Chapter 19: Two Cribs

"No," I said.

The judge's smile stayed where it was.

"You haven't considered it."

"I considered it while you were still saying 'Stay married.' The rest was just you talking."

He turned his hat a quarter turn in his glove.

"A child needs a name, Cora. A family. A company that will outlast all of us."

"This child has a mother, and the mother has a house."

"A house you will not be able to heat if you mean to raise it on a teacher's salary and a lawyer's gratitude."

"Thank you for the budget advice."

He lowered his voice.

"You think you've won, with a judge from Warren County and a room full of reporters."

"I have sat on benches in this building since before you were born."

"I know," I said. "I read what you wrote on my filing."

For the first time, his face did something.

It was small, a pull at the corner of the mouth, and I watched it happen.

"You're asking me to be married for six months so that my baby is born under your grandfather's paper," I said.

"I'm asking you to be sensible."

"I'm asking you to leave my mother's name out of your mouth."

"Her care is paid for by a trustee who doesn't know you."

He opened his mouth, and a hand landed on the wall beside his head.

It was Marshall's, flat against the plaster, a polite foot from the judge's ear.

"Judge," Marshall said, "you're standing within ten feet of a witness in a case where your name is on an exhibit."