Chapter Twelve

I was pretty sure I saw the first of them in human form at the memorial service. He was standing off to one side, respectful, polite, observant, and generally distant from the small handful of tenured and retired faculty members who came to pay their respects to Professor Asher and his wife in Charlottesville.

I can’t tell you why, exactly, I felt with some certainty that he was one of them. Perhaps it was just that he didn’t seem like he was there to pay his respects to the dead professor and his wife as they were lowered into the ground at a small cemetery behind a respectful mainstream Presbyterian Church at the edge of the small college town. He seemed like he was there as a courtesy—as if he were a dispassionate observer of the human condition at a moment of great sadness.

Funerals are not happy places. But, as is often the case, you can learn a great deal at times of crisis or despondency. In this instance, I noticed that Jude instantly took command of the situation. He greeted every person in the receiving line at the church and thanked them for their concern and prayers. He was unwavering in his willingness to stand there and express his depth of concern and care for his adoptive parents, who’d so graciously rescued him from the state.

And I kept an eye on Jude as he finally walked through the rows of crosses and headstones to greet the man who’d stood so patiently observing the service.

He was impeccably dressed. He’d clearly either come from money or inherited it. I assumed it was inherited wealth, not new money. He was far too comfortable with his regal bearing and attire to have come into it recently. The polite, observant, well-dressed young man looked as if he’d been well off for quite a long time. He was a bit too far away for me to see his features, but I could imagine he was quite handsome and imposing. That would make sense.

They talked for a few minutes. I could tell, just by Jude’s body language, that my brother was paying very close attention to the conversation at hand.

When it was obvious Jude would be a bit longer, I drifted inside the church to get out of the heat. I wandered into the kitchen, found a can of Diet Coke in the refrigerator, and leaned against the sink. I enjoyed the way the cold, carbonated soda burned the back of my throat on the way down.

“He’s a friend,” Jude said, startling me.

I turned and faced my brother as he strode through the doorway that led from the church hallway to the kitchen. “A friend? You have those?”

Jude smiled. “Yes, I have friends now, at college. As do you, I believe.”

“I very much doubt that the man you were speaking to is a friend from college. And why isn’t he here with you now, in the kitchen?”

“He doesn’t have much use for churches,” Jude said casually.

“I see. So he’s gone?”

“Yes, he had affairs to attend to and others to counsel.”

“So he’s an advisor?”

“Yes, among other things.”

“Is he your advisor?” I asked, although I already knew the answer.

“Yes, I asked to meet with him. Now that we’re entering a new phase, I wanted … more direct influence and discussion. I was tired of the guesswork.”

“A new phase?”

“Our inheritance, Thomas,” my brother said straightforwardly, as if explaining the obvious. “Once we turn twenty-one, we inherit the family fortune. We, you and I, will be quite wealthy. There are plans to be made, paths to be charted. We have a big transition in front of us now, with all that we’re inheriting. We’re no longer just college kids with trust funds.”

“Oh, that. So he’ll advise on that transition?”

“Among other things.”

There was always so much I wanted to ask my brother. “So how should I think of him?” I asked instead. “As a … what? A trusted advisor to you on our affairs of state and inheritance?”

“Think of him like a regent. You know what that means, right?”

I rolled my eyes. “Yes, Jude. I’m the political science major, remember?”

“Good. So you know what he stands for.”

“And will there be others like him?”

“There are many others like him, I would suspect.”

“I meant around you—around us and our lives.”

“They are always around us, Thomas, whether you wish it or not,” my brother said. “But, yes, I daresay there will be other regents, other advisors from time to time. Our inheritance is rather large, you know—in the billions of dollars. Our dear departed dad’s patents were awfully central to a great many companies and industries, it turns out. More than I’d first imagined. Sorting through them will be complicated and take some time and getting used to.”

“So the need for your regent?”

“Yes, and the fact I wanted a certain directness in our relationship as we enter our next phase. It is a vast world now, with many opportunities before us.” Jude’s gaze appeared unfocused, far off. I could only guess what my brother was wondering about.

I broke into his thoughts. “So what will you do after you graduate from Harvard?”

He blinked. “Whatever I’d like, I suspect. But I’m in no particular hurry. I believe I’ll just get my law degree from Stanford so I can see what the West Coast is like, and then I’ll add my MBA on top of that. No reason not to finish off my college résumé. What about you?”

“I have no particular plans after college,” I said truthfully.

“Well, find some. Because the world belongs to us now. Might as well take advantage of it.”