I took possession of them, for I resolved that if you should outlive your
father you should never have anything to prove that you were his child;
if I could not have my husband's heart I would at least have his money.
"One day a little over a year after our marriage, on my return from a
drive, I was told that a man was waiting in the library to see me.
Without a suspicion of coming evil, I went at once to ascertain his
errand, and was horrified to find there the butler--the man whom I had
hired to act as your mother's escort to London. He had been hunting for
me for three years to extort more money from me, and had finally traced
me from New York to San Francisco.
"He demanded another large sum from me. It was in vain that I told him I
had paid him generously for the service he had rendered me. He insisted
that I must come to his terms or he would reveal everything to my
husband. Of course I yielded to that threat, and paid him the sum he
demanded, but I might have saved the money, for Walter Dinsmore, who had
that morning started for Oakland for the day, but changed his mind and
returned while I was out, was sitting in a small alcove leading out of
the library, and had heard the whole conversation.
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