and now with it in his possession, he
lost no time in putting into execution the plans he had for so long a
time been maturing. This was to proceed without delay to London, raise
as large a sum as possible by mortgaging the Vellenaux property to its
fullest extent, then retire to the continent and spend the remainder of
his days in foreign travel, halting from time to time at the different
cities he had visited during the first years of his married life. For in
this mode of living he felt he would be more secure than he could ever
hope to be in England during the life of Mrs. Fraudhurst. It is true
that he could, by fulfiling his promise of marrying the widow, have
sheltered himself from the consequences that might arise should his
share of the concealment of the will ever appear, but he could escape
this alternative by pursuing the course he had marked out for himself.
He was aware that a desperate and revengeful woman like Mrs. Fraudhurst
would leave no stone unturned to bring about the ruin of the man who had
thus deceived and tricked her; but the old lawyer knew that she was
almost powerless to act against him with any chance of success, as the
only two persons interested in the matter were, to the best of his
belief, in India, and likely to remain there for some years at least,
and the only real proof that a will had been made by the late Sir Jasper
Coleman, was now in his possession, viz: the will itself, and her
unsupported testimony would not be taken as evidence in any court of
law; besides, in the transaction she was in the eyes of the law the more
culpable of the two, being the chief instigator of the plot, therefore
it was in a more complacent frame of mind that Sir Ralph, early the
following morning, ere the self-satisfied widow had awakened from those
slumbers that had been during the night partially and pleasantly
disturbed by means of her coming greatness as the wife of a Baronet and
the Lady of Vellenaux, had driven over to Switchem and taken his seat in
the up train for Southampton, in order to consult with the lawyer who
had the management of his estate. After effecting this he started for
London.

He was not naturally a bad man at heart, and had he not been legal heir
to the baronetcy he would never have entered into the conspiracy to
deprive the rightful owner of the property. He had always been of the
opinion that the late Baronet would make a will leaving the principal
portion of his property to h