This is for my brother, here is what he remembers:
"This was a short story in a text book of literary comprehension that I read sometime in middle school or early high school. It had always struck me as a very interesting story but I don’t remember the title or author and so haven’t been able to find it online or anywhere else.
It seemed to take place in the Victorian era perhaps. An older man of means was having a party at his estate. One of the guests was younger man of great opinion. The two of them debated about their different philosophical outlooks on wealth, knowledge, learning, life’s purpose, etc. I can’t remember their exact points of view but the man older eventually challenged the younger man to live on his estate in a small house, secluded for either 10 or 20 years (can’t remember which) from human contact. He would of course be fed, and I believe have access to any of the books in the older man’s library. I think the wager had something to do with the younger man valuing knowledge above all else and eschewing human society. If he could stay within the small house of his own accord for the entire period, the older man would pay the younger man a large sum of money.
So the young man accepts the wager and he passes the years in the small house. Over time, the older man starts to lose his fortune, and as the end date for the wager approaches, he realizes paying the money of the wager would ruin him. So the night before the wager ends, the older man decides to sneak inside the house and murder the younger man. He sneaks in and discovers a note the younger man has left. It reveals the younger had left the house shortly before, intentionally forfeiting the money as a sign of his devotion to his viewpoint. The older man feels immensely ashamed of course, in light of the younger man’s actions compared to
his own.
And that’s the end."
Dopers will know! Dopers know everything!