A comic plot centers on Freddie Threepwood, who needs money to pursue a romance and a new venture, and his awkward uncle, who secretly seeks funds to aid a runaway daughter. They conspire to raise cash by stealing the wife’s necklace and recruit the urbane, eccentric Psmith after seeing his advertisement. Psmith’s polished schemes trigger a series of plots and counterplots at a country estate, involving servants, an officious secretary, social gatherings, and eccentric incidents such as poetry readings and flower-pot disruptions. The planned theft fails, but Psmith’s wit and charm reshape relationships and resolve several domestic complications.