“You have certainly proved that you have seen the ring before, but you have by no means proved that it does not belong to me,” he calmly replied.
“Will you explain how you came by it, then?” demanded Wentworth. “Knowing what we do, and being intimately acquainted with the young lady in whose possession it was, the last time we saw her, we naturally feel that we are entitled to know how you came by it.”
“Pardon me,” returned Clifford, with dignity, “that does not necessarily follow. I have told you that the ring is mine, that it was a gift to me, and I have told you only truth.”
“That question I must decline to answer,” Clifford coldly responded. “But this much I will say,” he added, after a moment of thought, “the ring came into my possession one year ago the thirtieth of next month—July.”
“Mother! that was the very day that Mollie went to New York after her visit with us! She wore the ring that day—it was on her finger when I bade her good-by at the station!” Philip Wentworth exclaimed, flushing crimson, as he recalled how he had begged it of Mollie and been refused, while he now realized that there was a possibility that she had given it to this “proud upstart,” but why or wherefore was beyond him to imagine. He was galled almost beyond endurance and stung to the quick, and a fierce hatred of his classmate took possession of him then and there.
“Well, never mind, Phil,” said his mother gravely, “and I think you should let the matter rest. Mr. Faxon has his own reasons, no doubt, for not wishing to say more. Come, I am afraid it is too late, after all, for me to go into the museum to-day,” she added, glancing at her watch. “I think the carriage will be waiting for me, and I have a reception to attend this evening.”
With a gracious smile and bow to her recent companions she took her son’s arm, thus forcing him to escort her to one of the entrances to the college grounds, where she had ordered her coachman to await her.
He did not accompany her with a very good grace, and there was a heavy frown upon his face, which betrayed that he was greatly irritated over his failure to extort Clifford’s secret from him. The professor stood gravely regarding our hero for a moment, as if he also would have been glad to learn more, and was not quite pleased over his reticence; then he excused himself and went away; but both young men could see that the recent occurrence had left an unpleasant impression on his mind.