Of Parchment and Saltwater

Chapter 27

    

     The ballroom was aglow with candles and beautiful gold adornments, silk gowns and embroidered coats floated about the room like ghosts, their laughs and conversations echoing as though a thousand crickets were chirping.
      Benjamin nudged me from behind and offered a crystal glass of water to me. "Are you enjoying yourself?"
     I took a small sip from the cup and answered, "Of course. Although I do wish that Alexander and Eliza were not so popular; I feel as though I've only spoken two words to them since we first arrived!"
     Ben chuckled as a Minuet began and offered me his hand. "May I have this dance, m'lady?"
     "It would be my pleasure, Major."
     We danced like giddy schoolchildren, and I noticed a few disdainful looks from the other dancers as we whispered jokes to each other and Benjamin spun me around a few extra times, just for good measure.
The ball went late into the night, and Benjamin and I both agreed that the socialite life we'd once enjoyed was a little more exhausting than we were now used to.
     "Ah, here they are," Alexander said from behind us, Eliza coming up beside him, "I imagine you're both as tired as we are, but perhaps you could spare us a dance?"
     Benjamin kissed Eliza's hand as Alexander did the same to me, leading us out into the ballroom.
     "I feel as though we've just won a patriot victory, hmm?" Alexander said as we bowed to each other in the middle of the crowd, signaling to the rest of the dancers that they could join us.
"It does," I answered quietly, "It feels like it was only yesterday that we were in Yorktown. And now look at us; I hope the children are doing alright upstairs."
     Alexander laughed as I stepped in time around him, holding his hand above our heads and picking up my silk gown with the other hand.
     "Aye, after you have as many children as Eliza and I do," he explained, "you worry a lot less. I'm sure my eldest are keeping them all in line with an iron fist of superiority."
     We passed Benjamin and Eliza with grinning nods and Alexander was compelled to greet all the other couples as well as we waltzed to the back of the line.
     "Now, Louisa, I have a bit of a favor to ask of you," he said, lowering his voice and growing serious, "but you must promise not to react as I know you'll want to. Alright?"
     Intrigued, I nodded and he continued, "I have an affair of honor scheduled tomorrow at dawn with Mr. Aaron Burr, and I was wondering if you could possibly spare yourself to be present as the doctor."
     Unable to help myself, my jaw dropped and I looked at him incredulously as we continued to dance.
     "Oh, Alexander! Have you forgotten what happened to your own son only three years ago? And now you're going to duel the Vice President?"
     "Shhh," he said, glancing around nervously, "you must be quieter. I know, Louisa, but you'll never convince me otherwise; I have to do this."
     I tried to control my emotions and took a deep breath. "Is this about that girl...Reynolds?"
     Alexander looked almost panicked to hysteria that I was going to make someone else hear us, but I was careful. Paranoia was just about the only tool for convincing that I had at the moment.
     "Goodness no, Louisa!" he said, "Listen, I'm doing this, and you won't be able to convince me otherwise. Are you going to help me?"
     The song ended and Alexander reached into his pocket as I curtsied, slipping a handful of bills into my hand as he kissed it.
     Thinking quickly, I linked my arm in his and put the money back into the pocket of his waistcoat as we walked to rejoin Eliza and Ben, whispering, "I'm not taking your money. But I'll be there. May I tell my husband?"
     He gave me a sideways glance and rolled his eyes. "I suppose. As long as Eliza doesn't find out."

