Theodosia felt her face turn hot as Philip walked into the room. He kissed his mother's cheek and sat down. "How was your day, Philip?" Eliza asked.
"It was alright." He said. "Pass the salad?" Theodosia slid the bowl over to him and he murmured a thank you, not noticing her. "Philip, aren't you going to say hello?" Eliza asked. "To whom? Oh." He looked up at Theodosia. "Hello..."
"Theodosia." She gave him a small smile. "Theodosia. Such a pretty name." If it was possible, Theodosia's face turned even hotter than before. "Thank you." She said, taking a small bite of her sandwich. The room was soon filled with quiet small talk, but Theodosia stayed silent. She tried not to stare at the beauty that was Philip Hamilton, but she failed. Luckily, he hadn't noticed. He was too busy talking to his father. It was obvious that he looked up to Alexander, and would do anything he asked.
She saw him lean over as he whispered something into Philip's ear. Philip looked directly at Theodosia as his father spoke. Although Theodosia couldn't hear them, she knew what Alexander was saying. Something along the lines of. 'She's a Burr. Stay away from her'. Theodosia watched out of the corner of her eye as Philip nodded and continued to eat his meal. She sighed, knowing that she would never have a chance with Philip.
After lunch, Theodosia thanked Eliza for the meal and lesson and told her she would return tomorrow. She headed home, holding a basket of the embroidery project she was currently working on. She threw herself on her bed, face down. She laid there for a few minutes, wondering why Alexander and her father had to have a rivalry. She knew that her father had tried to make amends with him, but he had refused. "Ms. Theodosia?" A servant peeped his head in the doorframe. "Yes?" She said, exasperated. "Ms. Motier de La Fayette is here to see you." Theodosia smiled. It was her best friend, Marie Antoinette Virginie Motier de La Fayette, or Mary, as she liked to call her. "Send her in."
The sound of squealing trailed up the stairs. "Theo!" She screamed, jumping on her bed. Theodosia covered the girl's mouth. "Hush! My father's working." Mary rolled her eyes. "Isn't he always working?" She asked, her thick french accent quite hard to understand. Theodosia had been around her long enough to be able to decipher the accent.
"Yes, but you know how he gets when someone disrupts him." Mary shivered. "That was the last time I'll ever tell him you were choking on a petit four." Theodosia giggled. "And besides, your father hates me!" She complained. Theodosia shook her head. "He doesn't hate you, he just strongly dislikes your father and anyone relate to him."
"Same thing!"
"Come on, let's go walk in the garden." Theodosia stood up, brushing her plain brown dress off. It looked so boring compared to Mary's elaborate gold and turquoise dress. "Why don't you ever dress more...fun?" Mary asked. "My father thinks that the plainer I look, the harder it will be for people to know I'm related to him."
Mary looked at her strangely. "Why wouldn't you want people to know you're the daughter of Aaron Burr?" Theodosia sighed. "I don't know, maybe they won't kidnap or murder me?" Mary giggled. "Overprotective much?"
"You don't know the half of it." The two girls walked through the garden together, talking about the newest gossip. They sat down at a small table. "Excuse me!" Mary waved over a maid. "Yes, ma'am?" She smiled at the girls. "Bring us the finest wine in the cabinet!" Mary demanded. Surprised at her friend, Theodosia covered her mouth and stifled a laugh. Theodosia brought her hands down and signaled for the maid to ignore the other girl. "Oh, right," Mary continued. "And don't tell Mr. Burr!" The maid nodded. "As you wish." She turned on her heel and hurried away. "Mary!" Theodosia's mouth dropped open. "What? I always have wine in the evening." She said.
"Since when?"
"Since forever! Have you never had wine before?" Theodosia shook her head. "Oh, you poor girl. Your father is horrible!" The maid returned with two glasses and a very expensive looking bottle of white wine. She poured the alcohol into the glasses and set the bottle next to them. She also set down a platter of petit fours. "Don't choke on these, Theo." Mary giggled, referring to their private inside joke. Theodosia rolled her eyes.
Mary took a sip of her wine, then suddenly widened her eyes. "So, I heard you visited the Hamiltons today." Theodosia gasped. "Who told you that?" Mary playfully shoved her arm. "Philip's little sister, Angelica did. She told me you took embroidery lessons from her mom and stayed for lunch." Theodosia nodded, sipping her wine. "But I know the real reason you went was to see Philip." Theodosia spit the wine out, spraying it all over her friend's gorgeous dress. "Theo! That was brand new!" She paused. "Actually, I never really liked the dress anyway." Theo was about to protest against her friend's earlier statement. when the maid came rushing towards them. "You have a visitor, Ms. Theodosia."
"Who?"
"Ms. Laurens."
"Frances!" Theodosia and Mary cried out at the same time. The maid chuckled. "I'll send her in." A few seconds later, Frances strolled into view, a grin on her face. "Hello!" She gave a hug to Theodosia and kissed Mary on the cheek. "So, what are we talking about?" She sat down next to them, grabbing a blackberry petit four. "How Theo's in love with Philip Hamilton." Theo slapped Mary's arm. "I am not!" Her two friends looked at her, matching smirks on their faces.
"I'm just infatuated."
