often does butlers well.) After its weak premise, the plot kicks in, and has some really fun & unexpected twists. There are nice Wolfe-Archie tiffs, and a couple of fun Wolfe-women tiffs, as well as a few touching scenes, too. Great mature Stout, with many characters well-drawn.
I close with the Archie quitting scene, one of several in the Stout canon. After a frustrating dry period, Wolfe had just given Saul an errand. Starting with Archie:
That was when we had words. I cradled the receiver, not gently, and stood up. "This is Saturday,' I said, "and I've got my check for this week. I want a month's severance pay."
"Pfui."
"No phooey. I am severing relations. It has been eighty-eight hours since I saw that girl die, and your one bright idea, granting that it was bright, was to collect her mother, and I refuse to camp here on my fanny while Saul collects her. Saul is not ten times as smart as I am; he's only twice as smart. A month's severance pay will be--"
"Shut up."
"Gladly." I went to the safe for the checkbook and took it to my desk.
"Archie."
"I have shut up." I opened the checkbook.
"This is natural. That is, it is in us, and we are alive, and whatever is in life is natural. You are headstrong and I am magisterial. Our tolerance of each other is a constantly recurring miracle. I did not have one idea, bright or not, I had two. We have neglected Austin Byne. ...he deserves better of us. I suggest that you attend to him."
I turned my head but kept the checkbook open. "How? Tell him we don't like his explanation and we want new ones?"
"Nonsense. You are not so ingenuous. Survey him. Explore him."
"I already have.... Are you working yourself up to saying that you want to see him?"
"No. I have no lever to use him. I only feel that he has been neglected. If you approach him again you too will be without a lever. Perhaps the best course would be to put him under surveillance.'
"If I postpone writing this check is that an instruction?"
"Yes."
"At least I would get out in the air and away from the miracle for a while."
All Wolfe-Archie fans are grateful that Stout kept this miracle alive for so long.
Get more detail about Champagne For One (Nero Wolfe Mysteries).
No comments:
Post a Comment