The Duke's Masked Wife

"I'm so sorry but you have to admit that was partially your fault," Alessandra stated as she inspected where she accidentally hit Edgar.

"You have to admit that you are intentionally wounding me, Alessandra. What do you need, grandmother? You've been married for many years. Surely you must know not to interrupt newlyweds when they are alone," said Edgar.

Alessandra pinched his hand, wishing she had hit him harder before.

"I liked to think I raised you well enough that you would not fool around with me present in the house and when we are meant to go out together," Rose replied but then remembered a situation in the past. "Well, there was that one time in your youth when you sneaked a young lady onto the property."

For the first time in his life, Edgar felt like kicking his grandmother out of his home. Alfred could join her too.

"Don't mind me. I'll talk to you later after you have gotten dressed, Edgar. See you soon dear," Rose said to Alessandra.

Alessandra remained silent while Rose left.

"Alessandra-"

"I don't care, Edgar. I don't care about who you have been with before you and I got married. I have a feeling she's trying to annoy you so I don't know if it is true like when it happened with Alfred. It is a joke I do not enjoy but I only care that I am the only woman in your life. That matters to me right now. You should get dressed. On your own," Alessandra added as she was not going to help him strip.

Alessandra was not bothered by what Rose said compared to what Alfred said because she disliked the idea of Edgar having another woman in the home they shared. A home where she laid her head at night and was uncomfortable thinking of another woman being there. Edgar being with a girl in his youth was normal. She heard the servants once discussing their teenage romances and how they had to sneak around at night to see each other.

If anything, she envied not experiencing a teenage romance. Something she could look back and cherish though it wouldn't mean she still loved that person.

"She's referring to a dare between Dominic and me. We both had to sneak a girl into my grandmother's home without getting caught, to play ridiculous games. Dominic claimed I would be the loser so naturally, I had to prove him wrong. We were both caught. Trust me, the last place I would look to have sex with someone would be in my grandmother's home. I had my own home so there was no reason to sneak around."

"When did you have your own home?" Alessandra asked for the sole purpose of getting an idea of the age Edgar first slept with someone.

"Sixteen but if you are trying to ask when I lost my virginity, I was seventeen. It was a girl I met at a party. We met a few times after that but then stopped after it was obvious nothing would come from it. I have not seen her since then.  Let's be clear, I am not a manwhore," Edgar stated as he needed it drilled into her head that he was not going around sleeping with many women.

"Are you the same man who frequents the red light district with the claim that you are reading a book? I've seen the libraries you have at home to know you were never in need of another location to read."

Edgar sighed and ran his right hand through his hair. Never would he have expected going to the red light district for information would get him in trouble one day. "I truly go there with a book to sit and listen to the drunken men blabber about the things they do or have witnessed. I frequent the same woman and have her sit on the bed to get some rest. I have not visited since our wedding so that your reputation would not be harmed."

Alessandra found his words to be believable because of the things she heard her father say when he was truly drunk. It was funny to picture Edgar sitting down in a room with a woman meant to have sex with him but he was writing down the things he heard. "As you have always been honest with me, I will believe you. Still, how many women have you been with?"

Edgar thought about it for a moment and then answered, "Five. I was normally sleeping with one person for some time as there was an understanding when only wanted to fulfill our sexual desires. Once feelings became involved, I moved on."

It was less than Alessandra thought but given how Edgar was easily annoyed with others, it was understandable that there would only be a handful of women he would consider sleeping with. "It's a bit unfair that you have slept with someone before me. Don't you think I should sleep with at least one man before you and I sleep together?" She joked.

"Go ahead," Edgar smiled.

Alessandra stared at Edgar in shock. She was expecting him to reply no to her joke. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," he calmly replied. Edgar picked up a strand of her hair and twirled it around his finger. "Pick someone and I shall bring them to you."

"Dead or alive?"

"Dead obviously," Edgar's smile widened but his eyes had a darkness in them. "I have no intentions of sharing you with anyone else. I can't change the fact that I have slept with women in the past but I intend to only bed you in the future. I expect the same from you. Any man who tries to get in the midst of us," he paused to pull a strand of her hair and enjoyed seeing her wince. "I shall wipe his existence from this world."

"I was only kidding. It's highly unlikely you would have any competition. Curse girl, remember?" Alessandra pointed at her mask. "Besides, I have no intentions of having feelings for anyone else."

"You'd be surprised by how many men in the future will realize you are a hidden treasure. Then I'd be forced to fill my dungeon up. Now, unless you are going to take up the offer to help me strip-Ha," Edgar chuckled because of the speed Alessandra turned and walked away to let him get dressed on his own. "It's only a matter of time."

"Not there isn't," Alessandra replied, sticking to being confident that she would never help him strip. "That man," she said and shook her head. There was no one in the world to compete with Edgar for her to consider being with someone else.

Alessandra was used to his personality by now and deep down she was starting to enjoy some of the times he would tease her but would take that to her grave.

Alessandra walked downstairs to be with the others to discuss what they plan to do in town and who was going in which carriage as they would most definitely need two. The first thing she saw as soon as she reached the bottom floor was Rose and Alfred in a corner having a serious conversation.

Alessandra figured there was something romantic going on between the two and decided to look for Sally to avoid interrupting their conversation. Alessandra went out the front door and found Sally sitting by herself waiting for everyone else. "Hi, Sally. Oh, you've gotten dressed up too," Alessandra commented on the light blue dress with pink ribbons Sally currently wore. It was different from her normal attire.

"I thought I should dress up to go around the town. It was one of my old dresses I got to keep while everything else was sold. I don't think it suits me anymore," Sally shyly placed a fallen strand of hair behind her ear. It had been a while since she got a chance to dress up.

"That is not true. It suits you. So much so that I think Caleb won't be able to properly protect me today," Alessandra said, bringing attention to the man standing by the carriages pretending like he was not looking at Sally.  "I think your singles club is slowly falling apart."

Sally looked out at the carriages where Caleb stood and when their eyes met, she turned away. "I have no intentions of leaving the singles club," said Sally.

"I see. I can hardly wait for the two of us to have fun today. Don't mind that Edgar's grandmother is here. Relax and enjoy yourself. We'll stick together today."

Sally would enjoy spending time with Alessandra but already knew the Duke would be glued to her. For some reason, he was buzzing around the Duchess more than normal since they came on the trip. "The Duke will wish to spend time with you."

"And I wish to avoid that man-"

"Why?" Edgar questioned.

Alessandra's heart rushed for a moment after being caught by him. It should be impossible for Edgar to have already changed his clothes but when she turned around, the only thing different about his clothes was his shirt. He had the same casual look as before. "Why did you only change your shirt?"

"What do you mean?" Edgar looked down at his clothes. "I also changed my shoes. If a certain someone had helped me stripped-"

"Edgar!" Alessandra exclaimed.

'Luckily, I am used to this,' Sally thought.