Weird. There's no other word for her.

 Miss Peavey often had this effect on the less soulful type of man, especially in the mornings, when such men are not at their strongest and best. When she came into the breakfast-room of a country house, brave men who had been up a bit late the night before quailed and tried to hide behind newspapers. She was the sort of woman who tells a man who is propping his eyes open with his fingers and endeavoring to correct a headache with strong tea that she was up at six watching the dew fade off the grass, and didn't he think that those wisps of morning mist were the elves' bridal veils.

(from Leave It To Psmith, by Sir Pelham Wodehouse)

One tough babe

 Aesthetically, he admired Lady Constance's appearance, but he could not conceal from himself that in the peculiar circumstances he would have preferred something rather more fragile and drooping. Lady Constance conveyed the impression that anybody who had the choice between stealing anything from her and stirring up a nest of hornets with a short walking-stick would do well t choose the hornets.

(from Leave It To Psmith, by Sir Pelham Wodehouse)

"Across the pale parabola of joy"

     This is a phrase taken from the collection of poems written by Ralston McTodd and entitled "Songs of Squalor." The characters in the story (especially Psmith) spend a great deal of time trying to figure out what it means. The book which contains the story is entitled Leave It To Psmith, authored by Sir Pelham Wodehouse.

How to make a nuisance of himself

     "But, Eve, were you only joking when you asked Clarkie to find you something to do? She took you quite seriously."

    "No, I wasn't joking. There's a drawback to my going to Blandings. I suppose you know the place pretty well?"

    "I've often stayed there. It's beautiful."

    "Then you know Lord Emsworth's second son, Freddie Threepwood?"

    "Of course."

    "Well, he's the drawback. He wants to marry me, and I certainly don't want to marry him. And what I've been wondering is whether a nice easy job wlike that, which would tide me over beautifully till September, is attractive enough to make up for the nuisance of having to be always squelching poor Freddie. I ought to have thought of it right at the beginning, of course, but when he wrote and told me to apply for the position, but I was so delighted at the idea of regular work that it didn't occur to me. Then I began to wonder. He's such a persevering young man. He proposes early and often."

(from Leave It To Psmith, by Sir Pelham Wodehouse)