Daphne Winkworth
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Dame Daphne Winkworth is a fictional female who appears in the Jeeves and Wooster stories, written by the English comic author P. G. Wodehouse. Dame Daphne is a menacing and scowling woman who is rarely seen to smile. She is an intimate acquaintance of Bertie Wooster's Aunt Agatha, which is hardly surprising, as they are a rather fearsome pair of old harridans and as such are well-suited. She is the widow of Sir P.B. Winkworth, the noted historian. She has also been a guest at Blandings Castle, making her, along with Roderick Glossop, one of the links between the worlds of Jeeves and Lord Emsworth. She used to be the headmistress of a girl's school in Eastbourne prior to retirement.
Dame Daphne's seat is at Deverill Hall, Hampshire, a large Tudor Manor which has been at its present location in the village of Kings Deverill for longer than anyone can really remember. She lives with her four sisters, all of whom have never been married and have spent their entire lives within the walls of Deverill Hall. They are: Emmeline (the serious one), Myrtle (the artistic one), Charlotte (the deaf one) and Harriet (the masculine one). Dame Daphne, however, has been hitched before, for she has a daughter, Gertrude. It is not known when or why Sir P.B. Winkworth popped his aristocratic clogs, though it is hardly the sort of subject Dame Daphne would discuss. Dame Daphne and Aunt Agatha once arranged for Bertie to marry Gertrude, a proposal against which Bertie protested vehemently, on the grounds that when in company they would be known unflatteringly as Bertie and Gertie. The proposal didn't go ahead, because Gertrude fell in love with Gussie Fink-Nottle, who at the time was engaged to Madeline Bassett.
Bertie has been to stay with Dame Daphne on a number of occasions, though perhaps the most notable of these was when he had to take Gussie's place there after Gussie was arrested for a breach of the peace by swimming in the fountains at Trafalgar Square. Gussie had been summoned for inspection by Dame Daphne, for she was Madeline's godmother, to ensure he was suitable marriage material. However, things went to pot when Aunt Agatha came down to stay and the plot was uncovered. Bertie was packed off back to London in disgrace.
