In the course of the protracted consultation, a magnum of the forty-five
year old port-wine had been produced for the wetting of Mr. Bintrey's
legal whistle; but the more clearly he saw his way through the wine, the
more emphatically he did not see his way through the case; repeating as
often as he set his glass down empty. "Mr. Wilding, No Thoroughfare.
Rest and be thankful."

It is certain that the honest wine-merchant's anxiety to make a will
originated in profound conscientiousness; though it is possible (and
quite consistent with his rectitude) that he may unconsciously have
derived some feeling of relief from the prospect of delegating his own
difficulty to two other men who were to come after him. Be that as it
may, he pursued his new track of thought with great ardour, and lost no
time in begging George Vendale and Mr. Bintrey to meet him in Cripple
Corner and share his confidence.

"Being all three assembled with closed doors," said Mr. Bintrey,
addressing the new partner on the occasion, "I wish to observe, before
our friend (and my client) entrusts us with his further views, that I
have endorsed what I understand from him to have been your advice, Mr.
Vendale, and what would be the advice of every sensible man. I have told
him that he positively must keep his secret. I have spoken with Mrs.
Goldstraw, both in his presence and in his absence; and if anybody is to
be trusted (which is a very large IF), I think she is to be trusted to
that extent. I have pointed out to our friend (and my client), that to
set on foot random inquiries would not only be to raise the Devil, in the
likeness of all the swindlers in the kingdom, but would also be to waste
the estate. Now, you see, Mr. Vendale, our friend (and my client) does
not desire to waste the estate, but, on the contrary, desires to husband