Evander had already been blindsided too many times today, and they had only just arrived at the solicitor’s. First off, the last he had heard from Alfred had been a letter to tell him that he was setting sail again on another trip - which was disappointing, yes, but not surprising. What was surprising was the small fact that he had just encountered his brother on Diagon Alley, in broad daylight, in the flesh, somehow on British soil?!
He was so entirely exasperated by the nonsense of this that he didn’t have the mental room for anger. Either Alfred had left and swiftly returned and hadn’t seen fit to perhaps let him know this minor detail, or this indeed had been his brother’s plan all along, all his life, to pretend to “set sail” across the world and get left for dead merely to excuse himself from all aspects of Evander’s life.
Well, the joke was on him today, wasn’t it? The Darrows had an appointment at the solicitor’s, and for once Johnny wasn’t getting out of something so easily! With that, then, and Evander perfectly willing to frogmarch his brother all the way there if Alfred had any more important business in mind, they had been shown in to the solicitor’s office, all his weary bewilderment about his brother fading in an instant as the reality of this sank in.
He greeted the solicitor with a handshake and a good day and then, at quite a loss already, turned to the solemn young girl with fiery hair who was already here. “Miss Lloyd,” he said awkwardly, telling himself this was his niece, after all, the very same one he sent Christmas and birthday cards to every year without fail, the one whose mother had been their sister. “Er, Charity,” he amended, not entirely certain of how to address a child, nor one that was, by all rights, family. He had been about to say something cordial about how pleasant it was to see her, but under the, er, circumstances, he didn’t think it was fitting. Instead, he settled for lamely echoing the solicitor and introducing himself, in case children her age had especially short-term memories for the names of one’s adult relatives. “Evander, and this is -” he gestured at his brother to fill in, silently begging him to do his part, and added, “How do you do?”
He was so entirely exasperated by the nonsense of this that he didn’t have the mental room for anger. Either Alfred had left and swiftly returned and hadn’t seen fit to perhaps let him know this minor detail, or this indeed had been his brother’s plan all along, all his life, to pretend to “set sail” across the world and get left for dead merely to excuse himself from all aspects of Evander’s life.
Well, the joke was on him today, wasn’t it? The Darrows had an appointment at the solicitor’s, and for once Johnny wasn’t getting out of something so easily! With that, then, and Evander perfectly willing to frogmarch his brother all the way there if Alfred had any more important business in mind, they had been shown in to the solicitor’s office, all his weary bewilderment about his brother fading in an instant as the reality of this sank in.
He greeted the solicitor with a handshake and a good day and then, at quite a loss already, turned to the solemn young girl with fiery hair who was already here. “Miss Lloyd,” he said awkwardly, telling himself this was his niece, after all, the very same one he sent Christmas and birthday cards to every year without fail, the one whose mother had been their sister. “Er, Charity,” he amended, not entirely certain of how to address a child, nor one that was, by all rights, family. He had been about to say something cordial about how pleasant it was to see her, but under the, er, circumstances, he didn’t think it was fitting. Instead, he settled for lamely echoing the solicitor and introducing himself, in case children her age had especially short-term memories for the names of one’s adult relatives. “Evander, and this is -” he gestured at his brother to fill in, silently begging him to do his part, and added, “How do you do?”
