Alex and Eliza--A Love Story Page 14

  Alex bit his lip, trying to suppress a smile at the thought of Aunt Gertrude blissfully snoring away in her night bonnet.

  As if she had read his mind, Eliza smiled as well.

  “It is nice to see you smiling at me. I take it my presence is not as objectionable to you as in the past?” he said.

  “I wouldn’t go that far,” said Eliza, still smiling.

  “The weather has been atrocious, and I am sorry for it.”

  Eliza took a delicate bite from her fork. “Why? Does Mother Nature usually attend to your wishes?”

  “Not in the least, but there was to be a dancing assembly on the morrow, but it has been canceled due to the snowstorm. I wished to take you in the sleigh . . . only for Hector’s sake, of course.”

  “Of course,” said Eliza, turning pink once more.

  AS THE MEAL was winding down, Eliza noticed that Stephen and Peggy had pulled their chairs closer together in a sort of silent pact. She thought perhaps the plethora of words from the shy young man’s earlier monologue had squeezed all the air out of him.

  Angelica started in on him innocently enough. “And what brings you to Morristown in the bleak midwinter, Stephen? Surely it must be a business matter of the utmost importance.” She gave Eliza a little wink.

  Stephen put down his fork and looked Angelica in the eye. “I came to see Miss Peggy.”

  “And . . . ?” Angelica pursed her lips and tilted her head in a way that begged for more information.

  “That is all.” Stephen picked up his fork again and continued with his dinner.

  Angelica dabbed her lips with her napkin. “My goodness, Stephen. You are quite the conversation stopper—isn’t he, though, Peg!”

  Peggy glared at her sister as a cool hush descended over the dinner guests.

  Aunt Gertrude stepped in to break up the awkward moment.

  “Perhaps now would be a good time for something sweet?” She held the tiny silver bell in the air to ring for Louisa. “And who will be wanting coffee as well?”

  Once the dinner plates had been removed, Peggy turned to her aunt with a simple request. “Aunt Gertrude, supper was perfectly splendid and we know your cook is famous for her lovely desserts. But will you forgive me?” Peggy rose from her seat, squaring her eyes at Angelica. “I-I feel a bit of a chill in the air.”

  Stephen stood up clumsily and pulled back her chair. “Thank you, Stephen. Shall we take our coffee in the parlor by the fireplace, then?”

  “Of course, Miss Peggy, as you wish.”

  Stephen turned to Aunt Gertrude and bowed low. Eliza noticed the crown of his head where his hair was starting to thin and something inside her softened toward him. Sometimes Angelica pushed too hard.

  “Mrs. Cochran,” he said stiffly, “I am most obliged for the respectable food tonight.” He pushed the two empty chairs back against the table and followed Peggy out of the room.

  Perplexed, Aunt Gertrude looked around at Eliza and Angelica. “He’s not much of one for light conversation, is he?”

  Eliza, ever the hopeful pragmatist, said, “Perhaps Peggy sees something in him that we do not.”

  “Indeed,” said Angelica drily. “He comes from one of the wealthiest families in the state of New York.”

  AT ANGELICA’S SMART jibe, Alex felt his ears burning. Could he himself be justly accused of similar selfish calculations in regards to his feelings for Eliza, the second Schuyler daughter?

  “Nevertheless, Angelica dear,” Aunt Gertrude wisely intervened, “is that reason enough to tie oneself down to a lifetime of masculine silence?”

  Alex watched Angelica flinch. He thought her reply seemed touched with an unflattering tinge of bitterness.

  “Well,” said Angelica, “I for one think they are perfectly suited to each other—he’s as passive as a sheep and Peg is a pretty shepherdess.”

  Nervous laughter streamed around the table at Peggy and Stephen’s expense before the topic quickly moved on to some of Morristown’s more scandalous gossip.

  Alex noticed Eliza had remained silent and did not seem eager to go along with the unkind joke.

  Aha, thought Alex. Here beats a softer heart than Angelica’s unsentimental one.

