So the change was made, and general happiness all round had resulted--so much so, that Bertram had said to Billy, when he heard of it: "It looks as if this was a case where your cake is frosted on both sides." "Nonsense! This isn't frosting--it's business," Billy had laughed.
"And the new pupils you have found for Miss Alice--they're business, too, I suppose ?" "Certainly," retorted Billy, with decision.

Then she had given a low laugh and said: "Mercy! If Alice Greggory thought it was anything _but_ business, I verily believe she would refuse every one of the new pupils, and begin to-night to carry back the tables and chairs herself to those wretched rooms she left last month!" Bertram had smiled, but the smile had been a fleeting one, and the brooding look of gloom that Billy had noticed so frequently, of late, had come back to his eyes.
Billy was not a little disturbed over Bertram these days.

He did not seem to be his natural, cheery self at all.

He talked little, and what he did say seldom showed a trace of his usually whimsical way of putting things.

He was kindness itself to her, and seemed particularly anxious to please her in every way; but she frequently found his eyes fixed on her with a sombre questioning that almost frightened her.