Dear Margrit,
.PP
Thank you for your letters.
I have reread them several times.
Forgive me for saying that I was impressed
with the clarity of the prose and with the determination it reflected.
If I have to be scolded, I am appreciative that it should be done in
style.
.PP
It seems to me that our correspondence has, in fact, been very
productive. We agree, I believe, that the extent to which 
Rebekah and Nathaniel might be entrusted to you is an issue
between yourself on the one hand, and Klemens and Laura on the other.
It is a matter clearly beyond my purview.
.PP
I understand that you are critical of me for the manner in which 
I brought up Klemens, particularly in his relationship to you.
I very much respect your criticism, but I cannot change the past.
I am not even sure I could reconstruct it truthfully.
For this reason I could make a meaningful
response only if I had the opportunity to do it over.
I would certainly bring Klemens up differently,
if only because I am now a different person,
but whether this second upbringing would meet with your approval?
Who knows?
.PP
The matter of your car has also been resolved to my satisfaction,
and if Rose is willing to keep it in her barn, please thank her for me.
I still cannot imagine what Bill will do with the car.
You must try to understand that I am not intent on meddling
in your affairs, nor do I want to control everything,
but it is the nature of my intelligence that I place myself
at the focus of every imagined situation. In this case,
I ask myself, what would I do if I were Bill?
.PP
My analysis is, that an automobile enthusiast might indeed
rebuild the car, using the chassis, engine and transmission,
but enclosing these in an entirely new and possibly "customized"
body. Such reconstruction would not only require the new parts
in question, which would probably be difficult to locate
around Bristol or Kingsport, and would be surprisingly expensive,
but the work would also require numerous expensive tools
which we do not have and which it would be very uneconomical
to purchase if they were to be used on only a single occasion.
The rebuilding of the car would require weeks, if not months,
and until it was complete, I do not believe the car could safely
be driven to Windsor, even if it would pass inspection. I do not
believe that anything short of such extensive reconstruction
would make it possible to drive the car back to Canada.
.PP
Because of the complexity of the project and the expense it entails,
my suggestion is that you ask Bill to draw up a list of the parts
and tools that he would need. There are periodicals and books which
will provide guidance for the work. You should then make a preliminary
accounting of minimum and maximum expected costs. These would include
not only the cost of tools and parts, but also the cost of air fare
and car rental while you were there. It is possible that you would 
find that the money was better spend doing other things with or for Bill.
I will be glad to discuss Bill's plans with him on the telephone
if you wish.
.PP
I think it is important that you give Bill the freedom
to back out of the project which may well prove a burden and
an embarrassment to him. It is particularly important that
you not make him feel that he has an obligation to accept the car,
because I asked you to give it to me, and you saved it for him.
The reason I asked you for the car was because I wished to
be able to dispose of it as a social embarrassment and a legal hazard.
.PP
As for the question as to whether the car should be brought 
back from Haw Orchard to Konnarock for the process of rebuilding,
I think this is a question which you must decide.
I believe that when you are in Konnarock you should have the 
unrestricted use of the house as if it were your own. 
The legal situation is as follows: If you transfer the title
of your car to Bill and if the tools which he uses are his,
then you are not legally responsible for any injury to him.
But if Bill loses an eye or an arm or breaks his neck,
working on the car while it is in your name,
then the entire three-hundred-seventy-two-thousand dollars
of your estate may be required to compensate him.
If he is injured using tools which belong to the house,
then not only your estate but Klemens' interest in the house
is at risk. Margaret might also be held personally responsible
since the title to the house is in her name as trustee.
.PP
On the fundamental question, as to whether these risks are
reasonable to take, I can have no opinion,
because I don't know how important this kind of learning experience
is for Bill and how much more expensive it would be if he obtained
it under more favorable circumstances in Windsor.
As in every other endeavor, one must balance the costs
against the risks. I do no wish to be cynical about the tragedy
of accidental injury to Bill, but I see no need 
to compound such a tragedy by assuming the legal liability for it.
Therefore, not only as your brother, but more formally
as the trustee of your estate, I ask that you transfer
the title of your car to Bill
.ul
before
you permit him to do any mechanical work on it.
The document which you must sign 
and have notarized is, I believe,
in the central drawer of the desk in Papas study.
If you like, we can ask Jeane to look for it,
and she can mail it to you. If it can not be found,
one obtains a duplicate from Richmond.
So far as the tools in the house are concerned,
they are, in my judgment,
virtually useless for the intended task,
but if Bill wants to use them nonetheless,
please do not lend them to
him but give them to him as a gift, and explain to him
that Margaret, Klemens and I consider their use unsafe
and that he must use them at his own risk.
If he wishes to return them to us as a gift when he no longer
uses them, that would seem not inappropriate.
The important concept is that when he works on the car
he uses his tools on his car and that he has been duly
cautioned about the risks of his enterprise.