  The room was suddenly too hot for his taste, and he excused himself from the table, saying he needed a bit of fresh air.

  He went out and took a few deep breaths, his cheeks hurt from smiling at Eliza Schuyler all night. But he was worried, too, that she was too far above him in station for him to even think about courting her.

  Lost in his own thoughts, he didn’t notice Stephen Van Rensselear stride past, red in the face, and disappear around the corner.

  Peggy followed him, looking upset. She stopped when she saw Alex. “Oh! Colonel Hamilton.”

  “Everything all right, Miss Schuyler?”

  She nodded, then changed her mind and shook her head. “No, Stephen doesn’t like Angelica’s teasing,” she confided. “My sister can be a little too sharp-tongued than is good for her.”

  “She is only being protective,” he said soothingly. “Older sisters tend to be.”

  Peggy drew herself up to her full height. “Perhaps,” she said. “But you will see one day, when the lash falls on you.”

  He raised his eyebrows, not quite knowing what to say.

  “I spoke out of turn, I apologize,” said Peggy.

  “There is no need,” he assured her. After a short silence, he said, “You know, maybe if you told your sisters how you felt about the young man, they would be a little more gentle with him and your feelings.”

  Peggy appraised him, as if taking his stock for the first time. “Thank you, Colonel. I might just take your advice.”

  WHEN ALEX RETURNED to the table, Eliza’s aunt was standing at the head of it. “Ah, lovely,” she announced. “Dessert is ready.”

  Laurens walked around the table and clamped a hand on Alex’s shoulder. “So, Ham, what do you think of my plan to free southern slaves who are willing to join the fight for independence? Let’s take these men out of the fields and let them live like human beings. Free them and train them to fire a musket! Pay them to maintain their loyalty like any enlisted man! Think how it would swell our ranks against the British overnight!”

  Growing up in the West Indies had given Alex a hatred for slavery and the vile practices he had witnessed firsthand. He admired his wealthy southern friend for feeling the same way when Laurens came from a long line of slaveholders himself and had much to benefit from the practice.

  “I support it duly, John, not as your closest friend, but as someone who has seen the depravity of slavery during my childhood. No man could ever find satisfaction in being owned by another. We are all the same in God’s eyes, are we not? And General Washington agrees with me. If only I could persuade him to act on it . . .”

  “Yes, there’s the rub. Too much talk when immediate action is needed. Tell me true, Alex, is the plan anything more than futile?”

  Alex turned his palms up to the ceiling. “Ah, friend. I am doing all that I can and yet—”

  Eliza cut in on the conversation. “Though you will continue to press the idea upon him, yes, Colonel? It is the right thing to do. Surely, His Excellency understands that?”

  Alex and Eliza shared a moment of mutual surprise.

  “You support the abolitionist cause?” he asked.

  “Fervently,” she said. “We Schuylers have always, always espoused a belief in the equality of black and white souls.”

  It moved him to hear the same perspective coming from this young maiden. Here was something concrete that spoke volumes to the natures of their respective souls.

  “I am glad to hear it,” he told her. Without thinking, he reached over the table and grasped her hand, giving it a meaningful squeeze.

  Laurens coughed and turned away with a s
mile, and for a moment, Alex enjoyed the feeling of Eliza’s small hand in his.

  Though Mrs. Cochran was seated too far away to have heard their conversation, it was clear that she noticed something had changed between the soldier and her niece. In a moment, she all but confirmed his supposition with one arched eyebrow. “Cook has discovered a recipe that should put a smile on everyone’s face. Tonight we’re having a little tart.”

  19

  Girl Talk

  Eliza’s Bedroom

  Morristown, New Jersey

  February 1780

  The dinner over and the guests gone home, the Schuyler sisters retired for the evening. Eliza readied for bed, thinking dreamily of the passionate way Colonel Hamilton had spoken to her at the table that evening. His brilliance, his enlightened mind, and his mischievous good humor were hard to dismiss, and in fact, she kept dwelling on the small, precious moments they had found together all evening. The way his eyes shone when hers caught his across the room upon his arrival. The feel of his hand on her back when he led her out of the room to the ladies’ parlor before retiring to her uncle’s study for whiskey and cigars. The way he had sought her out afterward, to say a particularly sweet good-bye.

