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In Eliza’s frail arms overflowed an immense bouquet of garden fresh roses, of the most vivid crimson color the young woman had ever set her gaze on- All of it wrapped into yellowish wrapping foil, neatly tied by a velvet ribbon of the same color as the flowers.
Eliza’s nose, buried deep inside the bouquet, plunged between playful roses, which persistently tickled her nose- She couldn’t help herself from routinely twitching it at the odd, yet amusing sensation, but if Eliza pulled her face away from the enormous bouquet a tad bit further than she was supposed to, the young woman was afraid she might fall backwards.
But, despite somewhat wishing to pull away because of the slight inconvenience, the scent of those roses, laying in her arms, as they let out a discreet frictional sound with each step she took, imbued her nostrils with the most heavenly of scents, and Eliza simply couldn’t get enough of it.
It reminded her of the familiar scent of the roses in the Schuylers’ garden, which Eliza would frequently visit with her two sisters during their short walks- But the roses inhabiting their garden had a scent far less delectable than the one those roses possessed.
But those roses Eliza held in hand- Their scent was indescribable, and it fascinated the young woman to an extent of complete awe- Eliza had never thought this possible.
The bouquet, far too wide for the poor woman to bare, hid the majority of her face, leaving only her wide, chocolate eyes revealed to others (Eliza attempted to clear the view in front of her, by lowering the bouquet), as she waddled down the halls of the Schuylers’ home, in search for her bedroom- A trail of crimson petals upon the beige marble floors, creating quite the visible contrast Eliza was unaware of.
Coincidently enough, when present at the end of the hallway, mere seconds before Eliza was about to take a turn to her right, her two sisters, which happened to stroll by, caught sight of Eliza, who was carrying a strikingly large bouquet of the most beautiful crimson roses the two girls had ever laid eyes on, but to see their sister struggling with such a wide gift made the far too short scene quite comical to watch.
Wide eyed, brows raised high, Peggy lightly titled her head to the side, in an attempt to catch a further glimpse into her older sister’s voyage across the hallway- Alas, it was far too late, but the young girl’s expression remained the same. Gaze glued on the corner, at the end of the hallway Peggy and Angelica just stoped by.
“Oh, red roses?” Peggy benignantly noted, her tone drenched in obvious curiosity- She wondered who those roses could come from. She hadn’t seen them minutes before, when they last saw their sister.
“From Alexander, surely,” Angelica hostilely made the most plausible assumption- Ever since Eliza and this Alexander Hamilton whom she had met at the Winter’s Ball began their courtship barely a few weeks ago, letters came by the Schuylers’ by the dozen each week, and overflowed their sister’s bedroom to such an extent that Eliza began to face difficulties as to where to store them all. But Eliza was blind to such an inconvenience, and progressively became dependent of this man’s letters, and would spend her days and nights reading them aloud to her sisters. Eliza truly was in love, there was no denying it.
Sure, letters were to be expected, Angelica thought, and despite the shock when it came to their significant number, it was certainly a pleasant surprise to note that perhaps her hypothesis surrounding his education was true, when it came to the eloquence of his letters whenever Eliza read it out to her and Peggy- Truly, Eliza did but disservice when she acclaimed those letters to be ‘heartwarming’, ‘beautiful’ and the like. They were so much more than that. They were brilliant.
But gifts? So soon into their courtship? It did seem like the most plausible response, but Angelica was beginning to lose understanding of time- It seemed as if barely a few days ago, her younger sister and Alexander met, and now he was sending her gifts? Angelica couldn’t help but wander how he was able to afford such an amount of roses, and of such quality. True, they were no costly jewelry like so many men bought for their beloved (Alexander would never be a let to afford such a luxury), but still, they weren’t sickly looking roses gathered on a sidewalk, either- The bouquet did not look low priced.
Now, letters were surely not about to be the only things Alexander was going to send Eliza from now on- Now, he was sending her roses, but soon, Angelica would begin to notice her younger sister receiving all sorts of gifts (and who knows, if the boy will make fortune, he’ll start sending out more expensive presents he would never be able to afford beforehand). Alexander was beginning to put more time and effort (and money) on Eliza- Their relationship was becoming more significant than Angelica thought it would become.
At the sudden realization of Alexander and Eliza’s growing love for each other. Angelica could only look at it all from afar, subtly envious of her sister, and regretting the now inability to put a halt to a relationship she could have prevented from happening.
