Joan choked on her scotch a little.

Stone explained.

“Well, I’m glad he’s off the streets,” Herbie said.

“So am I,” Stone said.

When Herbie had left, Stone dictated a fulsome letter of recommendation to Bill Eggers, then signed it. “Messenger it over, and write Herbie a check for the unused portion of his retainer. What is it, half a million?”

“Give or take,” Joan said. “I take it you’ve changed your mind about your inheritance.”

“I have,” Stone said, “and being out of debt to Herbie is a good cause.”

Two weeks later, Stone took Peter up Park Avenue to Janklow & Nesbit and introduced him to Mort Janklow and his principal associate, Anne Sibbald. Kind words were spoken about Peter’s film, and he blushed. Then Leo Goldman arrived with Peter’s contract. A little signing ceremony took place, and Leo handed a check for $20,000,000 to Mort.

Mort will deduct his commission, then wire transfer the remainder of your funds to your bank account,” Stone said to his son. “And as soon as you get home, you have to write a check for five million nine hundred and fifty thousand to the Internal Revenue Service.”

“Ouch!” Peter said.

“Get used to it, Peter,” Mort said. “You’re going to be writing a lot of checks to the IRS.”

“And, Peter,” Leo said, “I have a surprise for you: your film has been accepted for the Sundance Film Festival.”

Somebody found a bottle of champagne, and Peter’s success was toasted.

On the way home Peter said, “What do you want me to do with the money?”

“I think you should open a brokerage account with the Chase Private Bank and let them recommend how to invest it, then buy yourself a nice gift.”

“I’ll have to think about that,” Peter said.

“I’m not going to have anything to do with the money you earn,” Stone said. “I want to see what you do with it.”

“Thank you, Dad,” Peter said.

“Thank you for asking,” Stone replied.

That weekend, Ben Bacchetti took the train down from Choate, picked up his father’s car, and drove himself, Peter, and Hattie to New Haven, to look for housing for themselves. Joan had reserved three rooms for them at a local hotel.

The following day Peter called home.

“Hello?” Stone said.

“Hi, Dad.”

“Everything okay?”

“Yes. In fact, it’s better than okay.”

“How so?”

“We found the perfect apartment for us—three bedrooms, living/ dining room, kitchen, and a nice study.”

“What’s the rent?”

“It would be around five thousand a month, if we were renting,” Peter replied. “It’s a new building, to be completed in a couple of months. We saw the model apartment, then took a look at the top-floor unit to get an idea of the space. I’ve decided to buy the apartment.”