“Good! Then can you come out to my home sometime to-morrow, and go over the music with me? Rehearsals will not begin until next week; but I can give you the music, and tell you something of what we are planning to do.” “Yes. I could come at ten in the morning for an hour, or at three in the afternoon for two hours or more,” replied Miss Greggory, after a moment's hesitation. “Suppose we call it in the afternoon, then,” smiled Billy, as she rose to her feet. “And now I must go--and here's my address,” she finished, taking out her card and laying it on the table near her. For reasons of her own Billy went away that morning without saying anything more about the proposed new pupils. New pupils were not automobile rides nor petticoats, to be sure--but she did not care to risk disturbing the present interested happiness of Alice Greggory's face by mentioning anything that might be construed as too officious an assistance. On the whole, Billy felt well pleased with her morning's work. To Aunt Hannah, upon her return, she expressed herself thus: “It's splendid--even better than I hoped. I shall have a chance to-morrow, of course, to see for myself just how well she plays, and all that. I'm pretty sure, though, from what I hear, that that part will be all right. Then the operetta will give us a chance to see a good deal of her, and to bring about a natural meeting between her and Mary Jane. Oh, Aunt Hannah, I couldn't have _planned_ it better--and there the whole thing just tumbled into my hands! I knew it had the minute I remembered about the operetta. You know I'm chairman, and they left me to get the accompanist; and like a flash it came to me, when I was wondering _what_ to say or do to get her out of that awful state she was in--'Ask her to be your accompanist.' And I did. And I'm so glad I did! Oh, Aunt Hannah, it's coming out lovely!--I know it is.” CHAPTER XXII. PLANS AND PLOTTINGS To Billy, Alice Greggory's first visit to Hillside was in every way a delight and a satisfaction. To Alice, it was even more than that. For the first time in years she found herself welcomed into a home of wealth, culture, and refinement as an equal; and the frank cordiality and naturalness of her hostess's evident expectation of meeting a congenial companion was like balm to a sensitive soul rendered morbid by long years of superciliousness and snubbing. No wonder that under the cheery friendliness of it all, Alice Greggory's cold reserve vanished, and that in its place came something very like her old ease and charm of manner. By the time Aunt Hannah--according to previous agreement--came into the room, the two girls were laughing and chatting over the operetta as if they had known each other for years.