It is weaker than people imagine and it is the correct instrument, because the alternative required going to a court and asking for a finding we could not have honestly made.

Evelyn has given written consent twice in three years.

Both times for a photograph.

She sent both photographs herself, by post, to Palm Beach, without telling me until afterward.

I asked her why, the first time, and I was not gracious about it.

And she said: “Because she is seventy-six and those children exist, and in about fifteen years one of them is going to ask me whether I ever let her see them, and I would like to be able to say yes, twice, and then explain why it was only twice.”

Part Thirty-Five: What I Actually Did