Reginald "Reggie" Pepper is a fictional character who appears in seven short stories by English author P. G. Wodehouse.
He is considered to be an early prototype for Bertie Wooster, who, along with his valet Jeeves, is one of Wodehouse's most famous creations.
Reggie is not ambitious and is content simply to watch traffic from the window of his club, though he is also curious about the affairs of his friends, as he states in "Concealed Art".
Reggie himself notes this, stating "Doesn't some poet or philosopher fellow say that it’s when our intentions are best that we always make the most poisonous bloomers?
"[4] Continually unlucky in love, Reggie states in "Rallying Round Old George" that he has been turned down dozens of times.
He is ultimately thankful that he did not marry Elizabeth Yeardsley, who proves to be rather manipulative, or Ann Selby, since she is a strong-minded girl who would have tried to change him.
The odd thing is that the Bertie W. character started out as Reggie Pepper, and I don't know why I changed the name.
Bobbie's forgetfulness continues to create problems between him and Mary, though he does remember to give Reggie money he owes him, feeling it is important to pay a debt.
Eventually, Bobbie remembers the show he and Mary saw on her last birthday at the Coliseum, narrowing the search down to six days in May.
In the middle of the night, Bobbie calls Reggie, waking him up, and says they saw a matinée, which means the show was on Wednesday or Saturday.
The well-meaning young gentleman Reggie Pepper advises his friend Percy Craye to consult a palmist named Dorothea.
Though initially reluctant, Percy is ultimately happy after meeting Dorothea, who is really a widow named Mrs. Dorothy Darrell.
At the Crayes' country house, Percy really does change his mind about the engagement under Florence's influence, and Dorothy leaves for London.
Back in London, Reggie sees Percy's older brother Edwin, Lord Weeting, who is unusually happy.
Florence commands Reggie to tell her widowed father, Mr. Craye, Lord Worplesdon, that Edwin is engaged to a palm reader.
He confesses to Reggie that to earn a living, he illustrates slapstick cartoons about the "Doughnut" family in a magazine called Funny Slices.
The value of B. O. and P. stock has plummeted, and Archie has lost his savings, but his true problem is that he cannot explain his continuing income to Eunice.
Archie is unwilling to tell her about the money he makes from cartoons, so the couple lives off Eunice's small private means and moves to a less expensive residence.
He calls Archie and tells him to claim he obtained his money by selling his painting "The Coming of Summer" to the American millionaire J. Bellingwood Brackett, who lives in London and often buys artwork.
Archie follows through on this plan and decides to tell Eunice he was paid two thousand pounds, a remarkably large sum.
Renshaw Liggett, Brackett's representative, visits the Ferguson home to tell Archie to publicly deny the story.
Lastly, Reggie intends to use a wedge to jam the studio room door and trap Harold there for a few hours.
After hearing someone enter the studio room, Reggie jams the door shut with a wedge and then dines out, returning a few hours later.
Reggie explains that he suggested Harold lengthen his meditations and invite Percy as part of a larger plan.
In the American edition, the story takes place in America, and Harold and Hilda live in Long Island.
In the magazine publications, "Absent Treatment" was illustrated by Joseph Simpson (UK) and Wallace Morgan (US).
[17] "Disentangling Old Duggie" was reprinted with Leete's illustrations in the UK periodical Newnes Summer Annual in 1915.
The Reggie Pepper story "Rallying Round Old George" was adapted into the play Brother Alfred by Wodehouse and Herbert Westbrook, and presented at the Savoy Theatre in April 1913.
Two silent short comedy films, "Making Good with Mother" and "Cutting Out Venus", released in the US in 1919, were inspired by the Reggie Pepper stories.
[26] The episodes, broadcast from 8 to 12 August 2015, included "Absent Treatment", "Lines and Business", "Disentangling Old Percy", "The Test Case", and "Concealed Art".