The Duke's Masked Wife

"Here," Edgar offered Alessandra his fork with a piece of everything for her to try.

"We have the same food on our plates, Edgar. I do not need for you to offer me anything from your plate," Alessandra said then placed her own fork with food in her mouth.

"The food will taste better coming from my fork. Let me test it out. Offer me some of your food," he placed his fork down.

"I am not feeding you, Edgar. It will taste the same."

"Hmm. I've seen other couples do this a lot. I've been forced to listen to their cringy tales and now it is my turn to experience it. You have food on your face," Edgar looked for a napkin to wipe it away for her.

"Which side?"

"Here," Edgar wiped the side of her mouth. "I've seen couples wipe food from their partner's mouth and then eat it. Never expect that from me."

Alessandra didn't find that to be heartwarming as it most likely was to actual couples. "I would never want you to do that Edgar. Thank you," she took the napkin from him after he wiped her mouth. "Why are you suddenly interested in what other couples do? Is it because of what you said last night?"

"Partially. It has to do with what you said about never getting married. I will swallow my pride and let you experience what other young women enjoy when it comes to romance.  When I have free time, I will do what I can to make sure you enjoy this marriage. I am also trying to cheer you up after the people you ran into at the ball spoiled the night even though you don't want to admit it," said Edgar.

"Thank you but I do not want you to act out of character by doing things you've seen other couples do. It is freaking me out. I'm already enjoying my marriage, Edgar. I'm getting to do a lot of things I have always dreamt about so please," she placed her hand over his own. "Do not try making us do cringy things."

She felt something warm in her chest seeing Edgar make an effort to act like a husband would when he truly did not need to. Alessandra never thought mentioning she never expected herself to get married would lead to Edgar doing this.

"That's a relief," Edgar sat back in his chair. "But I am still interested in feeding each other. Feed me, Alessandra. Just once."

Alessandra sighed, giving in to his wishes. "Only once Edgar. It will not become a usual occurrence." She placed the scrambled eggs on her fork and offered them to Edgar.

"We will see if that remains the same tomorrow morning. Your husband is a man who always gets what he wants," he opened his mouth and happily ate the eggs from her fork. "I have to agree that there is a slight difference in the taste."

"I disagree and no, I do not want to test it out. I am finished," she placed her fork down on her almost empty plate and stood up. "I will start organizing everything we need to paint with."

"I will come along with you," Edgar stood up from his seat. "I am eager to witness your love for painting. I must warn you that I have never painted a day in my life. I never saw it to be interesting."

"Why not? How can it not be fun to see something wonderful and then try to recreate it or add to its beauty with your imagination? If not for painting I would have been bored out of my mind. It is the one thing I have to be thankful to my father for. He gave me the paint and canvas even though the Baroness was against it. I do know he only gave it to me so that I would have something to make me stay in my room.

Alessandra continued to say, "That was how I came to see you the day after the party. I told him I wanted to go around the city in the carriage to find new things to paint. I was not supposed to get out."

"Clever girl. Had he stopped you from leaving that day you would not have been here right now. I certainly would not have gone looking for you that day. Your determination to get here is what convinced me. The Baron was not a step ahead of you as he thought. The Baroness is preparing for his funeral. Are you sure you do not want to attend?" Edgar would not judge if she wanted to. Good or bad, Desmond was still her father.

"Yes, I have already come to terms with his death and it wouldn't be right for me to attend his funeral after I have not contributed to the cost. I do not want to be anywhere near Katrina and Kate. They will put on a show at his funeral just like they did at the ball if I  were to attend. I have a feeling my father is screaming at me for allowing you to end him so soon."

"The Baroness must be on top of the world because she will now take care of the household and everything else the Baron owned but as the funeral draws near a problem she was not expecting will arise," Edgar grinned, wishing to be a fly on the wall to witness it.

"What?" Alessandra looked to Edgar for an explanation.

"Your father's family will gather in one place looking to see what they can gain from your father's death. Do you truly believe they will sit still and let Katrina own everything your father left behind? They won't help her with the debt but they will certainly take valuable things off her hands." Edgar heard many stories of this happening and witnessed it once before.

"That is a horrible thing to do to someone who lost a loved one."

"I will make sure you never have to go through something like that. I have two plans. One, I try my best to die after you," Edgar said and held back from smiling when Alessandra frowned. "Two, I simply document that only you and our children can touch what I own after I have passed."

"Why couldn't the latter be the only option?" Alessandra sighed.