Then he realized--as he might have realized before had he been shrewder--that Richard's mood was one that made him ripe for any villainy.

He thought that he was much in error if a treachery existed so black that Richard would quail before it, if it but afforded him the means of ridding himself and the world of Mr.Wilding.He was considering how best to approach the subject, when it happened that one night when Richard sat at play with him in his own lodging, the boy grew talkative through excess of wine.

It happened naturally enough that Richard sought an ally in Blake, just as Blake sought an ally in Richard.

Indeed, their fortunes--so far as Ruth was concerned--were bound up together.

The baronet saw that Richard, half-fuddled, was ripe for any confidences that might aim at the destruction of his enemy.