Perhaps they could -- perhaps they couldn't. Something Hamilton has noticed, since he came back: things are more set than they used to be. The young, wild country has started to tame itself into a particular order. The order allows for possibility that Europe doesn't have, sure, but Alexander feels constrained.

"Eliza is a respectable woman with family connections," Alexander points out. "I'm a pregnant whore. No name. Very little money." More than he's portrayed to Burr, but -- "All I have is a mind. And no one but you will believe what my mind contains, or claim what my womb does."

For some reason, that sentence sends a sort of shiver of arousal through Alexander. It's always been a bit erotic for him, to think of Burr laying claim to such an intimate, hidden space. This isn't the only appeal, of course, but it appeals regardless.