Chapter 2 - living it up in the city

Both camps returned to their jobs with a high level of satisfaction. Hamilton and Knox boasted of their success to President Washington. They explained how they had set Betsy up in the city in a nice little place on Manhattan Island. They talked about how well she was integrating herself into New York society and how quickly she was taking a liking to all the city had to offer. They gave her fancy clothes and a deep pocket, letting her use the money for anything she might desire.

Jefferson and Randolph kept their operation more low-key, simply saying that they found a girl who would amaze them with her properness and poise by year's end.

Blinded by their desires to be proven right and gain the respect of Washington, both sides neglected the fact that they had forgotten to provide supervision for their little pet projects. Putting someone in a new situation with no direction on how to adapt to it is a recipe for disaster; something the four men would soon realize on their next holiday six months later, when they checked back in on their respective girls.

The big city had been very friendly to Betsy since she arrived. With Knox and Hamilton leaving her with a virtually endless supply of money, she had found ways to put it to good use. Where the two gentlemen had intended for her to use the coin to gain culture (attending plays, art shows, operas, etc.), she had taken to spending it all at the local taverns.

Betsy was not a girl of high class and did not feel welcome in the social circles that inhabited the ritzier parts of town, despite her expensive clothing and jewelry. She felt much more comfortable in the company of the common people (the dock workers, the meat packers, the bar wenches). So instead of listening to the newest musical offerings from Beethoven at the symphony, she spent every night drinking heavily and shoveling down food into her gullet while singing and dancing with sailors and thieves.

She became a recognizable face among the locals, being known for having a bottle of beer in one hand and a forkful of Sheppard's pie in the other. Dresses that required corsets quickly went by the wayside as her new lifestyle had resulted in the addition of several unintended pounds around her midsection.

As her looser dresses began to pinch around her widening hips and bulging stomach, she bought herself new clothes that let her fit in more with the common crowd. She stopped wearing her jewelry and started exchanging certain pieces for buckets of freshly caught oysters or crates filled with bottles of brandy, allowing her to indulge in her tastes in the comfort of her own home during the day, before heading out on the town after sunset.

When Hamilton and Knox finally stopped by to check on her, they were shocked by what they saw. Empty bottles of liquor and unwashed dishes littered the floors, tables, and countertops; looking like the place had gone uncleared for several weeks with a different party happening every night. The two walked around the building with their turnt-up noses, disgusted by what they had stumbled upon. Eventually making it the the bedroom through the swamp of beer-soaked carpet, they found a very different Betsy than they one they'd seen six months prior.

She was lying naked on top of the covers, flabby body fully exposed to her benefactors. Her magnificent breasts had grown even plumper, with a newfound sagginess brought on by the additional weight and lack of support, each topped off with a puffy pink nipple that seemed even puffier than before. Her stomach had grown round and soft, bulging out with the countless calories she had managed to slam down since arriving in the city, nearly as big as they remember their wives being when they were both heavy with child. Her red hair had gone frizzy, framing her now-cherub looking face, with her full cheeks and thickening jawline. Though her jaw was far from the only thing thickening on her body. Her thighs and arms looked doughier, swollen with excess pudge.

She was a far cry from the vision they had had in mind. A thin, yet shapely girl who oozed sophistication and class; not a chubby girl who oozed cheap whiskey and lamb chops. Something had to be done.

With both men being to proud to throw in the towel, they decided to find a way to fix the problem before Washington could find out they had failed. They decided to put the sloppy, plump woman on a diet. Though with both of them being busy with political matters and their own families for most of the time, they could not be expected to monitor her themselves. So Hamilton enlisted the help of war companion and fellow New York politician Aaron Burr for assistance. This decision would prove to do more harm than good for the Treasury and War Secretaries in the long run.