- Michael Anthony: [Anthony knocks at the door of Rita Hanley, who responds] Mrs. Rita Louise Hanley?
- Rita Louise Hanley: Yes.
- Michael Anthony: My name is Michael Anthony. May I come in? My business will only take a minute and is very important.
- Rita Louise Hanley: All right, come in.
- Michael Anthony: [Anthony enters and notices several pieces of luggage near the door] Taking a holiday?
- Rita Louise Hanley: No, I just finished one. I'm going back to the city, where I belong.
- Michael Anthony: [Opening his briefcase and removing two items] Perhaps what I have to tell you will make you change your mind. My employer has authorized me to give you
- [hands Rita a check]
- Michael Anthony: this cashier's check for $1,000,000, tax-free.
- Rita Louise Hanley: But I don't understand. One million dollars?
- Michael Anthony: [Presenting a document] As soon as you sign this agreement, pledging that you will tell no one, except your husband, that you have a million dollars or where your sudden wealth came from.
- Rita Louise Hanley: [Examining the check] One million dollars!
- Michael Anthony: If you do reveal the existence of this gift, whatever money is left will be reclaimed on behalf of the donor.
- Rita Louise Hanley: Well, I... ! don't know what to say.
- Michael Anthony: Few people do.
- [Rita signs the promise and returns it to Anthony]
- Michael Anthony: Good day, Mrs. Hanley.
- Michael Anthony: [Anthony enters the library and observes Tipton, seated in a high back chair at his desk with a pile of several rocks atop the desk. Only Tipton's hands are visible to viewers] You sent for me, sir?
- John Beresford Tipton: [Holding up a rock] Mike, I hold here in my hand one of the world's most important pieces of metal. It is purported to be the first nugget of gold John Sutter took from his mill in the Territory of California.
- [Hands it to Anthony]
- Michael Anthony: [Anthony closely examines it, clearly impressed] Ironic, in a way, since John Sutter did not become one of those who benefitted most.
- John Beresford Tipton: He touched fabulous wealth but only for a moment.
- [Gives envelope to Anthony]
- John Beresford Tipton: I wonder if our next millionaire will have better luck with her fortune than he did.
- [first lines]
- Michael Anthony: [to the viewers] My name is Michael Anthony, and until his death, I was executive secretary to John Beresford Tipton, a multibillionaire. Now, what made Mr. Tipton particularly unusual was not making money, but giving it away. He had a unique hobby of frequently giving a million dollars - one million dollars - tax-free, to an individual who'd never met him or, in fact, never heard of him. This is Silverstone, John Beresford Tipton's 60,000-acre, secluded estate. And it was my home, too, because of the nature of my job. One day, Mr. Tipton asked that I join him in the library.
- Michael Anthony: [to the viewers] The envelope Mr. Tipton gave me was addressed to Rita Hanley, who lived in a small town upstate.
- [Anthony reviews a folder]
- Michael Anthony: But to understand the case properly, it would be well to begin the case history before Mr. Tipton made his selection, on a day that was to prove a turning point in this young woman's life.