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-A source of far more angst than you would expect amongst the professional classes. An {{tag|agent}} is one fellow who represents ''another'' fellow. When it comes to entering a {{tag|contract}}, an {{tag|agent}} enters legal relations on behalf of {{sex|his}} {{tag|principal}}, and does not take on any legal responsibility {{sex|himself}}. These seems straightforward enough, but you soon encounter a thicket of confusion from which you may never emerge and into which you will almost certainly regret ever entering.
+A source of far more angst than you would expect amongst the professional classes. An {{tag|agent}} is one fellow who represents ''another'' fellow.
+===Don’t shoot the messenger===
+When it comes to entering a {{tag|contract}}, an {{tag|agent}} enters legal relations on behalf of {{sex|his}} {{tag|principal}} and, in general terms, tries not to take on any personal responsibility {{sex|himself}}. The contract remains between the principal and the third party.
-An agent must, of course, be duly [[capacity and authority|authorised]] by the principal, but how will the contracting counterpart know this, without the principal being there to confirm it? An agent has a special relationship with a {{tag|principal}}
+But you soon encounter a thicket of confusion from which you may never emerge and which you will almost certainly regret ever entering. what if the agent doesn't tell the third party who the [[principal]] is? What if the agent doesn't even let on that she’s an agent?
+===It takes three to tango===
+The problem is that a contract, by well-trodden legal theory, depends upon the state of mind of two people, whereas where an agency exists, the necessary parts of that consensus can live variously between the minds of ''three''. A may have appointed B, without C knowing. B may have represented to C without A knowing. C and A might not know about each other at all.
+===[[Capacity and authority]]===
+An agent must, of course, be duly [[capacity and authority|authorised]] by the [[principal]], but how will the [[third party]] know this, without the [[principal]] being there to confirm it? You will hear much talk of [[ostensible authority]].
+An [[agent]] has a special relationship with a {{tag|principal}}
 ===[[Broker dealer]]s===