"You know that Mary Standish is really Mary Standish Graham, John
Graham's wife?"
"Yes."
"And you probably know--now--why she jumped into the sea, and why she
ran away from Graham."
"I do."
"That saves a lot of talk. But there is another side to the story which
you probably don't know, and I am here to tell it to you. John Graham
doesn't care for a dollar of the Standish fortune. It's the girl he
wants, and has always wanted. She has grown up under his eyes. From the
day she was fourteen years old he has lived and planned with the thought
of possessing her. You know how he got her to marry him, and you know
what happened afterward. But it makes no difference to him whether she
hates him or not. He _wants_ her. And this"--he swept his arms out, "is
the most beautiful place in the world in which to have her returned to
him. I've been figuring from your books. Your property isn't worth over
a hundred thousand dollars as it stands on hoof today. I'm here to offer
you five times that for it. In other words, Graham is willing to forfeit
all action he might have personally against you for stealing his wife,
and in place of that will pay you five hundred thousand dollars for the
privilege of having his honeymoon here, and making of this place a
country estate where his wife may reside indefinitely, subject to her
husband's visits when he is so inclined.
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