A silver tongued devil

My neighbor quietly slipped a newspaper ad under my screen door this morning. It was for one of Butch Emmert’s auctions, a “highly important Delaware estate sale,” the lifelong collection of the late Robert Stewart of Pilottown Road, Lewes, Delaware, and Capitol Hill, Washington, DC. Mr. Stewart was formerly the Curator of the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution, an avid art collector and a socialite. Hmm…sounds like an old queen to me. And a sale I just might be interested in.

But my neighbor didn’t leave it to let me know about the 1850 carved China trade tea chest or the small “flip flop” table. Oh no. My neighbor left the ad because Butch Emmert always auctions off a couple of the old black and white Delaware license plates that are so coveted in this state. Nine plates, in fact, were being featured on Sunday, including two 4-digit truck plates that ought to go for about $3,000 each.

He's a silver tongued devil, my neighbor is. He's already convinced me to 1) drink Manhattans before noon, claiming its unrivaled tonic qualities are a restorative and will firm the moral fiber; and 2) to break, I mean, sneak, into old houses set for demolition, just for a look around. He knows I'm easily swayed by an "interesting" argument. That's the reason I joined a fraternity, took LSD, and slept with preppy girls in college. But the silver tongued devil is gonna have to step up his game if he thinks he can pressure me into spending $3,000 for an old black and white plate...