ceiswyn

...or, y'know, just really satisfied with the last chapter I wrote. One of those.

The scene I was looking forwards to has turned out to be just as much fun as I expected it to be, and as a bonus I got to include hints of Hamilton's underlying cynicism, reminders that Ham and Burr were both socially adept and manipulative just in different ways, and the extent to which Enlightenment ideals and philosophers were embedded in discourse among men of their social stratum.

And then the follow-up scene was a bit dull and unsatisfactory, until I added a final couple of paragraphs of Burr after Hamilton's departure, which somehow did A MILLION THINGS at once:

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When the door closed behind him, the room seemed suddenly still and empty. Burr sighed and walked across to lay himself down on the couch, rubbing his temples again. He could not imagine he was going to get any sleep tonight.

Alors. He remembered he had recently been delivered the latest work by an authoress who was said to display a “depravity of morals” and lack any “female delicacy”; usually signs that she invested her female characters with more decision and ambiguity than readers liked to credit in their sex. He had feared it might be some time before he had an opportunity to read it.

After a short search, he found the book shoved in among a set of French plays. Now, where the devil might Peggy have put his cigar-case?

If Bayard was surprised to find his client asleep with a book open on his breast when he arrived, well after daylight; or to receive terse instructions regarding a counter to Dunbaugh's testimony, having previously been told it was irrelevant; he very wisely said nothing.
---

- Burr's moving straight from breaking down with grief to reading a romantic novel is absolutely typical Burr, and highlights how much he refused to connect with his negative emotions.
- A reminder of how feminist Burr was, and simultaneously how much of a libertine. Historically he did deliberately seek out books by female writers, and he was woke enough (at least when it came to feminism) to conduct that sort of analysis of his peers' reactions. I even figured out which specific book he'd be reading, because Wikipedia is very useful for that kind of detail!
- The book shoved in amongst a set of French plays: this is kind of peak Burr. He was highly educated with an analytical mind and love of serious literature; he was also often careless and untidy.
- Burr falling asleep on the sofa after being certain he wouldn't sleep is also absolutely typical. When it comes to 'know thyself', he didn't.
- And Bayard's changed instructions are, obviously to the reader, due to Hamilton's influence in the previous scene. This has turned into quite a Burrite fic (I find him much easier to write) and I really needed to emphasise that Hamilton is having a significant effect on events.

I'm so happy with this entire thing I can't even tell you. And I managed to sneak in a female character at the chapter start, which believe me is NOT EASY when writing a serious counterfactual about nineteenth century politics...