— I… thank you for your patience, yes all I need is a copy of his birth certificate.
— There. You see, Anne?
— To establish his parenthood and his age. I had, I assumed he had passed his majority and fervently hope so, so, so that I won’t have to deal… to inconvenience you ladies further, the validity of his signature, you see, of course, on this waiver, depending upon his legal capacity to contract, although of course a minor may be emancipated…
— Emancipated! I assure you Mister Cohen…
— Which entitles him to keep his own earnings, but…
— Every penny that Edward earns…
— In no way enlarges his capacity to contract, as in Masus vernon Manon, I mean Mason versus Wright, yes, the contracts of an infant being voidable by him but not void, though this may not apply to necessaries, these however being relative. Now, comparing the voidable contract which is in itself not void to that of a lunatic, when of course his contract is made before he has been judicially declared incompetent, you ladies deserve…
— Oh Julia.
— Poor Edward.
— You see? You ladies deserve every protection, because the infant himself is the only one who can take advantage of infancy. The defense of infancy is not available to the adult, and this infant may disaffirm any time he likes. His mere intention to disaffirm is sufficient. In an action brought against him by creditors, assignees by purchase or in bankruptcy, sureties, or anyone else with a collateral interest in the contract, the mere setting up of infancy as a defense is sufficient, and none of them has available the defense of the infant, which is that of infancy.
— As far as his age goes, Edward himself…
— For your own protection, ladies. This birth certificate. Because this infant, ladies, this infant may disaffirm any time he wishes to, even if he has misrepresented his age in the first place in order to get the other party to contract with him, remember that ladies. Remember Danziger versus the Iron Clad Realty Company.
— I think he’s going for a glass of water, Julia.
— That door, Mister Cohen.
— Failing any adoption papers, which could of course change the picture substantially, since the adopted child has the same legal rights as the blood child. Therefore if the child were the natural child of the decedent’s brother but had been adopted by the decedent, he would of course have every right to participate in this estate. If on the other hand he…
— He’s going to get into Reuben, Julia.
— James never really adopted Reuben.
— In the distribution of this estate that is to say, since in order to satisfy taxes part of this estate will have to be sold…
— They’re after our trees right now.
— I suppose it does look like an estate to them, Julia, stuck in their tiny pasteboard houses on little shirttails of land.
— Forcing your holdings to go public…
— They take for granted everything’s for sale.
— Proper evaluation will have to be made, of course, in terms of the prevailing market…
— That’s what the water people said, when they went into court and swore up and down that back in our trees was the only place they could possibly put up their pumping station.
— Since no part of the estate involved has ever been offered publicly before.
— I heard hammering out there last night, Julia.
— I thought I heard the sound of a truck myself.
— Or a tractor, the kind they knock down trees with.
— Would they do that? even the water people? come in knocking down our trees at night?
— They were there this morning.
— The water people? Why didn’t you call me!
— No the trees Anne, the trees.
— I’m glad you saw them. I didn’t really look.
— I can’t say I did either. But I know that passing the kitchen window I would have missed them if they’d been gone.
— Perhaps Mister Cohen looked when he came in.
— The oaks, Mister Cohen?
— And some locust?
— It’s the oaks, though, Anne, that really stand out.
— Before the advent of such a sale, you would, of course, receive adequate notice.
— What Mister Cohen considers adequate, I can’t even read them without a glass, Anne? have you seen the latest one? I had it here just a moment ago.
— It’s right there on the mantel, a picture of a castle? James’ hand has never been easy Mister Cohen, and he tries to get so much on one postcard…
— Anne I’m talking about the local paper, Mister Cohen means these legal notices they tuck off in the back in type so small that no one can read it, in language no one can understand. In fact if he has a moment now, he might be willing to translate something…
— But Julia he’s just broken his glasses.
— Here it is yes, yes this second column here Mister Cohen. No, right down here. It looks to me like they’re up to something with the old Lemp home.
— Do they have a picture of it there? It was always the grandest house in town, and when we were just girls Mister Cohen…
— This is simply a legal notice, Anne. They don’t print pictures in a legal notice. Can you see through the breakage, Mister Cohen?
— It’s a shame that Mister Cohen can’t see it, a white Victorian with a tower and a porte cochere along one side, and those copper beeches on the lawn. When Julia and I were girls Mister Cohen we used to imagine living there. We dreamt that some great stroke of fortune would…
— So far as I can make out here Miss Bast, this is simply a petition for a zoning change to turn the place into a nursing home…
— Old Mrs Lemp never was well of course, was she.
— It’s her son we mentioned earlier Mister Cohen, the attorney you should be taking all this up with.
— But Julia someone should warn Mister Cohen, when he says the law has no interest in justice…
— Ladies I, please I seem to be having difficulty making myself clear but I assure you…
— He made himself quite clear didn’t he Julia but I think he should be forewarned, if Mister Lemp took no interest in justice Father would never have chosen him.
— Even James holds him in high regard, and James can be most critical.
— Yes and Thomas, Julia, after all, he had Mister Lemp begin the suit against that dreadful little man who started that musical instrument company and stole every idea Thomas had.
— They’re not instruments at all, Mister Cohen. The Jubilee Musical Instrument Company is what he calls it but all they make are machines that play tunes, and that lawsuit, Anne, I think it was really James’ idea. He was someone James held in great contempt.
— He had something to do with that awful family, that politician out west somewhere whose family owned stock in the little company Thomas took on there may even be some there in the drawer, when he was looking for sheeps’ intestines to…
— We needn’t go into that right now Anne, if Mister Cohen has no more questions…
— But ladies I, this newspaper here I understood it was the local paper…
— Well of course it is it comes every week, it’s the only way we keep up with things.
— But it’s, I just noticed it’s from a town in Indiana I’m afraid when you said local I thought, your attorney Mister Lemp is, is in Indiana?
— Did you think he would be in Timbuctoo?
— No no I, I simply meant that if, that a nearby lawyer who might be more familiar with local situations…
— He’s quite familiar with them thank you Mister Cohen. I wrote him last week about this bingo parlor, Anne.
— But I meant, to go back to your nephew ladies some clue possibly regarding his age just, on your income taxes for instance do you recall listing him as a deduction?