Rowcester Abbey

Also the house, the abbey, the place, childhood home, castle, the old place, the old ruin, the joint

Bill's dilapidated, damp ancestral home, which Mrs Spottsworth buys to ship to California.

Connections

dealings

• is up for sale by, is owned by Bill Rowcester 14
• is wanted as a purchase by, is hoped to be haunted by Mrs Spottsworth 12
• is run down by, is praised by Rory Carmoyle 6
• is the childhood home of Monica Carmoyle 2
• is detested by the Home for Reclaimed Juvenile Delinquents^⁂ 1
• is advised by Jeeves 1
• is up for sale by Jill Wyvern 1
• is stripped by Uncle George 1

Inside it

• the Clock Room
• the dining room
• the garden
• the haunted lavatory
• the Henry VIII Room
• Jeeves's pantry
• the lawn
• the library
• the living room
• the Long Gallery
• the morning room
• the Queen Elizabeth Room
• the ruined chapel
• the yew alley

Scenes set here

1. On the front steps of crumbling Rowcester Abbey, Rory proposes arson while Monica reveals she has invited the rich American Mrs Spottsworth to come and buy the place, and warns him not to put her off.Chapter 2, Rowcester Abbey
2. Driving from the Goose and Gherkin, Mrs Spottsworth decides the spirits sent Captain Biggar back to her and she might cultivate him, then sees Rowcester Abbey in the sunset and falls in love with it.Chapter 6, Rowcester Abbey
3. Left alone with Jeeves, Rory pronounces Mrs Spottsworth potty, tells of a mad customer at Harrige's, and is awed by Jeeves's knowledge of the Derby form.Chapter 7, Rowcester Abbey
4. Ellen announces a Captain Biggar; Mrs Spottsworth, thrilled to find an old friend, gets Monica to invite him to stay, and Monica's triumphant news turns Bill green.Chapter 7, Rowcester Abbey

Talked about, but not there

1. Rosalinda Banks of Ohio marries and outlives two millionaires, the second killed by a lion in Kenya, and is now on her way to stay with Lord Rowcester.Chapter 1
2. Captain Biggar bursts in chasing the bookie who welshed on his double, meets Mrs Spottsworth again and hides his love for her, deciding a penniless hunter cannot court a rich widow.Chapter 1, the Goose and Gherkin
3. Monica goes into the old living room, full of childhood memories, and Jill comes in from the garden and they embrace.Chapters 2–5, the living room
4. Bill and the Carmoyles argue over whether Mrs Spottsworth will buy the Abbey, Rory tells Bill the police and a mystery man have been asking about his car, and Jeeves announces Mrs Spottsworth.Chapters 6–7, the living room, as the house
5. Monica finds Bill tearing his hair and packs him off to the ruined chapel to charm Mrs Spottsworth into buying the house, and he goes, seeing a deposit as his way out of the Biggar menace.Chapter 9, the living room, as the house
6. Rory tells Monica that Biggar has something on Bill and spins wild theories about stolen idols' eyes and an illegitimate baby, while Monica scoffs and tells him to stop running down Rowcester Abbey to Mrs Spottsworth.Chapter 9, the living room, as the house
7. In the moonlit garden Mrs Spottsworth all but invites Captain Biggar to propose, the code keeps him tongue-tied until Bill interrupts, and Biggar listens in disgust as Bill coos to her.Chapter 10, the garden, as England’s leading white elephant
8. Biggar tells Jill that Bill is a fortune hunter courting Mrs Spottsworth, then Monica opens the dower chest to show off its costumes and finds Patch Perkins's check coat, and Biggar draws out the black patch and demands a word with Bill.Chapters 10–11, the living room, as the house
9. Jill, gloomy and suspicious, learns Bill is in the garden with Mrs Spottsworth; Captain Biggar praises the spider sequence, and Bill returns to report that the pendant came off but fell down the front of Mrs Spottsworth's dress.Chapters 13–14, the living room
10. With the abbey asleep, Jeeves comes to the sleepless Bill with a plan: he borrows Mrs Spottsworth's smelling salts on the pretext that Bill has fainted at the sight of Lady Agatha's ghost, so that she will hurry to the ruined chapel and leave her room free.Chapter 15, the Henry VIII Room
11. Colonel Wyvern is cheeked by his teenage cook and butler, learns from Jill that she has broken off her engagement over Bill's goings-on with Mrs Spottsworth, and resolves to horsewhip Bill, though he will have to borrow Bill's horsewhip to do it.Chapter 16, Colonel Wyvern's study
12. At lunch Bill can't eat for guilt while Rory calls Captain Biggar an awful liar, and Jeeves heads off a row with Mrs Spottsworth by announcing coffee.Chapter 17, the dining room
13. Jeeves tips Ballymore, tells Rory and Monica that Jill has broken off with Bill, Rory's tactless consolation enrages Monica, and Jeeves advises the despairing Bill to repay Mrs Spottsworth for the pendant by selling her Rowcester Abbey.Chapter 18, Jeeves's pantry
14. Mrs Spottsworth announces her engagement and, on Jeeves's suggestion, buys the abbey to ship to California, saving Bill, while Jeeves gives notice to return to the expelled Bertie and Rory rings Harrige's about the TV.Chapter 22, the living room, as the abbey