586 • WODEHOUSE, P. G.
they were, narrated in typical Wodehousian style, but this very act of
collaboration, rather that the content, caused the novelist to be de-
nounced as a traitor. William Connor, who wrote the Cassandra col-
umn in theDaily Mirror, railed against Wodehouse on the BBC, and
indignant letters were published by theTimesfrom A. A. Milne,
among many others. He was expelled by his London club, the Beef-
steak; Oxford University was petitioned to rescind his honorary de-
gree; and his beloved old school, Dulwich College, removed his
name from its roll of honor.
Wodehouse himself could not understand what offense he had
caused and assured his friends that his loyalty to Britain was never in
doubt. Late in 1943 Wodehouse and his wife were moved to Paris
where they were installed in the Hotel Bristol, and he was living there
when he was visited byMalcolm Muggeridgeon behalf of the Brit-
ish authorities.
The task of dealing with Wodehouse and what he himself would
subsequently refer to as his ‘‘indiscretion’’ had been assigned to Col-
onel A. G. Trevor-Wilson, a seniorSecret Intelligence Serviceoffi-
cer who before the war had been a bank manager in France. Trevor-
Wilson delegated the matter to his subordinate, Muggeridge, who
was a great admirer of Wodehouse and was not unsympathetic to his
cause. He spent hours with the author, dissecting every detail of his
period in German hands and concluded that Wodehouse had been
foolish, but not a traitor. He established that Wodehouse’s release
from Tost had come about as a result of pleas from influential Ameri-
can friends in Berlin and not some discreditable pact in which a de-
gree of freedom was granted in return for the broadcasts. Another
allegation, without foundation, was the charge that a bargain had
been made to allow his wife to join him in Berlin after the last broad-
cast. Muggeridge’s verdict was later endorsed by the distinguished
barrister (Sir) Edward Cussen who, on behalf ofMI5, interrogated
Wodehouse at length, completed a detailed report and advised the
author not to return to England. However, he was taken into custody
briefly by the French police in November, and after four days moved
to a maternity hospital, but was released without charge after Mug-
geridge intervened.
Early the following year the foreign secretary,Sir Anthony Eden,
announced in London in response to questions tabled by Quintin