  She closed her book and plumped up her pillow, knowing she wouldn’t be able to sleep for a while; she was too excited, thinking of him. But she licked her fingers and snuffed out the candle like a good girl nonetheless, just as a knock came at the door.

  “Can I come in for a moment?” It was Peggy, shivering in her cotton nightgown and bare feet.

  Eliza pulled back the covers and patted the bedding beside her. “Of course!”

  Peggy hopped up on the bed and snuggled in beside her older sister. The both of them let out a contented sigh, reveling in the warmth of each other’s bodies.

  Peggy spoke first. “Remember when we were children and how we shared a bed and all our secrets, too?”

  “Yes, Peg. Happy memories, those.” Eliza closed her eyes, thinking back to the lively Schuyler home with each of the sisters playing a musical instrument. The brothers would chase them all through the fields with their dogs. As often as not, Eliza would lead the way in the footraces.

  “Well, I have another secret for you, Sister.” Peggy sat up in bed and turned toward Eliza. In the darkness, Eliza could barely see Peggy’s perfect nose.

  “I have found the only man I shall ever love. And I intend to marry him.”

  “But, dear Peg! You are younger than I. How can you know such a thing at such a tender age?”

  “Because of his . . . kindness. He is the only suitor I’ve ever had who doesn’t pretend to know all there is about me, or tells me how beautiful I am, then proceeds to step all over my toes in the most careless ballroom manner. In fact, I can see it in his eyes that he is most comfortable when I am at his side. Of course, Stephen says relatively little but—”

  “Stephen? We’re talking about Stephen?” Eliza said, trying not to sound too shocked for her sister’s sake.

  “Yes, of course. I know you and Angelica find him tedious.”

  “We do not!”

  “But he is just young; he doesn’t know yet not to ramble.”

  “He is very earnest, that.”

  “Earnest and sweet. And you see, Eliza—do not think me a silly goose—but I have always been the one people took care of. First Mama babied me, then you and Angelica. Now I find men want to baby me, bolster me up with fine words and fine promises, and wear me on their arms like a gaudy bauble. Stephen does none of that. Rather, he looks to me—to me!—for strength, as if he can scarce believe that I should care for him. For the first time, I have found someone whose life I want to make better. It’s like coming upon a bird with a broken wing and nurturing it back to full strength. Yes, that’s it! Here’s a fellow who needs me to take care of him.”

  “Dear sweet Peg.” Eliza wanted to believe it, too. “I suppose when you have the opportunity to do something of value for someone you love, you have the responsibility to do it. If that is the case, then I am truly happy for you.”

  “But surely Papa will not approve,” Peggy moaned into the pillow. “He thinks Stephen is much too young and untested, and he would prefer a bold soldier like your colonel Hamilton who marches around with medals clanging against his breast.”

  “What do you mean, my colonel Hamilton?”

  “Oh, dearest Sister. For all of your intelligent ways, are you too pious to recognize a lovesick man when he stands before you wearing his heart on his sleeve? Everyone seems to see it but you. He was mooning over you all evening.”

  The bedroom door flew open and moonlight streamed in behind a tall figure.

  “Brrr . . . what have I missed?” Angelica lifted the covers and slipped in bed between them.

  “Where have you been?”

  Angelica smiled mysteriously. “You know where.”

  Eliza did not press. “Peg is telling me what she really feels about Stephen.”

  “Is that so? And what do you feel?”

  “I love him, Ange. And you will do well to keep your claws away from him. He is young and has a soft heart.”

  “Truly? You love him?”

  “With all my heart!”

