He leans hard into Burr, and even just this physical presence comforts him indescribably. He is anchored to this place and this man, this child, and the past cannot take him. Not entirely.
"Men are cruel," he whispers. "All the family connections in the world cannot protect against that cruelty, though they are bulwarks and fortifications in defense."
Each little kiss is a blessing. Each touch soothes the broken places in his heart.
"He took everything, Aaron," Hamilton says, like a confession. "He was her husband, and entitled to her full estate. And if he had not thought that selling it was the greater cruelty, I would have lost our library, too. Thirty-four little books, and they were everything to me, with Jack. James, my brother." He shivers, at the memory. "We were taken in by a cousin, but he committed suicide, and expressly left his possessions to his mistress and children. So I lost James, then -- he apprenticed to a carpenter, and he did not look back. I was taken in as a servant by my mother's landlord -- something between a servant and a foster. It owes to my determination, alone, that I became a clerk, as I was desperately set on having an income of my own." A breath. "I was fourteen."
He pulls back, enough to clasp Burr's face, hold it in both of his hands. "Love, do you see now? Do you see what you showed me? Do you know what you gave me? The courage to build, and grow, and not just burn until I am extinguished."
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"Men are cruel," he whispers. "All the family connections in the world cannot protect against that cruelty, though they are bulwarks and fortifications in defense."
Each little kiss is a blessing. Each touch soothes the broken places in his heart.
"He took everything, Aaron," Hamilton says, like a confession. "He was her husband, and entitled to her full estate. And if he had not thought that selling it was the greater cruelty, I would have lost our library, too. Thirty-four little books, and they were everything to me, with Jack. James, my brother." He shivers, at the memory. "We were taken in by a cousin, but he committed suicide, and expressly left his possessions to his mistress and children. So I lost James, then -- he apprenticed to a carpenter, and he did not look back. I was taken in as a servant by my mother's landlord -- something between a servant and a foster. It owes to my determination, alone, that I became a clerk, as I was desperately set on having an income of my own." A breath. "I was fourteen."
He pulls back, enough to clasp Burr's face, hold it in both of his hands. "Love, do you see now? Do you see what you showed me? Do you know what you gave me? The courage to build, and grow, and not just burn until I am extinguished."