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“Have you read this?”
“Alexander Hamilton…what have you done?” George asked himself as he stared on at the pamphlet. It was talk of the town.
The pressure of running a country weighed on him. It weighed on the cabinet. And Alexander was apart of that cabinet. George watched his son grow from a boy, eager to fight a war and to prove himself to others, to a man, defending his legacy against others to pave the way for his own children. And because of this, Alexander had a tendency to act without thinking.
“I had to defend my name,” Alex protested. “I was accused of embezzling; I couldn’t just let that stand!” His career would be lost. He wouldn’t survive it, and neither would his children. He knew at least one of his children would go into politics just like he had done, and he couldn’t let the accusations stain their opportunities.
“Infidelity, Alexander!” George had to take a breath to calm himself, noticing Alex flinch at his words. Not so much the words, but the tone and volume. He hated the sounds of George yelling. Though, he never changed his behavior to perhaps prevent such situations. “Alex, you admitted to infidelity against your wife. In your own home. And you admitted to paying off the woman’s husband to keep quiet. That is a stain much larger than the accusation of embezzling.”
“They believed to have evidence of embezzling, I had to refute it.” If there was one thing George admired about Alexander, it was that he would defend himself no matter what. He would never stand down and let himself be accused or degraded. However, it was also the thing that irritated George the most about his son.
“All I want is for you to have an easy life, Alexander.” George sighed. Everything he did in his life was for his family. For his wife and children. He brought Alexander back to the colonies so he could be raised with his family and have every advantage that George granted to Martha’s children. He was still fighting to name Alexander as the heir to his estate. He kept Alex by his side during the war so he wouldn’t get hurt. That didn’t work out too much for Jacky though.
“You know all I’ve wanted is to work for what I have and make a name for myself,” Alex replied. He did do that. He stole British canons before George had even known he joined the army. He begged for the command, and when he finally received one, he led beautifully. He passed the bar and became an esteemed lawyer before George even offered him the position in his cabinet.
“This sure does it, Alex.” George waved the pamphlet. He didn’t want to read any further. He had read enough. Far too much. “What has Elizabeth said about this?”
“Bets…She’s angry,” Alex admitted. He had no reason to be upset about this. He likely would have been heartbroken if he found that Eliza had done the same thing. “She…burned our letters last night. The letters I sent to her when I was courting her.”
“If you mean to follow our plan of being secretly married, the scruple ought to appear entirely your own, and you should begin to give hints of it...”
“These are the consequences to your actions, Alexander.” George always knew that Alex was emotional, brash, and would act without thinking. And this was one of those times. “I know you had good intentions, Alexander, but you’ve entirely reshaped your legacy. Do you think it is better for the people to think of Phillip as the son of someone who left the cabinet or the son of the man who took advantage of a woman and told the whole world about it?”
“I hardly took advantage of her.”
“What really happened doesn’t matter.”
There was a pregnant pause before George sighed. He wouldn’t be able to clean up this mess like he had done for Alex in the past. His boy would have to ride it out.
“I imagine Mr. Jefferson will bring this up in the cabinet meeting. You should prepare a counter for it. And I’m sure the Schuylers will be making a visit to you fairly soon as well.”
“I’ll be remaining in the cabinet, sir?”
“Yes. But you will tread lightly, understand?” George was disappointed in Alexander’s actions, but he would still keep him in the cabinet. Alex was still his son.
“I understand.”
“Go home, Alexander. We will discuss this further on another occasion.”