“What lines?”
“Didn’t you notice? Two of my lines came out all wrong, and if Alan and Paula hadn’t picked them up and gone on as if nothing had happened, I don’t know what I would have done!”
“I never noticed,” Greta said. “And I guess that means the audience didn’t either. And they seemed to like it. That was one of the best first-act curtain receptions I ever heard. If they like the rest of the play as well, we’ve got a hit on our—”
“Don’t say it!” Peggy said. “It’s bad luck! Oh dear ... I don’t know how I’ll ever get through it!”
“You’ll get through it beautifully,” Greta said, “the same way you got through the first act.”
Reassured by Greta’s calm, businesslike manner, Peggy pulled herself together with an almost visible effort. “How much longer before we go on?” she asked. “Amy said she’d come back between acts with a report from out front. She should be here by now.”
“She is here,” Amy said from the doorway. “And the report from out front is great. You were both wonderful, and the play is perfect, and everybody in the whole cast is grand!”
“Amy, I’m afraid that as a reporter, you’re a good friend,” Greta said. “I’m glad you think it’s so good, but what I want to know is how is the audience reacting? What’s the intermission talk like?”
“I’ve just come back from the lounge,” Amy said, “and I couldn’t ask for better talk! Everybody is intrigued with the play, and they all seem to think the production is a sure hit. And they’re wild about Paula! I’ve never heard such talk in my life! Even the man from the Times and the man from the Post were smiling and talking about Paula!”
“I knew that Paula would make a hit,” Peggy said warmly. “Isn’t she good?”