At this Nan hooted. She was remembering her own encounter with Linda at the travel agent's a few weeks previously.
"And then--" Laura wanted more about this exciting encounter.
"Then he begged her pardon. Can you imagine that?" Bess looked at her friends for an answer. There was none. "Gave her a new stub, asked her if there was anything else he could do for her, and all but personally escorted her back to First Class.
"She didn't even thank him for his trouble. She just turned, looked some of the people up and down as though they were curiosities in a zoo, and swept over to the elevator."
"What? She didn't walk on you again," Laura was purposely baiting Bess now.
"I should say not!" Bess answered emphatically. "Before she turned, I stepped way back so that there wasn't any more danger of that."
"Good for you, Bess," Rhoda now spoke up for the first time.
"It seems to me," Nan grinned impishly as she thought about it, "That one or two of us made a New Year's resolution about Linda Riggs. Remember Bess?"
"Remember, why should I remember?" Bess asked. "I never in all this wide world made a resolution about Linda, unless it was to get even with her for the times she has embarrassed us."
"Oh, but Bess," Nan pursued her train of thought, "You remember how, after the New Year's Eve party at Grace's, we went up to our room and made resolutions?"
"You did." Bess corrected her abruptly and very positively. "You and Grace said that for one month you would be nice to Linda, no matter what happened. Then Linda never did come back to school, so it didn't count."
"Anyway," Nan attempted to dismiss the unpleasant subject, "There's no reason why she should bother us. She's up in First Class."
"Yes, and we're down here in Tourist." It was a sore point with Bess, who was always irritated when Linda was able to show her superiority in money matters. Bess wanted most intensely to be able to look down on Linda. She wanted to have something so much better than Linda that the arrogant girl would envy her.
"Even so," Nan resolved as she rose from her deck chair, "I'm not going to let her spoil my trip. Come," she half coaxed, "Come, Bess, let's all take a turn about deck."
"Yes, let's," Grace encouraged, "I'd like to walk once, clear around the boat."