Chapter 3: Where are my Manners?
To his surprise, there was a group of young women, each wearing badges.
This takes him by surprise and he forgets to greet them for a split second.
"Good afternoon ladies! Pardon me, but I don't believe I have met any of you before."
The woman in front of him clears her throat and then replies, "Hello good sir. My name is Anna Burr and these are-" she pauses for a moment "-my good friends."
She had one side of her hair tightly pinned back while the rest was curled.
She was wearing a burgundy coat, similar to Elijah's, with a medal on her chest. She also wore a white skirt, that was most likely supported by a crinoline, that reached up to her shin's.
offered her hand and Elijah knelt down and kissed the back of it. She then entered.
Next, there were 3 ladies who already seemed to look a bit tipsy.
"My, have you ladies been drinking?" Elijah asked in a chuckle.
The tallest lady then replied with a very thick french accent, "Just a glass or two.".
"Bonjour, my name is Marquis de Marinette. Pronounced Mah-Ree-Net!" She spoke with enthusiasm.
Instead of offering her hand, she instead bent over, took Elijah's hand and gave it a kiss on the back.
The change of roles leaves Elijah flustered and because of this, he isn't able to remember any of the other ladies names. All he remembers is him having to give out handshakes, to women might I add.
Elijah is stuck in this numbed mind-set, until a very peculiar mademoiselle awoke him from this haze.
"Excuse me," a gentle voice spoke "but you don't seem too well."
In a snap, Elijah finally woke up from the clouds.
"Oh, good evening Mrs-" Elijah took a pause, realizing that this woman didn't have the same demeanor as the others.
Instead, this woman was wearing a royal blue coat paired with a skirt that barely accentuated her figure. Not to mention, her skirt was only up to her knees.
And unlike the other girls, her hair was only styled into a ponytail. No curls, no buns. Just a regular old ponytail, just like his.
But who was he to judge this young woman on her appearance? He was no better than her.
Helping Elijah out, she fills in her name for him mid-sentence.
"Hamilton. My name is Alexandra Hamilton." she spoke, her voice sounding a bit rustic, but her voice alone made Eli blush.
He took a second to reply, too mezmorized by her voice alone.
"Excuse me, Miss Hamilton, but I don't seem to recognize that name. Did you just recently move to New York?" inquired Elijah.
Alexandra gave out a small chuckle, causing Elijah to blush a deeper shade of red.
"How did you know? Sir-"
"Schuyler. Elijah Schuyler." he quickly blurted out.
Alexandra lets out, yet another, small chuckle. "Well, Sir Schuyler, I come from the West Indies. I only moved to New York recently."
Suddenly, the gears start turning instantly. The name Hamilton seemed awfully familiar to Elijah, so he started to connect the dots, so did Alexandra.
"Sir Elijah Schuyler," Alexandra thought out loud.
"That name sounds oddly familiar. Do you happen to know a Kurt Livingston?" she asks.
Elijah immediately recognizes that name and jumps to a conclusion. This is the same Alexandra his friend, Kurt Livingston, talked about in the letters he sent to Elijah.
"Yes, I do. He's one of my closest friends actually. I've heard alot about you, from him."
"So you're one of the Schuyler brothers." she states "The brothers that weren't allowed to help out on the battle fields because your dear mother forbade it.".
He hated to admit it, but what she said was true.
Him, Angelo and Peter were forbidden to help out with the cost. The Schuyler family was struggling with the loss of one of their mansions, so sending a son off to war would mean that they wouldn't be able to marry into wealth, wealth that they were struggling to achieve. If a son were to die, who knows what distraught it would bring to the family.
"Unfortunately, what you say is true. I and my brothers were forbidden to fight on the fields."
Alexandra gave a sympathetic smile and said, "Don't you think it's odd?".
Elijah gave her a confused look and asked, "I'm sorry, but what do you mean by that?"
"I mean that it's odd that i'm fighting in the revolution whilst you're forced to stay home."
Suddenly, Elijah's eyes grew as wide as cylinders.
"Wait a minute, are you actually a part of the revolution?" Elijah asked in both shock and amusement.
At this point, Elijah looked like a puppy who had just found a bone.
'He looks so adorable', Alexandra thought.
"Why, yes!" Alexandra spoke out of amusement.
Elijah couldn't believe his ears. For once, he actually found a girl who was as interested in the revolution as much as he was.
"If you don't mind, can you tell me all about it?" Elijah asked.
The fact that Elijah was really invested in a war he couldn't fight, told Alexandra that he must have been starved of the outside world.
"I would love to tell you all about it, but I would prefer if we went inside first." she said, reminding Elijah that they were still outside.
"Oh, where are my manners? Of course! Come in if you'd wish." Elijah said with enthusiasm.