I rolled out of bed with a groan of exhaustion and I felt Benjamin take my hand. "Are you about to leave?" he croaked, fumbling for the matches beside the bed to light a candle.
I nodded and stumbled into the wardrobe, careful not to wake Lydia who was in her cradle only a few feet away.
"I should be back by midday...if everything goes well. Do you think it would be alright if I wore my green working dress; it's a little dirty."
Benjamin chuckled and replied quietly, "I don't think these gentlemen would notice if you showed up in my breeches, darling. They're scared into madness, even if they don't show it."
Slipping into my linen petticoat and tying it over my stays, I asked, "Were you that scared when you dueled Simcoe?"
"Oh yes," he whispered, "but mostly because I knew that you were going to make me wish I'd died in that fight after I told you what had happened. And that is, in fact, what happened more or less."
I playfully smacked him and groaned. "You're never going to let me forget about that, hmm? How was I supposed to know you had been shot?"
"You left me downstairs to die all night!" he said with a quiet laugh, "All because you thought I was having an affair!"
I bent down to kiss him and he tapped the brim of my hat, grinning slyly. "I am so lucky to have you. We have a much better marriage than most I've seen, even if I did falsely accuse you of ill-behavior."
     He chuckled. "Go be the greatest doctor this nation has ever seen, Lou. Do you want to take Highlander?"
"It's alright; I spoke with the woman across the street yesterday and I offered to drop her horse off at the blacksmith's before I met with Alexander. It was right nearby anyway."
He tugged on a curl and whispered, "I'll see you tonight, yes?"
"Yes. I love you, Calvary boy."

The ride from our rented house in Brooklyn to the dock on the west side of Manhattan was eerily quiet, the sun just barely beginning to peek over the trees in the distance.
     Alexander met me at the wooden dock with another man beside him, a relieved smile on his face. "I thought perhaps you had forfeited," he said, holding the horse's bridle as I dismounted.
     "And leave you on this ridiculous escapade without a doctor? Someone has to look out for you."
     He chuckled and motioned to the man next to him. "Louisa, meet federal judge Nathaniel Pendleton...my second. Nathaniel, this is Doctor Louisa Tallmadge. You may know her as Henry Wadsworth."
     I looked between the two in confusion as he kissed my hand.
     "I was born in Culpepper County," Mr. Pendleton explained sheepishly, "and I was a good friend of General Washington since we were practically children. I-I've read many of your letters to Culper Jr. as Washington's advisor, of sorts."
     They helped me into the rowboat and I laughed. "Well, sir, I must admit that I am not much like my letters. I am much less mature in real life. But perhaps a little wiser."
      Alexander and Nathaniel rowed on the front and back of the dinghy and I sat in the middle, clutching my medical bag like it was my child.
     "Louisa," Alexander said, "I can see the words about to form in your mouth. We're doing this; there's no trying to stop it."
     I scoffed and looked down at my feet. "I just don't understand any of this."
     We arrived in New Jersey almost thirty minutes later where another boat was tied up.
     "I hope we are finished by noon; I have a lunch meeting with a legal client later today," Alexander grunted as we pulled the boat onto the shore and began the short hike to the dueling spot. The Vice President and his second were sitting under a tree, the July sunlight burning warm even at dawn.
     The four men greeted each other politely and Burr's second looked at me with disgust.
     "Mr. Hamilton," he said, "do you always bring your whores to these types of affairs?"
     My jaw dropped and it was everything in me not to hit the man. Alexander began to lunge to attack him but I stepped in front, emotions threatening to overcome my composure.
     "Alexander," I scolded quietly, "not everything can be solved with a fight. At least not in my world."
     He stepped back in frustration and looked at me as if pleading for me to let him hit the man.
     "Forgive me," I said, turning back to Burr's second, "for not introducing myself. I am Doctor Louisa Tallmadge."
     He bristled and took a deep breath before kissing my hand reluctantly. "William Van Ness."
     I cocked my head and gave a satisfied smile. "Hmm...no title? What a shame! Maybe someday, Mr. Van Ness."
     Nathaniel and Alexander exchanged looks and I noticed even a small smile grace Aaron Burr's face.
Fuming but feeling victorious, I retreated to a shady spot to watch the proceedings take place. When Eliza found out about all of this, she'd kill me.
Van Ness and Nathaniel Pendleton conversed in the middle, while Burr and Hamilton stood on both ends fiddling with their guns. My heart pounded for them.
Alexander made eye contact with me for a split second and I silently begged him to just give it up. There was no hiding the anxiety in his eyes.
"Doctor Tallmadge," Nathaniel called to me, "if you would turn around, please."
     Pulse racing, I did as he said and leaned with my forehead against a tree, squeezing my eyes shut as if to block out the sound of the gunshot. I counted silently in my head as the men took ten steps away from each other.
     I felt the impact of Alexander's knees hitting the ground before the gunshot even reached my ears.