and mother, I could now return to you.”91 Yet in both of these letters, Hamilton was simply explaining why he would be unable to return quickly to his wife, not seeking her opinion or advice. Additionally, Hamilton does talk about Angelica to Eliza. He writes, “Angelica & her family are all well except that Mr. Church’s gout is not intirely gone.”92 In a different letter, Hamilton wrote, “I dined with Angelica today. […]My spirits were not very good—though every body tried to make my time pass pleasantly.”93 On other instances, when Eliza was with Angelica, Hamilton wrote, “Give my love to Angelica”94 and “remember me affectionately to her,”95 promising to “return full freighted with it for My dear Brunnettes,” Eliza and Angelica.96 Hendrickson’s interpretation of those letters, as well as the rest of their correspondence, is that Angelica and Hamilton had an affair. In addition to their overtly flirtatious letters, Hendrickson analyzes Hamilton’s ledger to further support this theory. When Angelica visited New York without her husband in 1789, they only paid for half of the trip. The other half was supplied by Hamilton.97 Hendrickson notes that Angelica’s ledger is unique since there are no credit entries and is more disorderly. Additionally, Angelica’s account is divided into two sections: “monies paid to yourself ” and “for you.”98 Hendrickson writes that those phrases “leap off the page to strike an auditor’s eye much the way the words ‘I love you’ tucked randomly into a logarithm table might strike an arithmetician’s.”99 Additionally, the account shows that Hamilton paid for Angelica’s lodging during the last month of her time; 91 Syrett, The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, vol. 25, July 1800 – April 1802, New York: Columbia University Press, 1977, 347. 92 Syrett, The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, vol. 21, April 1797 – July1798, New York: Columbia University Press, 1977, 496-497.
93 Syrett, vol. 21, 482-483.
95 Ibid., 296.
96 Ibid., 177.
97 Hendrickson, 555.
98 Ibid.
99 Ibid.
94 Ibid., 335.
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