She
realized nothing except his presence--that alone filled her whole world
with joy and content. He came straight to meet her, holding out his
hands; but before he could cross the great room, or even had time to
speak, Philip Alston stepped forward and spoke suddenly in clear
tones:--
"Yes, see the wedding gift! The bridal pearls are here at last; all
ready for Christmas Eve."
Paul Colbert paused. He was an ardent and bold lover, but the words were
like a breath of frost on love's flowering. No ardor, no confidence, can
keep a sensitive man from feeling a chill when he sees the woman he
loves decked in the beautiful things which are beauty's birthright, and
realizes for the first time that he cannot give them to her. With the
painful shock which this feeling brought to the young doctor there was a
greater shock in the sudden thought of the possible source of the riches
which the pearls represented. A feeling of horror rushed over him, as if
he had seen that soft, white throat encircled by a serpent, and he
sprang forward to tear it off.
Ruth had turned her head to look at Philip Alston, with a start of
surprise and a little disquietude, but without fear or distrust.
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