'This is a surprise, what?' I said, after about five minutes' restful silence, trying to crank the conversation up again.
'What is a surprise?'
'Your coming here, don't you know, and so on.'
She raised her eyebrows and drank me in a bit more through her glasses.
'Why is it surprising that I should visit my only nephew?' she said.
'Oh, rather,' I said. 'Of course! Certainly. What I mean is—'
Jeeves projected himself into the room with the tea. I was jolly glad to see him. There's nothing like having a bit of business arranged for one when one isn't certain of one's lines. With the teapot to fool about with I felt happier.
'Tea, tea, tea—what! What!' I said.
It wasn't what I had meant to say. My idea had been to be a good deal more formal, and so on. Still, it covered the situation.
