Look at "eloquent talk" for the definition, then build it from pieces. You take R (the first letter of "righteous", signalled by "initially"), then HE for ambassador (His Excellency), and finally RIC, which is RICH for "wealthy" cut short by losing its last letter. The "to" in the clue is just a link word joining the chunks. (Check that against the original: the original lists TO as a component of the wordplay. Rewrite below is corrected.) "Eloquent talk" is the definition, and the rest is a charade of four pieces. You take R (the first letter of "righteous", signalled by "initially"), then HE for ambassador (His Excellency), then TO as it appears, and finally RIC, which is RICH for "wealthy" cut short by dropping its last letter.