"No, sir; I do not want a dollar of his money," was the spirited reply, "and I should never--under any circumstances--attempt to prove myself his heir, or entitled to bear his name. My mother named me Clifford Faxon, and while I live I will bear no other."
"Well, I must say, you are mighty indifferent about your rights; and you do not seem to grasp the fact either, that, as my nephew, there is a possibility that you may inherit something handsome from me one of these days," and the man regarded him curiously as he said this.
"I had not thought of such a thing, I assure you," he said coldly. "Of course I cannot help the fact that a certain relationship exists between us; but I do not want your property, Squire Talford--I don't want any man's money."
"Oh, you don't! It strikes me that you are mighty independent, and perhaps may live to regret assuming such airs," snapped his companion, in evident irritation. Then he added maliciously: "But then, I forgot for the moment that you are expecting to marry a fortune--I am told that Miss Heatherford is a rich girl."
Clifford was secretly furious at this spiteful thrust; nothing but his respect for the man's age and weakened condition kept him from voicing a scathing retort.
"Miss Heatherford's property will be settled exclusively upon herself before she becomes my wife," he merely replied, with an air of dignity that sat well upon him. "I have no desire to build myself up upon the foundation of another. From my earliest boyhood I have been conscious of something within me that was bound to rise, and if I have my health I have no fear that I shall be able to make for myself a name and position of which neither I nor my friends will be ashamed."
"Humph!" grunted the squire again; but he shot a look at the fine face opposite him that had an unwonted gleam of respect in it.
"You remarked a while ago," Clifford resumed after a moment of silence, "that you believe Mr. Temple is unaware of the fact that he has a son. I am confident you are mistaken. I am quite sure that he knows that I am his son, although he evidently thinks that I am ignorant regarding my relationship to him."
He then described his first meeting with Mr. Temple a few days after Minnie Temple's accident, and how agitated the man had been upon learning of his name and the fact that he had been bound to Squire Talford for four years.