Chapter 3: Two Brothers

Anne looks at Phillip in great surprise. "You have a brother?"

Phillip swallows hard and looks out at the horizon for a little while before answering. It was painful for him to think about, or even talk about really. After his parents had been so rude and disapproving towards his relationship with Anne, he had cut all ties, putting them in their place, but unfortunately, it came at a cost. Unbeknownst to many people, Phillip Carlyle had a brother, Duncan Carlyle. A brother who looked up to him and always had his back. The ringmaster's mind flashes back, memories of time with his brother filling his head. He remembered when Duncan was brought home from the hospital, bright curious eyes looking up at his big brother from the blanket that swaddled him. Phillip remembered smiling widely and asking to hold the new addition to the family. The former playwright recalls the times he and Duncan played together in the nursery under the supervision of a nanny. He remembers teaching his brother about the alphabet, how to write, and held his hand when they went off to boarding school together. He remembers the happy summers they both spent at their cousin's home, allowed to be children and have fun under the baking sun. They'd all swim until their fingers and toes were wrinkled and play in the sun until their faces were peeling from the sun.

Phillip remembers how hard it was to have to say goodbye to his brother when he went off to finishing school. Both brothers wrote to each other as much as they could. Waves of guilt filled his stomach because he got so distracted by the circus business and falling in love with Anne that he stopped writing letters. And then after the meeting with his parents, he hadn't seen Duncan since.

"Yes… I have a brother. His name is Duncan and he's probably thirteen or fourteen now…"

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because I hated the way my parents treated you, I felt so determined to fight for respect for you from the snobs I have to call my parents and do what my heart wanted… but I forgot about what I was leaving behind."

Phillip sits down on the wooden dock, letting his feet dangle over the side, just above the water. He lets the tears fall down his face. At the time, he was only thinking about Anne and how much he wanted to be with her. It was worth it, she had captured his heart and he was going to fight for her. He risked his life by running into a burning building for her, but it came at a cost of losing his only brother.

Anne sits down next to him. She reaches over and takes his hand. She leans her head against his shoulder. She could feel the sadness and the weight of guilt in his body. The trapeze artist couldn't imagine life without her brother, she loved him so much and he was very protective of her, as all brothers were. To be separated from him because of a conflict in the family, it must be so painful. She wants so badly to say something about him maybe contacting his brother again, maybe they could meet… but the feeling of dread filled her stomach. She remembered how embarrassed she was the night she met the Carlyles, how much they looked down on her for who she was. She was afraid that Duncan would be just like that too.

She sucks in a breath and asks, "What's Duncan like?"

"He's the sweetest kid you'll ever meet. He can give Sybil and run for her money. He can charm almost anyone in a room. You walk in and you're just drawn to him. He's kind, polite, mature, and so smart. He has a way with words. He's great at writing poems and he wanted to be a writer like me or a newspaper reporter for The New York Times. He wants to be just like Charles Dickens or even Shakespeare…"

"Sound like he's ambitious," Anne says quietly.

Phillip nods. "He shoots for the stars that's for sure."

There's a pause between the engaged couple.

"Do you miss him?" she asks.

Phillip swallows and answers honestly. "I do… I really do."

"Do you think that he would want to see you…" she gazes into his blue eyes. "Do you think he would accept what you do now? Would he accept me? Accept us?"

Phillip looks at his fiancée, he can see the worry in her eyes. The night at the theatre is still fresh as the day it happened. Anne attempted to rebuff him because she felt that their worlds were too different, but he persisted, following his heart. He knew his brother was not like his parents, as far as he knew. Duncan had a more liberal way of thinking and much more open-minded. He often stated that he needed to keep his mind wide open because that is what a writer needs to be inspired. Would he accept Anne as his soon-to-be wife? Did his brother hate him when he stopped writing? Were his parents villainizing him to keep his little brother from contacting him?

The questions flew about in his mind like a rising storm. He wanted Anne to get to know his family. Emma and Sybil were a good start, but he knew that not everyone is as free-thinking as his beloved cousin. He just wants to know.

"I think he would," he finally answers. "He's not like my parents, he's his own person and he wants to be apart of the changing world."

While neither Anne nor Phillip knows this for sure, they hope that this was the case.

"Then I'd really like to meet him," she says smiling.

"Would you?"

"I have a brother, I know what it's like to be so close to your brother, how much it means to you. I want to meet your family…"

Phillip turns to face Anne, he gazes into her deep brown eyes, becoming lost in her beauty. She almost seemed to glow in the moonlight. He puts his hand near her chin and kisses her gently. Her soft lips pressed against his, his heart threatening to break out of his chest from the passion he felt towards her. He truly loved her and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

"I love you," he says quietly.

"I love you too," she whispers.

The two of them sit on the dock together, in blissful silence. The moon and stars shining their light down on them. It seemed that love had won out and they truly had rewritten the stars.