“Three thousand,” Stone said, sipping his wine.

“Well, I’m sure he must have provided for me in his will.”

Stone took the document from his envelope and handed it to her. “I think you’d better read his will.”

She dug some glasses out of her handbag and read quickly. “That shit,” she said under her breath. “That utter and complete shit. I’ll get a lawyer and sue his estate.”

“On what grounds?” Stone asked.

“Oh, a lawyer will come up with something.”

“Libby, the kind of lawyer who would take your case would bleed you dry before the court even ruled, and then you’d get nothing.”

“I’d still get my alimony,” she said.

“Maybe. I won’t know that until I see your divorce decree. A copy is being faxed to me from Miami tomorrow morning.”

She blinked rapidly, but said nothing.

“Libby, if you should sue the estate, it will upset Allison very badly, and right now, she holds the purse strings. She’ll stop paying your alimony until a court rules otherwise, and that could take a long time. Are you prepared to get by on the salary from your newspaper column in Palm Beach until it all gets sorted out? It could take years.”

“Oh, I’ll get by all right; don’t you worry,” she said, smiling, but she was still blinking rapidly.

“Let me make a suggestion,” Stone said.

“Go right ahead.”

“Suppose Allison gave you, say, ten years of alimony, all at once. That would be three hundred and sixty thousand dollars in your bank account, right now.”

“Right now?”

“The minute the check clears.”

Libby stared at him for a moment, then shook her head. “No, sir; I want a million dollars.”

“Allison has authorized me to offer you four hundred thousand dollars,” Stone said, “and not a cent more.” He took the check out of his pocket, filled in her name and the amount, and handed it to her.

Libby put on her glasses again and looked at the check. “Yeah,” she said, “and as soon as I’m out of here she’ll stop payment.”

“No, she won’t do that,” Stone replied, handing her the document he had written a few minutes before.

She began reading.

“You see, it says that if she stops payment, you can sue her. And four hundred thousand dollars, wisely invested, should give you an annual income that represents a substantial raise over what you’re getting now. And you’d always have that nest egg to fall back on.” He took the document, filled in the amount, and handed it to her. “Allison’s signature is already at the bottom, and her signature is on the check.”

She looked up at him, obviously tempted.