# The Small Bachelor — Chapters explained

> Chapter companions for The Small Bachelor by P. G. Wodehouse.

- [I](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/i.md): The chapter introduces George Finch, a young man from the West who has come to New York to make his fortune. He is in love with Molly Waddington, a society girl from a wealthy family. George is an artist and has painted 
- [I](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/i.md): The chapter introduces the rooftop of the Sheridan Apartment House in New York's Bohemian quarter, home to George Finch, a terrible painter from Idaho. His valet Mullett is sweeping when J. Hamilton Beamish, author of th
- [II](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/ii.md): Hamilton Beamish instructs Officer Garroway in the principles of modern poetry on the rooftop, while Mullett is present and avoids being recognized by the policeman.
- [III](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/iii.md): Officer Garroway recognizes Mullett as an ex-convict from a photograph in the Rogues Gallery and informs George Finch. Mullett confesses his past as a burglar but claims he has reformed for love of Fanny Welch, a pickpoc
- [IV](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/iv.md): George Finch confesses his love for Molly Waddington to Hamilton Beamish, who reveals that he knows her and her family. Beamish describes Molly's stepmother, Mrs. Sigsbee Waddington, as a snobbish and formidable woman, a
- [V](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/v.md): George Finch, in a state of romantic anticipation, discusses his dress clothes and his upcoming introduction to a young lady with his valet Mullett, who confirms she is 'very cuddly.' George learns that Hamilton Beamish 
- [II](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/ii.md): The chapter continues the narrative, though specific details from the provided excerpts are absent. It likely advances the plot involving the characters and themes established in the book.
- [I](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/i.md): Mrs. Waddington is in a panic before her important dinner party because her husband Sigsbee is having one of his 'spells'—pining for the West and refusing to dress. She calls on Lord Hunstanton for help, and they discuss
- [II](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/ii.md): Mrs. Waddington visits her stepdaughter Molly in her room, distressed about Mr. Waddington's refusal to dress for dinner due to a 'spell' involving Zane Grey and Tom Mix. She hints at her desire for Molly to marry Lord H
- [III](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/iii.md): Molly Waddington persuades her father Sigsbee H. Waddington to attend a party despite his reluctance. Sigsbee, feeling oppressed by Eastern society and yearning for the West, stands outside his home, disgusted by the wea
- [IV](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/iv.md): George Finch, a shy young man from the West, attempts to call on Molly Waddington but is caught by her father, Sigsbee Waddington, who initially confronts him. Upon learning George is from Idaho, Waddington's hostility t
- [III](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/iii.md): George Finch, having been rebuffed by Molly Waddington, retreats to his apartment where he is visited by Hamilton Beamish. Beamish confesses his love for a mysterious girl he met at the opera, who turns out to be Madame 
- [I](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/i.md): George Finch attends a dinner party at the Waddington home, where he feels out of place among wealthy financiers discussing stocks and bonds. He is smitten by Molly Waddington's appearance, but Mrs. Waddington's hostile 
- [II](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/ii.md): George Finch, having been mistakenly called 'Winch' and 'Pinch' by Mr. Waddington, engages in a disjointed conversation where Mr. Waddington complains about his wife, Lord Hunstanton, and the East, while George repeatedl
- [III](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/iii.md): George Finch, painfully shy, awkwardly converses with Molly Waddington after dinner. He reveals he is an artist and she expresses interest in his work. Mrs. Waddington, horrified to realize George matches Molly's earlier
- [IV](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/iv.md): George Finch visits the Waddington residence to present his painting 'Hail, Jocund Spring!' to Molly, but is turned away by the butler Ferris, who insists that Mrs. Waddington is not at home despite her audible presence.
