The Duke's Masked Wife

"Erin, have you received any customers since the ball? I have been anxiously waiting to know. Did your mother comment on the dress?"

"I was hoping this wouldn't be brought up so soon but it's best to get it out of the way right?" Erin sighed as it was a rather devastating turn of events. "It seems that I have been blacklisted among certain young ladies. Those who frequent my mother's shop and would have been good customers because they come from families with money. It's annoying but I have to move on."

"Is it because I wore the dress, isn't it? I'm sorry," Alessandra apologized. Given how many people are wary of her, they should have expected this outcome. "You should have turned down my invitation today. We can still turn back now."

"Why on earth would I do that? Alessandra," Erin decided to use her first name since they were in a private setting. "It sucks but I am not going to go along with anyone's pettiness just to gain customers. I want customers who honestly love the dresses I make. I like seeing your face light up when I hand you a new dress. You honestly gave me the confidence to stay on this path and I would be a fool to turn my back on my first customer."

"Plus you are afraid of what the Duke might do," Sally said.

"Yes, a little bit of that too," Erin agreed with Sally. "I thought a lot about my future after discussing it with you and the Duke. I am young and have enough time to build up my business. I am positive I will soon find my own crowd of customers so do not worry about it. What you should be worried about is when I catch whoever the hell blacklisted me. I'll give them hell."

Contrary to Erin's words, Alessandra still felt awful about the situation. She was curious to know who was the one to blacklist Erin. She could think of two people but she had a feeling she made more enemies at the ball than she realized. It was hard to point fingers at anyone and it would do nothing for Erin.

"Erin, I don't know how but I will find a way for you to gain a lot of customers. Thank you for staying with me. I appreciate it more than you can-" Alessandra gasped when Erin lunged at her with a hug.

"You are beyond cute Duchess. You make me want to steal you away from your husband."

'Should I be protecting the Duchess from this woman? I won't allow anyone to steal her away from Edgar,' Caleb thought while he watched the two women laugh. They spent too long waiting for Edgar to have a serious relationship for him to lose his wife to a woman.

"That's enough," Sally shakingly stood up in the moving carriage to separate Alessandra and Erin.

"You're just jealous I can get closer to the Duchess than you can. Besides, no one has to worry about her running away with me when she has such eye candy as her husband. Forgive me for saying this Alessandra but your husband is to die for once you get past his personality. You are one lucky lady. Did you pass out the first time you saw him naked?" Erin placed one leg over the other and turned to face Alessandra.

Alessandra's exposed cheek quickly turned red. "That is not something I want to discuss with anyone. Please talk about something else."

"Come on. It's nothing to be shy about when it comes to your girl pals."

"Ahem," Caleb cleared his throat.

"And you're guard," Erin acknowledged his presence. "If there is anything you wish to know about my relationship I'll be happy to share."

"Have you slept with him?" Sally jumped at the chance to ask a question.

"Of course! Do you think I would spend so much time hiding him from my mother if I had not slept with him? Let's keep this a secret before the four of us," Erin placed her finger in front of her lips. "I don't need the entire town talking about me sleeping around before marriage."

"Why is it such a big deal for you women? I'm not shy when it comes to my sex life," Caleb said.

"Because our mothers and the wealthy men in our circle seem to like women who are pure, meanwhile those men are the biggest whores in the town. What a nice privilege it must be to stick your penis inside of countless women and still be sought after. I'll be honest, the reason why we ended up going all the way is because finally proposed to me last night," Erin boastfully revealed.

"You're engaged?!"Alessandra and Sally exclaimed at the same time.

"Yes. After the ball, I couldn't hold in my uncertainty about the future of our relationship so I visited his home. It was a long overdue conversation and it went well. He showed me the ring he had for a while now. He didn't want to propose because I had been the one asking to keep the relationship a secret. There's still a lot we have to talk about like moving in together before I break the news to my mother and she disowns me."

"Congratulations Erin. It's good to hear everything has worked out for the two of you," Alessandra congratulated Erin. It was nice to hear there was good news to overshadow Erin not having other customers.

"Congratulations! When will we learn the name of the lucky man who has charmed you?" Sally questioned as she was curious to know what type of man Erin would fall in love with.

"Better than telling you his name, I will introduce you to him soon after I've broken the news to my mother. After that, I will be able to walk around in public with him. I need to think of a way to secretly move all of my things from my mother's house to his house without it being suspicious. She's the type to burn everything instead of letting me take them," said Erin.

"You should do it when she's not home. I don't understand, you said this man has money so why wouldn't your mother accept him? What kind of man is she expecting you to marry?" Alessandra asked.

Alessandra understood mothers wanting their daughters to marry men with money so their future wouldn't be filled with hardship but shouldn't they want their daughters to be happy first and foremost?

"A Duke, Lord, or even the king. Fun fact, I was one of the girls sent to be chosen for queen but the king's eyes immediately went to Queen Hazel. Thank goodness. I do not belong in a castle where there are so many rules. Whew," Erin dramatically wiped nonexistent sweat from her forehead. "Oh, that's a good shop for you to get hats from. We've talked so much that I hardly noticed we're in town."

"You're right. I can't believe I get to walk around now. Time has changed now," Alessandra gazed out the window, happy with the turn her life took. It was not long ago she used to ride around in a carriage and wouldn't step foot outside. Now she was on a shopping trip with friends.

"What's your limit today?" Erin asked.

"Limit? Edgar did not mention anything about a limit. He just said to go out and have fun-"

"What?!" Erin exclaimed loud enough to catch the attention of the people passing by on the outside . "You mean to tell me you are free to buy whatever the hell you want today and you invited us along with you? Ladies and our one gentleman, let's make this a day we will never forget."