What she wondered she did not frame in words, but she lifted her left hand and gazed at the ring which she had worn less than three days, with a look which held in it something of anxiety and doubt.
CHAPTER XIV.
AN UNEXPECTED ENCOUNTER.
The Athols left the hotel that afternoon. Philip Wentworth disappeared from the town the following morning, and no incidents of importance in connection with Clifford occurred during the remainder of the season, throughout which he continued to do honest and faithful work for his employer, and thus commended himself to every guest of the house.
Indeed, he proved himself so efficient, so courteous, and obliging under all circumstances, that Mr. Hamilton, who had conceived a feeling of friendship for him, made arrangements with him to return to him the following year, and under much more favorable conditions.
Meantime the Temples were well launched upon the topmost wave of social popularity in Saratoga. They had taken one of the most luxurious suites in the Grand Union Hotel, where Miss Minnie had her white-capped and white-aproned nurse, Mrs. Temple her maid, and Mr. Temple his valet.
No equipage was more stylish or elegant, no horses more spirited or better bred, no coachman or footman in finer liveries than those of this wealthy gentleman, who registered as a citizen of Boston, but who, it was rumored, had made the bulk of his fortune in the mines of Colorado and California, and who, it was also stated upon good authority, had twice been mayor of San Francisco, and might have been governor of the State, if he had chosen. What more did one need to become popular?
His handsome and cultivated wife was no less conspicuous, for no one was more charming in manner; no one wore richer or more tasteful costumes or finer jewels than she. Her husband was very fond and proud of her, and they were frequently referred to as “an ideal couple.” He loved to see her arrayed in silks, satins, laces, and rare gems; he doted upon having Minnie clad in the finest and daintiest of garments, and was never in a happier frame of mind than when, seated in his carriage with these, his two idols, he could roll about the country and note the admiring glances bestowed upon them.
He realized that it was a weak point; that it bordered upon vulgarity to be so proud of his wealth, and to love display to such an extent; but he had not been a millionaire so very long, and he had not yet outgrown the sense of exultation which had attended the lucky find that had so suddenly lifted him out of the depths of poverty to the very pinnacle of luxury and success.
Less than a score of years ago this distinguished gentleman, now figuring as “William Temple, banker and broker,” had been a penniless adventurer, although he fondly believed that this portion of his history was buried in utter oblivion for all time.