- [IV](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/iv.md): George Finch, having been rejected by Molly Waddington, finds himself in a state of despair. He encounters Hamilton Beamish, who is infatuated with a mysterious girl. Meanwhile, Sigsbee Waddington plots to steal a pearl 
- [I](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/i.md): George Finch, distraught after being banned from the Waddington home, seeks advice from his friend Hamilton Beamish. Hamilton learns that Molly Waddington has called, asking him to visit her, and he agrees to go and spea
- [II](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/ii.md): Hamilton Beamish, an efficiency expert, finds himself unexpectedly falling in love at first sight with a mysterious girl he sees on an omnibus. After a chance encounter on Mrs. Waddington's doorstep, he helps remove a sp
- [III](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/iii.md): Molly Waddington and Hamilton Beamish discuss their respective romantic interests. Molly is in love with George Finch, despite her stepmother's disapproval, and devises a plan to win her over by bribing a palmist. Meanwh
- [IV](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/iv.md): Hamilton Beamish visits Madame Eulalie's office, only to discover she is the same girl he met earlier. He defends her from Officer Garroway, who was sent to arrest her for fortune-telling, and learns she is from East Gil
- [V](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/v.md): Hamilton Beamish tells George Finch that he met a mysterious girl named Madame Eulalie who knew George from East Gilead. George, preoccupied with Molly Waddington, repeatedly asks if Molly gave him a message. Eventually,
- [V](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/v.md): In this chapter, George Finch's scheme to recover the pearl necklace from the Waddington household reaches its climax. He enlists the help of Officer Garroway and others to stage a burglary, but the plan goes awry when M
- [I](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/i.md): Mrs. Waddington visits Madame Eulalie for a séance, where the fortune-teller foresees a wedding interrupted by a woman with a revolver, implicating Lord Hunstanton. Disturbed, Mrs. Waddington returns home to find her hus
- [II](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/ii.md): Molly Waddington insists she will marry George Finch despite her mother's objections. Mrs. Waddington expresses strong disapproval, hinting at a presentiment the wedding will never happen. George arrives late, having bee
- [VI](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/vi.md): George Finch, now engaged to Molly Waddington, finds himself entangled in a web of social obligations and financial anxieties. He is visited by Hamilton Beamish, who is infatuated with a mysterious girl, and by Sigsbee W
- [I](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/i.md): Mr. Waddington, in a panic over his worthless stock in the Finer and Better Motion Picture Company, confesses to Hamilton Beamish that he replaced Molly's genuine pearl necklace with fakes to raise funds. Beamish offers 
- [II](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/ii.md): Sigsbee H. Waddington encounters Officer Garroway and, after a friendly chat, persuades him to invest $300 in the dubious Finer and Better Motion Picture Company, a scheme that seems too good to be true.
- [III](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/iii.md): Frederick Mullett and Fanny Welch discuss their future together in George Finch's apartment. Mullett envisions a peaceful life on a duck farm, but Fanny expresses reluctance to give up her pickpocketing career, leading t
- [IV](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/iv.md): Frederick Mullett returns to the kitchen after a long absence, causing his fiancée Fanny to suspect he was flirting. He explains he was approached by a man with grey hair and a red face who offered him $300 to commit a c
- [V](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/v.md): Sigsbee H. Waddington reluctantly lets Fanny Welch into his apartment after she gestures insistently at him through the window. Fanny, having learned from Freddy Mullett that Waddington is seeking someone to commit a cri
- [VII](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/vii.md): Hamilton Beamish has a telephone conversation with a woman, discussing George Finch's upcoming wedding and making dinner plans. He then deals with Officer Garroway, who has come to recite a bleak, modernist poem. Beamish
- [VIII](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/viii.md): On George Finch's wedding day, a bright and cheerful morning is marred by news that the clergyman has sprained his ankle, delaying the ceremony. Molly and Mrs. Waddington depart to fetch a substitute, leaving George anxi
- [IX](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/ix.md): George Finch and Hamilton Beamish discuss the impending arrival of May Stubbs, George's former 'understanding' from East Gilead, who threatens his wedding to Molly Waddington. Beamish proposes a scheme to make George app
- [Chapter X](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/x.md): Hamilton Beamish's plan to discredit George Finch in the eyes of May Stubbs backfires when May reveals herself to be Madame Eulalie, the woman with whom Beamish has fallen in love. Beamish, overcome with jealousy, abando
- [XI](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/xi.md): On his wedding day, George Finch encounters the Reverend Gideon Voules, a clergyman with a history of unfortunate weddings, and attempts to engage the butler Ferris in conversation, only to be met with disapproval. Meanw
