“Amanda Peabody is doing just as well. I never saw such pretty work in my life. She seems to be top form.”
Vi turned toward the quiet voice and saw Ray Carew standing beside her. She regarded the girl steadily for a long moment.
“Sounds to me as if you were rooting for Amanda, Ray. Are you?”
Rachael had the grace to flush. She avoided Vi’s direct glance.
“No,” she said, and in a moment walked over to join a friend.
When Vi turned again to watch Billie’s smashing service, her clever backhand, her choppy, certain net-work, the enthusiasm she had felt before was definitely overshadowed.
“Billie is just throwing away everything she has gained here by sticking to that wretched Edina Tooker. I can’t think what she sees in the girl. I never liked her, anyway—not from the very first!”
When Billie limped from the courts after a day of smashing victories, having reached the finals with a defeat of only one game, her first words were of praise for her adversaries.
“They were all good fighters and game losers,” she cried, her eyes shining. “Oh, what a day—what a marvelous day! Where’s Laura?”