But Angelica had to brush away those horrid thoughts- This was her younger sister she was so jealous off. No, she simply had to smile and be grateful that their relationship was still going on strong.
Those words, were subtlety wrapped in a thin layer of envy, but heavily coated by Angelica’s formal tone- Peggy, being far too young and naive to yet understand her sister’s troubles, was unable to pierce the surface of her sister’s tone of voice and decipher its real core.
Peggy seemed to reciprocate Eliza’s clear emotions to the gift from her beloved- Joyous, the young girl’s features brightened. She was unable to contain an almost infantile smile, as she cheerily remarked to her older sister, “She looks so happy...”
For a moment, her gaze set on Angelica, curious as to see if she felt the same way as her- But her sister’s expression remained the same from before. Lips crisped into the thinnest of lines, brows subtlety raised in slight apprehension, Angelica remained awfully still, as if someone had just casted on her a spell, forbidding her from any movement whatsoever- Just like that one novel character Peggy remembered Angelica telling her about.
The oldest sister rested her hands on her lower stomach- Her chest slowly rose with an unhurried sigh, as she replied simply, “Yes,” A hint of melancholy and slight regret buried beneath her tone. Angelica trailed off, and glanced back at her younger sister.
When their gazes met, Angelica’s features softened, her lips regained their natural state, and her brows lowered back into place- Her shoulders, much more tense a minute beforehand, loosened when she was met with her younger sister’s bright and cheerful expression.
Peggy truly always knew how to lift her spirits.
~~~~~~~~~•~~~~~~~~~
Plopping on her soft bed mattress, as Eliza made herself comfortable, slightly shifting from side to side, her gaze was unable to leave the immense bouquet of roses, still in her arms, which had began to slightly weaken her already frail arms, under its weigh- But that was but a slight inconvenience to the poor Eliza, who found herself speechless in front of such a gift.
Her first gift.
Her first gift from Alexander.
Truly, this fact sent her heart in a turmoil of emotions- Content, moved, excited, speechless... you name it.
The more Eliza stared down at the crimson roses, the larger her smile grew, and her cheeks, lightly tinted of a rosy hue, felt quite warm to her.
Raising her hand, Eliza let her fingers graze their soft petals- But with the mere tip of her fingers, because she was far too frightened to ruin this gorgeous gift, deemed too fragile to her concerned gaze.
Their appearance was such a drastic, yet pleasant change from the faint and pale colors of the roses in the Schuylers’ garden. They held an appearance far more dull and ill-looking, with the tip of their petals, subtlety dipped in a grayish tint- They were not watered enough. You could clearly tell, but Peggy always forgot to water the flowers whenever it was her turn to.
Between crimson roses, Eliza fell upon a small yellowish card- Her eyes grew wide. She had not taken notice of it until now.
Delicately, Eliza slid two fingers inside the bouquet, and took ahold of the card, that she pulled closer to her and turned to see its content.
Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of the familiar and elegant penmanship of her beloved Alexander- It was quite the short note, compared to most letters Eliza had received from him, but a pleasant surprise nonetheless. Eliza would never be able to get enough of Alexander’s letters, no matter how small.
Without a moment to waste, Eliza began to read the short note to herself:
My dearest Eliza,
To send roses- red roses, to be more specific, is considered a great gift for one’s lover (in the Marquis’ words), so I thought it to be suited to buy and send you roses on this day.
I hope, my love, that you will accept this gift, and may I hope to see it next time I pay you a visit (if you’ll allow me, that is).
Yours truly, Alexander Hamilton.
The note was far from elaborate, but the loving nicknames of ‘dearest’ and ‘my love’ were more than enough for Eliza to make it difficult to contain the progressively vivid hue of her cheeks, reaching the same color as the crimson roses, surely, by then, and her heart, sent in a car race, was beginning to melt itself, leaving Eliza in an indescribable state.
‘Oh, Alexander, of course I’ll allow you to pay me a visit, and of course I’ll accept this wonderful gift...’ Eliza told herself, subtly scolding Alexander for even thinking of such things.
Laying down on the bed, note rested against her chest, Eliza brought the flowers closer to her face. Engulfing the intoxicating scent of those crimson roses...
Her first gift. Her first gift from Alexander.
Crimson roses.