Work Text:
A letter had arrived that day, addressed to Merrick Tremayne in elegant script. Charles noticed it before his brother did, the East India Company’s seal blazing in red wax on the envelope. He picked up the letter, glancing behind him like he was committing a crime. Merrick had been in the greenhouse all day, he would never know. Charles didn’t understand why he spent so much time in that place, faded and forgotten like everything else in their decaying estate. The moss on the windowsills seemed to get heavier every day. He took a letter opener from a nearby drawer, deftly inserting it under the wax to remove the seal without breaking it. Another furtive glance and he slid the letter from the envelope. It was brief, entreating Merrick to return to the office and join an expedition to Peru; and signed simply by Iseul Sing. Charles’ vision darkened immediately.
When they were young, Merrick was always the strong one. When children at school had a go at Charles, Merrick beat them away. In the summer, Merrick climbed the tallest trees while Charles stood and watched. When Jack died, it was Merrick’s shoulder he leaned on as he stood shaking. When Merrick came home from a botched smuggling job with a limp and a crutch, Charles felt like the floor had been swept out from under him. Somehow his brother, his golden, gleaming brother, had become damaged just like him. Merrick was never the same - oh, he tried, but his eyes were shadowed. He wasn’t as daring, as cavalier, as before. He was somehow so much more real, and Charles only grew more bitter.
And now Peru. His pulse sped up, panic making the tips of his fingers numb. Though he had once shared the sense of wonder his father had about the place, it was long gone by now. To him, it was a land of extremes, of peril. A land where expeditioners went into the forest and never came back out. And he knew that Merrick would only run towards danger, because that’s what he always did. So Charles, with trembling fingers, lifted the paper to the candle flame. It caught easily. Guilt burned through him as the fire spread, turning the letter to ash. It felt like a sin, but this was the only way to keep his brother safe. In this crumbling, rotting estate, this family, here was one thing he could do right.
Merrick left for the parsonage a month later.