  Angelica cackled. “A marvelous twist! The quietest man at the table wins the family beauty by coming up with nothing at all to say.”

  Peggy bopped her oldest sister over the head with her pillow. Goose feathers floated in the air. “He’s a quiet man, not a fool.”

  “I’m teasing, Peg. To tell the truth, he has rather grown on me. And no one can deny he is turning into a handsome young man, which is more than I can say for my suitor.

  “Speaking of which: Did you see Church? What happened tonight?” asked Peggy.

  “Oh my goodness,” Eliza said, laughing. “This bed may be too fragile to withstand any more surprises!”

  “How surprising could it possibly be that I have found a suitor with wits to match my own,” announced Angelica, “and a fortune that will sustain me in high society for as long as I may live?”

  “Church has proposed at last, has he?” said Eliza.

  Peggy turned toward her sister and said softly, “But do you love him?”

  “Let’s not overegg the pudding, dear Peg.” Angelica tugged at a ribbon on her younger sister’s nightcap. “Perhaps for me to love and be loved is an impossible quest. I simply know that in John Church I have met my match. And in one way or another, whether by elopement or a fine wedding, he will be my husband.”

  Angelica pulled up the covers and stared up at the dark ceiling. “I trust that Papa will be but temporarily dismayed.”

  The deal was as good as done. Her sisters knew it, too.

  “That’s all fine and well for you, Angelica,” said Peggy. “You have always gotten whatever it is you wanted by sheer force of will. But what of me and my Stephen?” Peggy sounded as though she might burst into tears at any moment. “Surely Papa will be swayed by the Van Rensselaer wealth and the long-held trust between our two families. But do you think he can be persuaded to allow the marriage?”

  “My dear little Peg,” said Angelica, “you have always dragged along behind me, imitating me at every turn since you were a child. Be aware that I now have a plan and fully intend to carry it out. So here is my advice to you: Perhaps this is just one more time you dare not hesitate to follow your big sister’s lead.”

  “And what about Colonel Hamilton?” said Peggy.

  “What about him?” said Angelica.

  “He means to take our Eliza away,” said Peggy.

  “Does he now?” said Angelica impishly. “And what say you, dear sister? Shall you allow yourself to be swept off your feet?”

  Eliza hid underneath the covers. “I have no idea what you both are going on about. You are both the ones with secret romances, not me. He has not even a
nnounced his courtship yet.”

  “Maybe he is shy,” said Peggy.

  Angelica snorted. “Of all the things he is—I don’t think shy is quite the word.”

  “Perhaps,” said Eliza, muffled from under the blankets, “we are just friends and he does not fancy me at all.”

  “Oh, Eliza,” said Angelica. “You really are dense sometimes.”

  “He was very kind to me this evening,” said Peggy loyally. “Said I should tell you both how I feel about Stephen so you can stop your taunting. I think you should accept him, Eliza, if he asks. You can do worse than to marry a kind man. I think kindness, out of all the virtues, is the best quality to have.”

  “He does have a good heart,” said Eliza, popping up from the pillows. “The men love him.”

  “But he lacks a great fortune and has no name and no family,” reminded Angelica.

  “Well,” said Peggy. “We have name and family, if not fortune, enough for him, don’t you think, Eliza?”

  For once, Eliza had to agree with her sweet younger sister rather than her smart older one.

  20

  First Comes Friendship

  Continental Army Barracks

  Morristown, New Jersey

  February 1780

  Laurens and Lafayette remained in town for three more days, but the snows were still so bad that there was no possibility of sleigh rides to dancing assemblies or dinner parties. Work was busy, and Alex’s time was split between taking meetings with General Washington and the rest of the top brass, and carousing with his comrades till all hours of the night. Several times Alex attempted to pull rank as the aide-de-camp to the commander in chief of the Continental army in order to be alone with his friend before he left, but General Washington was almost as fond of the son of Henry Laurens, Washington’s southern counterpart in the Continental Congress, as Alex was, and always invited him along to meetings and inspections.