The Tennis Party by Sophie Kinsella Page B

the invitation had appeared from Patrick and Caroline, warmly pressing them to come and play tennis.
    She finished buttoning up her tennis dress, carefully brushed her hair with her Mason Pearson brush and looked in the mirror. Her legs were carefully waxed, her hair well cut and her face discreetly made up. But it did not occur to Cressida to stare at herself gloatingly or try to imagine the appearance she would make on the court. She turned round briefly to check that her dress was straight at the back. Then she turned her attention to the letters still lying on the bed. Perhaps she should go through them. That would please Charles. He always complained that she never opened a letter unless she recognized the handwriting on the envelope.
    But a shout from outside distracted her. She went to the window and saw Charles looking up. He wasgrinning broadly and looked as though he’d been running.
    ‘Come on, Cress!’ he shouted. ‘It’s lovely out here!’ Cressida smiled in slight relief. He wasn’t angry any more.
    ‘All right!’ she called. ‘I’m coming!’ And without giving the letters another thought, she hurried out of the room.
    When they arrived at the tennis court, they found Annie and Stephen knocking up. Caroline was lying in a deck-chair, smoking a cigarette and applauding; Patrick was nowhere to be seen.
    ‘We’re a bit out of condition, I’m afraid,’ said Stephen.
    ‘Speak for yourself,’ retorted Annie as they came off court. She kissed Charles. ‘It’s super to see you!’ she said.
    ‘Hello, Cressida,’ said Stephen. ‘How are you?’
    ‘What a lovely name!’ piped up Valerie. ‘I don’t think I’ve heard that one before. Is it from a book?’ Cressida gave her a look of astonishment.
    ‘Charles, Cressida,’ said Stephen, hiding a smile, ‘meet Don and Valerie Roper.’
    ‘How do you do?’ said Cressida.
    ‘Don lives in our village,’ called Caroline from the deck-chair, her voice husky with cigarette smoke.The thought seemed to tickle her, and she started laughing rather drunkenly.
    ‘Pleased to meet you,’ said Don, nodding at Charles.
    ‘Don and Valerie have just thrashed us,’ said Caroline. ‘It was a thrilling match, ending on a foot-fault.’
    ‘Ooh!’ said Valerie, then blushed as everyone looked at her.
    Caroline had swivelled round in her chair to look at Cressida.
    ‘I love your dress,’ she announced. ‘Where did you get it?’ Cressida forced herself to smile at Caroline.
    ‘I had it made for me,’ she said.
    ‘I might have known,’ said Caroline, in slightly mocking tones. ‘There you are, Annie, you think I’ve got a good wardrobe, but I’ve never had anything made for me. I bet that cost a packet, didn’t it?’ Cressida’s hand tightened round her racquet, and she laughed lightly.
    ‘Go on, how much? Two hundred? Three hundred?’
    ‘Really?’ said Annie. ‘Would it be that much?’
    ‘Might be more,’ said Caroline. ‘Or might be less. Depends if a designer makes it or your granny makes it!’ she cackled with laughter again. ‘Actually,’ she added, ‘I don’t think I’d like to have my things madefor me. I mean, the whole point of buying clothes is going and trying them on in the shop.’ She smiled reminiscently. ‘When I was young,’ she said, ‘I used to spend my entire Saturday going round Biba and Mary Quant, trying on clothes. It was great. You just stripped off what you were wearing and tried everything on in the shop. Once I walked right out of Biba wearing a brand-new outfit!’
    ‘But that’s shop lifting!’ said Valerie, in a shocked voice.
    ‘No it isn’t,’ said Caroline scathingly. ‘I didn’t mean to do it. I just forgot what I was wearing when I went in.’
    Charles had turned to Annie. ‘I’ve just seen Nicola trotting round the paddock on Georgina’s pony. She was doing very well.’
    ‘She’s talked about nothing else for the last few days,’ said Annie, smiling. ‘She simply adores coming