One Special Moment - Brenda Jackson [73]
She then smiled. “Is there some deep, dark family secret he conveniently left out?”
Mac laughed. “No, in fact it’s all true history, even though certain people living in these parts don’t want to admit it. But it’s all there on record.”
“What is?”
“Have you ever heard of Alexander Hamilton?”
Colby laughed. “Of course I’ve heard of Alexander Hamilton. I’m a teacher remember. And besides, history was my favorite subject in school. Alexander Hamilton was a prominent lawyer and statesman in the seventeen hundreds who went on to become the first Secretary of the Treasury under George Washington. He probably would have eventually become president one day if his duel with Aaron Burr had not ended his life.”
“Hey, Teach, you’re good,” Mac said smiling. There was something about the look he gave her that spoke of admiration.
“I love history. Now what about Alexander Hamilton?”
“Well, the way the story goes is that while visiting this area, a beautiful slave girl caught Alex’s eye and he approached her master about purchasing her. Not only did he buy her, but he purchased her parents, brothers and sisters. He brought them here, gave them their freedom, bought over a hundred thousand acres of land and built her a beautiful home.”
“Since she isn’t mentioned in the history books, I can only assume their relationship was rather discreet, especially since Hamilton was a married man,” Colby said, fascinated with Mac’s story.
Mac chuckled. “Some people claimed his wife knew all about Hamilton’s black mistress, but it didn’t bother her any. She had a grand place of her own in New York City where he officially lived. But from what I can tell, his heart was here with Lacey, and he came here every chance he got.”
“Lacey?”
“Yes, Lacey. And even though they weren’t legally married, Hamilton gave her his last name, and their ten sons were all Hamiltons.”
“Ten sons?”
“Yep. Ten sons.”
Colby shifted in her seat and turned around to face Mac when the car came to a stop at a traffic light. “Are you trying to tell me that Sterling is a descendant of Alexander Hamilton?”
Mac nodded. “And I bet of all the things you’ve ever read about Sterling in the newspapers and magazines, none of them ever mentioned his roots can be traced back to this country’s first Secretary of the Treasury.”
“How do you know so much about it?”
“Chandler Hamilton told me the entire story, and how later, after Alexander Hamilton died unexpectedly in that duel, people tried to take the land away from Lacey, but Alexander Hamilton was pretty smart. He had the land deeded to each of his ten sons. And he made sure it was put on file at a federal courthouse in Washington. The documents were signed by none other than his good friend, George Washington, who happened to be president at the time. So in all reality, this entire town belongs to the Hamiltons, descendants of Alexander and Lacey.”
“That’s amazing.”
“Yeah, I think so, too. Sterling loves it here and the people here love him. There’re other families living in these parts now, but everyone looks up to him as one of the few true Hamiltons. They’re all proud of him and are very protective of him. He’s a local boy who’s done well for himself, and he gives back to this community. He has a scholarship fund that will give any deserving child from Hamilton a free college education. He’s also the one responsible for having that new hospital built we passed a while ago.”
Colby shook her head. She thought about the good deeds he had done for her two students. Edward Stewart had once told her Sterling was the most decent man he knew, and at the time she thought he had been crazy to make such a claim. But that was before she had gotten to know the real Sterling Hamilton. That was before he had captured her heart.
“Well, here we are.”
Colby glanced around her. What she saw was absolutely breathtaking. She felt like a miniature person when she looked at the vast mountains surrounding them. Then she took a good look at Sterling’s home. The two-story