His Magesty called out,
[145] “The Lady Selia wants to beat the world with her skill at tennis. Who will take her on?”
And Rupert and Gerald Majpottel now came tripping up and cried “Hi! This way for the lady tennis champions! Anyone want to try their strength? Walk up and try to beat the Lady Selia!” This made the company laugh very harty to hear the brothers go on in this way, which was their little joke and did a lot of good. For the head lady tennis players who had been lounging idly in chairs behind the King and Queen now sprang fiercely forward on hearing this cry of the Majpottels and said “Here we are!” and there were three of them.
Meantime the crowd was crowding something awful all round the socierty part and staring and the newspaper men were taking photos and scribbling in books about it. Oh what a moment! Almost for a tick Selia [146] ]wished Mr. Withersquashes Unckle Burt had never passed away, but then girding herself up, and blushing a little at the roar of cheers that rose when the crowd saw that she was a sport, she tossed off her hat with a proud toss, and summoned for a bat.
“Come on then!” she yelled to the head lady tennis players.
“Not so fast!” cried the Queen kindly “for there are three to one against which we all know is wrong.”
So one of the three head tennis ladys who all had medals on their chests because of all the games they had won, said she would take sides with Selia. And some of the socierty folks snigered and said “tosh” for they did not know Selia and bemeaned her being as they well knew only humbel of birth for she had got her name up owing to having got on so lately.
Out on the grassy sward she stept swashing her tennis bat while Mr. Withersquash fondly gazed on her from beside royalty.
[147] “Pom!” the game began and a ball came over. And “pom!” Selia hit it back and so she went on. Nothing could get past her. Oh she was very clever at tennis was Selia though her light had hitherto been under a bushel.
Love thirty, love forty, game, so it went on and on for ages, and then when at the last the lady partner playing with Selia got a bit waxy because she never had a chance to touch a ball and began grumbling, Selia took her on too and smashed her although she was on the same side of the net, and smashed the two ladys on the other side and smashed them all and they could hardly stand they were so tired and cross.