Page 104 of By Any Means

His sharp, smart Lawrence. In the end, it hadn’t taken very long at all.

“Yes,” Chary said quietly, “he did. We did, together.”

To avoid Laurie’s stare, he stepped away. He wiped away wisps of stray threads of glass from the spider and began the process to cool the furnace. He let Laurie work through it, have his revelation of the truth, and pressed his lips together meanwhile to remember their kisses; he didn’t think he’d get more.

“Chary…” Laurie said, and then looked like he wanted to bite it back. “Is that your name?”

Chary turned and put his hands behind his back. “Chary’s my name. It is my name. Charles—Edward—August—Wright.”

Laurie pushed forward—not angry, not threatening, but intense—straight into Chary’s space.

Why is he not angry? Why is he not totally betrayed?

Laurie put up two hands, slowly, like he had that first day in the rooming house.

“Yeah?”

“Of course.”

Laurie threaded fingers to either side of Chary’s ears. He held his face gently between two palms, then pushed his head left and right, inspecting, stroking his cheeks.

“You’re the designated heir. The second son. Not August—not your brother. He was disinherited as a boy. You received your father’s fortune on the day of his death.”

“On my majority. Our father passed when I was fourteen. It’s how I could work at the furnace shop, if not why. But yes. The entire fortune. I’m the changeling son.”

Laurie’s brows furrowed. “How old are you?”

“School age or real age?”

“Real age,” Laurie said roughly. “This body, this brain, this heart.”

“Twenty-four. Twenty-five, this month. August.”

“Huh.” Laurie cocked his head. “All right. Explains a few things. Hmm?”

Chary flushed hotly. “Perhaps more than a few.”

“Uh-huh,” Laurie said, understanding probably better than Chary would’ve liked—and graciously ignoring it. “Jesus. Your majority—three years ago. What did... He took you in. No, no. You took him in. And then he... what? Took your name? Your place? Your money? What?”

“I let him do it. It was meant to be his. I gave him everything I could, which was all of it. And I still don’t know what it’s like to be without it, I know I don’t, but I don’t want it.”

Laurie dropped his hands from Chary’s face and touched him all over. Shoulders, arms, trailing fingers around his waist, his back. It was a soothing touch, a connection, and it caused too much hope. “Nobody knew? But you’re a recluse, and working the rest of the time. You never left the Fifth Avenue place, even then.”

“A few times. Not socially. On one notable occasion”—Chary giggled, a little manic—“I went to my own funeral.”

“You surely did.” Laurie brought his forehead to Chary’s. “God. Then he killed August Wright.”

“Legally, yes. We both did. I helped with every bit of the lie. The fraud, really. I carried him out in a shroud myself. I paid off everybody I could think to. A rich man’s solution, like you said. I’m just the same as Raberding paying my way out of Mulberry Street station. I… I suppose I don’t know any other way.”

“Hey. You love your brother, and you did what you had to. You were up against one of your own with nigh-on-unlimited resources. Helping someone out of something like that is the best use of capital there is. August is lucky to have you. And I’m sure he’s told you this, Chary, but you didn’t ask to be brought into this world.”

“I don’t know if he is lucky. Raberding said it was I he was supposed to have met. The ‘true heir.’ And if I hadn’t let my brother take my place in society…”

Laurie sighed. “I’m gonna have to introduce you two guilt-riddled brothers to something called ‘water under the bridge.’ Your brother made some choices there too, such as introducing himself under a false name.” He jerked back. “Hang on; Raberding knows?”

“Yes. He knows about August’s past. That he was forced out, the prostitution, all of it. He was apparently extremely angry to hear it. Incandescent.” August called it the beginning of the end, the beginning of the making-best.

“I’m sure it went fantastically. I cannot see at all why you wouldn’t want to confide in me,” Laurie said dryly. “You know what this means?”