Peggy was furious. Alexander had cheated on her sister, and then published a self-written pamphlet about it. But the fury was tempered by sadness, Alexander had been her friend too. And he had betrayed them.
He had betrayed Eliza, he had betrayed Angelica, and Peggy too. The three sisters had trusted him, thought he was above what he had just done. Peggy walked to the fireplace and tossed in the thick pamphlet. The fire leapt up to meet it, flickering tongues of flame licking at the white pages. Slowly, the flames ate away the now blackened pages, crumbling them into ash.
Softly, the door opened; a servant approached and held out a small envelope. Peggy took the proffered note and the woman left. She gave a sigh of relief as she read the address. It was from Angelica. Peggy tore open the letter and began to read, eyes scanning the few lines with frenzied speed.
Dear Peggy,
I read the Reynolds Pamphlet. I have a passage booked on a ship heading for New York in three weeks, it was the soonest I could get. Peggy, you have to go visit Eliza. All she has right now is her children, and they need help too. Go to them, I will be there as soon as I can. Hurry.
-Angelica
Nodding decisively, Peggy strode to her room and began packing her things. An hour later she was in a carriage heading to the Hamilton's house. It was Angelica who answered, face pale, and tears brimming in her eyes. As soon as she saw Peggy she threw her arms around her aunt and hugged her tightly. Peggy's visits had always been loved by the children, they loved their aunt.
Peggy hugged the girl back and then gently pushed her back, holding her shoulders. The young girl gave a faint smile and wiped the tears from her eyes. Peggy smiled down at her.
"Angie, where is your mother?"
"She locked herself in her room! Father's trying to get her to come out!"
"Is he now? Angie, I need you to take this up to the spare room, get some of your brothers to help. I am going to go talk to your mother."
She handed the suitcase to Angie, and the girl nodded, happy to have something to do. She ran off, calling for her brothers and Peggy closed the door behind them. She knew the way to Eliza's room, and ran there as fast as she could in her dress. She found Alexander standing outside the door, trying to coax Eliza out. Peggy stormed up to him and he turned towards her.
"Peggy, thank God, she locked herself in and I can't get her to come out!"
"Not surprised."
"You're mad at me too? It was an act of political sacrifice!"
"Sacrifice? Damn right it was a sacrifice! You sacrificed your wife, me and Angelica, and you sacrificed your children! They will never look at you the same way. Now get out and go to work, or get out and kill yourself so you can go to hell, I don't really care right now, just go!"
Alexander stepped back, mind frozen in shock. Peggy had always been a sweet, but background character to him, nothing like the sweet and gentle Eliza, or the dazzling wit and intelligence of Angelica. Now though, he barely recognized her, eyes ablaze with fury, face filled hate and disgust for the man in front of her.
He backed away out of the hallway, stumbling over his own feet in his haste to escape the venomous glare of the woman before him. As soon as he was around the corner, Peggy turned back to the door and knocked three time in rapid succession, then a pause and three more, slowe knocks. It was Peggy's knock, each sister had one from when they were children. Slowly, the door opened.
"Is Alexander still here?"
"No, I think I scared him off."
"Thanks."
Eliza's face was streaked with tears, eyes red and puffy, but her smile was as beautiful as a rainbow breaking through storm clouds. She leaned forward and pulled her little sister into a tight embrace. They stayed there like that for a while, just holding each other. Then the sisters stepped back into Eliza's room and sat together on the large bed, after locking the door.
Peggy wrapped an arm around her sister's shoulders and Eliza leaned into her. Peggy knew how she felt: Helpless. It was how Peggy had felt when she heard that John was dead.
Don't think about that now Peggy. Don't cry, Eliza needs you right now, she needs you to be strong. Don't remember, just think about Eliza and the children, they need you right now.
It wasn't the helpless that Eliza had felt when she met Alexander- or how Peggy had felt when she met John. This was a different kind of helpless. The kind that felt like life had just punched you in the stomach and knocked all the breath from your lungs, the kind that made you feel like you just couldn't go on.
Peggy had lived with that helplessness for years, but after a while the waves of grief grew farther apart, dwindling in size and number. It wasn't easy, but it was something that Peggy had learned to live with, and maybe, just maybe, move on.