# Something to Worry About explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by P. G. Wodehouse.

## What happens

Sally Preston, a London girl who loves cinemas, is sent by her strict father to the sleepy village of Millbourne to reform. She finds the place deadly dull and immediately clashes with the quiet, hardworking second gardener Tom Kitchener, who falls in love with her at first sight. Tom's shyness and habit of asking about rheumatism prevent him from joining the nightly gatherings of other young men at Sally's aunt's cottage, so he woos her with vegetables. Old Mr. Williams warns Tom to drop his passion.

## Themes in this chapter

### The Contrast Between City and Country

Sally's love for London's noise, shops, and cinemas clashes with Millbourne's sleepy, boring village life, driving the conflict.

### Loneliness and Connection

Sally feels isolated in Millbourne, while Tom's sudden love for her creates a desperate but awkward attempt at connection.

### Comedy and Misunderstanding

Tom's silent, vegetable-based courtship and his inability to join the nightly gatherings provide humorous contrast to the serious love he feels.

## Character check-ins

### Sally Preston

A pretty, trim London girl sent to Millbourne by her father for frequenting cinemas; she finds the village deadly and plots to return to London.

### Tom Kitchener

A large, grave, self-sufficing second gardener at the Hall, aged 25, who falls in love with Sally at first sight and woos her with vegetables.

### Mr. Williams

Sally's uncle by marriage, a shrewd old man who warns Tom to drop his passion for Sally.

### Mrs. Williams

Sally's aunt, who hosts the nightly gatherings of young men and defends them as keeping them out of public houses.

## Key lines

> She was a pretty girl, small and trim. Just now some secret sorrow seemed to be troubling her, for on her forehead were wrinkles and in her eyes a look of wistfulness.

Sally was a petite, attractive young woman, but she appeared troubled, with a furrowed brow and a longing gaze.

_Introduces Sally's discontent with Millbourne._

> She rose and shivered. “Goo! What a hole!” she said, eyeing the unconscious village morosely. “ What a hole!”

She stood up, shuddered, and muttered bitterly about how awful the village was.

_Sally's blunt opinion of Millbourne._

> He was in love. These strong, silent men who mean to be head-gardeners before they are thirty, and eliminate woman from their lives as a dangerous obstacle to the successful career, pay a heavy penalty when they do fall in love.

Tom realized he had fallen in love, and the narrator notes that such determined, reserved men suffer greatly when love finally strikes them.

_Tom's internal awakening and the irony of his situation._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/something-to-worry-about
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters