"It is a good birthday present," said his longtime secretary-companion, Alan Searle. But it was hardly that. After a 21-month fight to disinherit his daughter, Lady John Hope, in favor of Searle, W. Somerset Maugham admitted that "all differences have been settled." They seem to have been settled in her favor. In addition to $280,000 cash for some already-sold paintings, the agreement grants her royalties from some Maugham books as well as majority interest in his $1,000,000 villa on the French Riviera. Estimated value of the package: $1,400,000. Deaf, partially blinded by cataracts, and plagued by a fading memory, the aging...
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