For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy
brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring with
frightened eyes at his accuser.
"I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which
I could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me.
Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make the case
complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the Countess
of Morcar's?"
"It was Catherine Cusack who told me of it," said he in a
crackling voice.
"I see—her ladyship's waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of
sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has
been for better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous in
the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the making
of a very pret
