Of late none of
her family had cared for money except to spend it without counting.
What struck her first was that she would be free to leave the
Volterras' house, that she would be independent, and that there would
be an end of the almost unbearable situation in which she had lived
since the crash.
"If the Senator can keep it all for himself, he will," Malipieri
observed, "and his wife will help him."
"Do you think this had anything to do with their anxiety to have me
stay with them?" asked Sabina, and as the thought occurred to her the
expression of her eyes changed.
"The Baroness knows nothing at all about the matter," answered
Malipieri. "I fancy she only wanted the social glory of taking charge
of you when your people came to grief. But her husband will take
advantage of the obligation you are under. I suspect that he will ask
you to sign a paper of some sort, very vaguely drawn up, but legally
binding, by which you will make over to him all claim whatever on your
father's estate."
"But I have none, have I?"
"If the facts were known to-morrow, your brother might at once begin
an action to recover, on the equitable ground that by an extraordinary
chain of circumstances the property has turned out to be worth much
more than any one could have expected. Do you understand?"
"Yes.
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