“He wants me to give up my full title to Grandfather’s house,” I said.

“He wants to protect our family’s standing in Portsmouth,” Margaret said.

“You have your Navy pension and your retirement.

You don’t need a drafty old farmhouse.”

“Grandfather left Cedar Lane to me in his will,” I said.

“Your grandfather was a confused old man who didn’t understand modern financial security,” Margaret said, her soft voice tightening as her fingers gripped her pearls.

“If this case goes to a public hearing on December fourteenth, people will start asking why you abandoned your parents for sixteen years.”