The counter we sent was three pages and it accepted almost everything in the letter, at a significantly lower number, and struck paragraph fourteen entirely and replaced it with a mutual non-disparagement provision that says nothing about proceedings, inquiries or third parties.

It took nine weeks and four rounds.

They came back on fourteen twice.

The second time, the redline was down to a single phrase and Hollis Trager telephoned Estelle personally to ask whether there was any formulation at all that would work, and Estelle said no, and he said, “I understand,” and that was the end of it.

I have been asked whether I regret the money.

The difference, in the end, between what I accepted and what was on the table on the thirty-first of October is a number I know precisely, and it is about what I would earn in two and a half years.