"
"And I did hear it--I did! Oh, won't you play it, please, with the door
open?"
"I can't, Billy. I'm sorry, indeed I am. But I've an appointment, and
I'm late now. You shall hear it, though, I promise you, and with the
door wide open," continued the man, as, with a murmured apology, he
passed the girl and hurried down the stairs.
Billy waited until she heard the outer hall door shut; then very softly
she crept through Cyril's open doorway, and crossed the room to the
piano.
CHAPTER XIII
A SURPRISE ALL AROUND
May came, and with it warm sunny days. There was a little balcony at the
rear of the second floor, and on this Mrs. Stetson and Billy sat many a
morning and sewed. There were occupations that Billy liked better than
sewing; but she was dutiful, and she was really fond of Aunt Hannah; so
she accepted as gracefully as possible that good lady's dictum that a
woman who could not sew, and sew well, was no lady at all.
One of the things that Billy liked to do so much better than to sew was
to play on Cyril's piano. She was very careful, however, that Mr. Cyril
himself did not find this out. Cyril was frequently gone from the house,
and almost as frequently Aunt Hannah took naps. At such times it was
very easy to slip up-stairs to Cyril's rooms, and once at the piano,
Billy forgot everything else.
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