Editing Leave It to Psmith (section)

==Plot summary==
{{wikisource|Leave It to Psmith}}
[[File:Leave It to Psmith illustration 01.jpg|thumb|Psmith (left) and Freddie, 1923 illustration by [[May Wilson Preston]] in ''The Saturday Evening Post'']]
Down at Blandings, [[Lord Emsworth]] is dismayed to hear from [[Rupert Baxter|Baxter]] that he is expected to travel to London to collect the poet Ralston McTodd, invited to the castle by his sister [[Lady Constance Keeble|Connie]], a keen supporter of the Arts; another poet, Aileen Peavey, is already installed at the castle.

Joe Keeble tries to persuade his imperious wife to let him give money to his beloved stepdaughter Phyllis, but is bullied out of it, and when Emsworth's feckless younger son [[Freddie Threepwood|Freddie]] suggests stealing Connie's necklace to free up some cash, Keeble is taken with the idea. Freddie, not keen on doing the job himself, sees Psmith's advert in the paper, and tags along to London with Lord Emsworth.

Meanwhile, in the metropolis, we learn that [[Michael "Mike" Jackson|Mike]], having married Phyllis on the assumption that his job as estate manager for Psmith's father would be secure, found on Mr Smith's death that the old man was bankrupt, and is working as a poorly paid schoolmaster. Psmith worked for a time for an uncle in the fish business, but could stand the fish no longer and quit.

Phyllis meets some old school friends, including Eve Halliday, an assertive young girl who pities the once-rich Phyllis, believing her too soft to cope with penury. Eve, we learn, is a friend of Freddie Threepwood, and on his encouragement has taken a post cataloguing the Blandings library, while another friend, Cynthia, has been abandoned by her husband, famous poet Ralston McTodd.

Later, Psmith sees Eve sheltering from the rain opposite the [[Drones Club|Drones]], and chivalrously runs out to give her the best umbrella from the club's umbrella rack. They later meet once more at an employment agency, where Psmith has come seeking work and Eve is visiting an old friend. Psmith meets up with Freddie Threepwood, who describes his scheme to steal Connie's necklace, but dashes off without revealing his name.

Soon after, Psmith runs into Lord Emsworth at the [[P. G. Wodehouse locations#The Senior Conservative Club|Senior Conservative Club]], where the Earl is dining with Ralston McTodd. The poet is annoyed by Emsworth's absent-mindedness, especially when the old man potters across the street to inspect a flower shop, and leaves in a rage. When Emsworth returns, Emsworth mistakes Psmith for his guest, and when Psmith sees Eve Halliday meeting Lord Emsworth, he decides to visit Blandings, posing as McTodd.

Welcomed at the castle, especially by fellow poet Peavey, Psmith is nevertheless suspected by the ever-vigilant Baxter, the real McTodd having [[telegram]]med to cancel his visit. Eve arrives and Psmith begins his wooing with some success, despite her belief that he is McTodd and has jilted her friend. Freddie, worried that one of the maids is a detective, is advised by Psmith to kiss her, and judge by her response whether she is a real maid; Psmith and Eve run into him just as he is embracing the girl.

One day, a stranger arrives at the house claiming to be McTodd, but Psmith turns him politely away. The man, Edward Cootes, runs into Aileen Peavey on his way back to the station, and we learn they are both crooks, estranged lovers both after the diamonds. Cootes returns to the castle, and forces Psmith to help him get in, which Psmith does, passing Cootes off as his [[valet]]. Psmith arranges the use of a small cottage, in case he needs to hide the jewels from Cootes.

Cootes and Peavey make a plan to steal the necklace during a poetry-reading, while Eve, having heard from Freddie that Joe Keeble plans to give him money, questions Keeble about why he isn't helping out her friend; he enlists her as a helper in the diamond-stealing plot. As Psmith begins his reading of McTodd's poems, Cootes turns off the lights and Peavey grabs the necklace, flinging it out of the window to where Eve (by coincidence) is standing; Eve hides it in a flowerpot. Returning later to fetch it, Eve wakes the vigilant Baxter, but evades him, leaving him locked out and stashing her flowerpot on a windowsill.

Baxter, locked out of the house in his lemon-coloured [[Pajamas|pyjamas]], throws flowerpots through a window to awake Lord Emsworth, who assumes he is mad and calls in Psmith to help appease him. Next morning, Baxter is fired from his job, and Eve finds the flowerpot empty at Psmith's cottage. Enlisting Freddie's help, she searches the cottage, but finds nothing; Psmith enters and explains his motives, and his friendship with Mike and Phyllis. Cootes and Peavey appear, armed, and threaten to escape with the necklace, but Psmith takes advantage of Freddie's leg falling through the ceiling to overpower Cootes and retrieve the jewels.

Keeble gives Mike the funds he requires to buy his farm, and gives Freddie enough to get him into a [[Bookmaker|bookmaking]] business. Psmith and Eve get engaged, and Psmith persuades Lord Emsworth to take him on as Baxter's replacement.