- [XII](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/xii.md): Sigsbee H. Waddington returns home after a fruitless search through New York for a policeman named Mulcahy or Garrity, only to learn from the butler Ferris that the wedding was halted by a mysterious young woman who burs
- [XIII](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/xiii.md): Sigsbee H. Waddington, after a strong drink, rationalizes the disappearance of the pearl necklace as beneficial, but then recalls the name 'Gallagher' and decides to return to New York to pursue the thief and clear Georg
- [XIV](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/xiv.md): George Finch, having recovered the pearl necklace, returns it to the Waddingtons, leading to a confrontation with Sigsbee. The engagement between George and Molly is broken off, and George leaves for the West. Meanwhile,
- [I](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/i.md): Mrs. Waddington, frustrated by the police's inability to identify the thief of her stepdaughter's pearl necklace, resolves to expose George Finch as a morally corrupt artist. She enlists Lord Hunstanton as an ally, and t
- [II](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/ii.md): Frederick Mullett, newly married to Fanny, is anxious about her mysterious afternoon activities. His unease grows when Mrs. Waddington appears at the window, demanding to question the young woman in the apartment. Mullet
- [III](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/iii.md): Mrs. Waddington, suspecting a young woman is involved with George Finch, decides to leave the roof and patrol the street. However, she notices an open window and enters the apartment. The smell of soup leads her to the k
- [IV](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/iv.md): Mrs. Waddington is caught red-handed by a policeman while burgling George Finch's apartment. After a moment of shock, she cleverly uses a pepper pot to blind the officer and escapes through the window and down the fire-e
- [XV](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/xv.md): Molly and Sigsbee Horatio arrive at George's apartment after a delay, where Molly finds Officer Garroway recovering from a pepper attack by Mrs. Waddington. After Garroway leaves, Molly waits on the roof and is reunited 
- [XVI](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/xvi.md): George Finch and Hamilton Beamish discuss the complexities of love and marriage, with George expressing his desire to marry Molly Waddington despite her family's disapproval. Hamilton shares his own romantic troubles, an
- [I](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/i.md): George Finch dines at the Purple Chicken, where he meets a mysterious stranger named Delancy Cabot. After a tense encounter, George recognizes Cabot as a policeman and, fearing arrest, attacks him with a tablecloth and e
- [II](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/ii.md): George Finch hides under a bed after escaping the Purple Chicken raid, while Hamilton Beamish and Madame Eulalie flee to the roof. Beamish devises a clever plan for her to pose as a tenant in George's sleeping porch to a
- [III](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/iii.md): George Finch, hiding in a bedroom, witnesses a woman dressing and a confrontation between Officer Garroway and Hamilton Beamish, who claims the woman is his fiancée and that George is away on his wedding trip.
- [IV](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/iv.md): George Finch remains hidden under a bed, contemplating his predicament and the various characters in his life, while Mrs. Waddington arrives on the scene and listens at the keyhole.
- [V](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/v.md): George Finch, hiding under a bed in his sleeping-porch, discovers that the ankles he sees belong not to May Stubbs but to Fanny Mullett, the new wife of his valet Frederick Mullett. After a tense confrontation, Fanny rel
- [Chapter XVII](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/xvii.md): George Finch, now a married man, reflects on his new life with May Stubbs and the changes in his social circle. He encounters various characters from his past, including Hamilton Beamish, who is still pining for Madame E
- [I](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/i.md): Mrs. Waddington confronts Ferris, the butler, whom she suspects of writing a scandalous article for Town Gossip. She then enlists Lord Hunstanton to witness what she believes is George Finch's immoral behavior, but they 
- [II](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/ii.md): Sigsbee H. Waddington, after an exhaustive search for a policeman named Gallagher, realizes he should have asked Hamilton Beamish about Officer Garroway. He rushes to Beamish's apartment, where his voice is heard by Garr
- [III](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/iii.md): Mrs. Waddington and Lord Hunstanton are locked in a sleeping-porch by Officer Garroway, who appoints the butler Ferris as his deputy to guard them. Ferris initially refuses to release them, but after negotiations, accept
- [XVIII](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_small_bachelor_se/chapters/xviii.md): George learns Molly has left Hempstead and expects her arrival. Mr. Waddington visits, and George gives him the recovered necklace. Molly arrives and suspects someone is on the sleeping porch. George discovers Lord Hunst

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