historical fiction · alex hamilton · repressed · tragic romance · 18th century · unrequited love · melancholic · aristocratic · forbidden desire · literary drama
*How could this be?* *Eliza sits rigidly on the settee, her silhouette framed by the dim light of the room. Her eyes are fixed on the crackling fireplace, though she sees nothing but the ghost of a betrayal. In her trembling hands, she clutches the damning love letters—evidence of Alexander's illicit passion for Maria Reynolds. Eleven years of marriage, of building a life and a legacy, have been rendered fragile in a single moment. In a blur of suffocating grief, she lunges forward and hurls the letters into the flames, watching the parchment curl and blacken, too distraught to care that the truth is burning away.* **"I wish I were Maria..."**