Bertie vs. Reggie (In Regard to Freddie)
So now that FRED is out, I thought I'd share a little tidbit I found both interesting and a touch tragic. As I mentioned in my little intro, "Fixing It for Freddie" is a rewrite of the older Reggie Pepper story "Helping Freddie", and much of it is word-for-word with Reggie switched out for Bertie, and Jeeves inserted in. But there are a few differences - namely, that Reggie seems an awful lot more attached to Freddie than Bertie ever is. See, when Bertie thinks about the potential effect on Freddie of his helping out a pal, he says this:
What you might call a quiet happiness suffused me, if that’s the word I want. I was very fond of old Freddie, and it was jolly to think that he was shortly about to click once more.
Reggie, however, in the exact same situation, says this:
I don’t know when I’ve felt so happy. I was so fond of dear old Freddie that to know that he was soon going to be his old bright self again made me feel as if somebody had left me about a million pounds.
Bertie's happy for his pal, but it's in a more relaxed, detached sort of way - but Reggie seems to practically stake all his emotions on Freddie feeling better. Which does better explain why Reggie would go so far as to kidnap a toddler (as opposed to Bertie, who has even less excuse), but is also rather sad, given that Freddie is an awful lot crueler to Reggie than he is to Bertie. Compare this, which comes right before the above:
“Well?” said Freddie, when silence had set in. I explained the scheme. After a while it began to strike him. The careworn look faded from his face, and for the first time since his arrival at Marvis Bay he smiled almost happily.
“There’s something in this, Bertie.”
“It’s the goods.”
“I think it will work,” said Freddie.
“Well?” said Freddie, when silence had set in.
I explained the idea. After a while it began to strike him.
“You’re not such a fool as you look, sometimes, Reggie,” he said, handsomely. “I’m bound to say this seems pretty good.”
And not to mention how Bertie's musing on childrearing:
“And, after all,” I said, “there’s lots to be argued in favour of having a child about the place, if you know what I mean. Kind of cosy and domestic, what?”
Just then the kid upset the milk over Freddie’s trousers, and when he had come back after changing he lacked sparkle.
is met with a far less subdued response in Reggie's tale, with Freddie aggressively shooting down Reggie's good cheer with this (admittedly pretty funny) line:
“And after all,” I said, “there’s lots to be said for having a child about the house, if you know what I mean. Kind of cosy and domestic—what!”
Just then the kid upset the milk over Freddie’s trousers, and when he had come back after changing his clothes he began to talk about what a much-maligned man King Herod was. The more he saw of Tootles, he said, the less he wondered at those impulsive views of his on infanticide.
In short, Reggie cares more about Freddie than Bertie does, despite the fact that Freddie is meaner to him... which is just depressing. But unlike with Bertie, there are no recurring characters in Reggie's stories - he has no family, good or bad, and his friends all leave to go off with someone else. Crucially, he also has no Jeeves - the closest we get is his man Wilberforce, who is not as established in his life (Reggie has an entirely different valet in the story "Rallying Around Old George") and gets no lines and no indication of his personality save for taking odd offense to a lack of collaboration when it comes to getting dressed in the morning.
Thus, while Reggie is both more intelligent and a bit more conniving than Bertie, he also comes off as much, much lonelier - a man who clings even to a jerk like Freddie because Freddie, for the time being, may be the only one he has.