Rupert's daughter, Bridget D'Oyly Carte, however, believed that the Wykehamist schoolboy described to Wodehouse was not her father but his elder brother Lucas, who was also at Winchester.

[1][2] Benny Green offers the theory that Psmith was partially based on Henry Hyndman, an eccentric Victorian demagogue who founded the Socialist Democratic Federation, the first major Marxist political organisation in England.

Here, Psmith fulfils the role of the ingenious, levelheaded fixer, a part taken elsewhere by the likes of Gally, Uncle Fred, or Jeeves, and finally shows a romantic streak of his own.

His most notable talent, even at this age, is a remarkable verbal dexterity, which he uses to confuse boys and masters alike; with his sombre, still face, it is often impossible to tell if he is being serious or not.

While at Eton, he was a competent cricketer, on the verge of the first team – a slow left-arm bowler with a swerve, his enormous reach also makes him handy with a bat when some fast hitting is required, such as in the match between Sedleigh and Wrykyn at the climax of Mike and Psmith.

After Sedleigh, Psmith goes to work at the New Asiatic Bank, having annoyed his father's schoolfriend John Bickersdyke.

We discover in the last chapter, when the head editor returns, that Psmith has persuaded his father to let him invest some money he has inherited from an uncle and now owns the magazine.

Despite having entered the castle claiming to be Canadian poet Ralston McTodd, he is eventually hired as secretary to Lord Emsworth, who knew his father by reputation, and is engaged to Eve Halliday.

In a typical example from Leave it to Psmith, he perceives Eve, trapped by the rain under an awning, and decides, as a chivalrous gentleman, to get her an umbrella, which he unfortunately does not possess.

He solves this problem by appropriating one, and when confronted by the owner, Psmith attempts to mollify him by saying it is for a good cause; and he later recounts it as: "Merely practical Socialism.

[9] The 1933 film based on the play, Leave It to Me, replaced Psmith with a different character, Sebastian Help, who was portrayed by Gene Gerrard, with Molly Lamont as Eve Halliday.