The Duke's Masked Wife

"I am paying him an arm and a leg to throw snowballs at my wife," Edgar rubbed his temple as he looked out his study window at Caleb running around with Alessandra and Sally, throwing snowballs. "I need to fire everyone," he concluded.

Meanwhile, on the outside, Alessandra happily ran around in the snow feeling like a child once again. As soon as breakfast was over, she grabbed a coat and convinced Sally to join her outside. Caleb came a little while after since he needed to guard her and ended up in the snowball fight.

"Hey!" Sally yelled after Caleb threw a snowball directly at her face. "Watch the face you giant."

Caleb tossed a freshly made snowball into the air, ready to throw it at Sally. "No can do. I can't control where it lands."

"Fine," Sally bent down and balled up a handful of snow.

Feeling left out of the fight Alessandra asked, "Why aren't you two throwing any at me? I want to be hit by one."

Sally and Caleb stopped their fight for a moment and gave each other a look. They both had spotted Edgar by the window and knew not to dare throw a snowball anywhere near Alessandra. If Edgar were to come downstairs to get back at them for hitting Alessandra, they both feared Edgar would use all of his strength to knock them out.

"You look too lovely to mess up your clothing with snow," Sally lied.

"What she said," Caleb pointed at Sally.

Alessandra looked up at the window where she had seen Edgar standing and noticed he was gone. "I should invite Edgar to play with us."

"No!" Sally and Caleb exclaimed at the same time.

Alessandra eyed the two with suspicion. "Why can't Edgar join us?"

"The Duke has to catch up on work he missed while he was away. We are only trying to save you from seeing the cranky side of Edgar," said Caleb.

Alessandra muttered, "But I have seen it many times. When is Edgar not cranky? A couple of minutes to let loose should not hurt him. I will bring him outside."

Sally and Caleb felt their souls live their bodies as they imagined Edgar throwing snowballs at them.

Alessandra paid no mind to the blood draining from their faces and went back inside to find Edgar. She shook the snow off of her body when she entered the door and felt relieved to feel the heat inside the house. She understood why Alfred would keep saying tea was the solution to everything. She would not mind one of his creations now.

"Where is Alfred-Oh," Alessandra backtracked and peeked into the dining room after she had just passed it. Plates stacked up on the table had caught her eye. "Why are so many plates on the table? Are we having guests?" Alessandra asked herself. She did not remember Edgar mentioning anything about it. "Maybe they are being cleaned but why were they brought to the dining table?"

Alessandra looked at the counter right next to the cabinet which had plates with all kinds of designs on them. The cabinet seemed to be perfectly fine and the counter there was clear so why did someone hassle themself and walk to the table instead of using the counter?

Alessandra picked up one of the plates to see what was so special about it for someone to have brought them over to the dining table. "They certainly are beautiful," she said as she ran her hands along the lines of the design created. "We have never eaten off of these."

Completely focused on the plate in her hand, Alessandra was not aware that there was someone in the dining room watching and now approaching her like a thief in the night. Trying their best not to let her realize they were right behind her until…

"Alessandra," Edgar placed a hand on her shoulder.

Surprised by his presence, Alessandra let out a scream and accidentally let the plate slip from her hands. She tried her best to catch it but in the end, the plate shattered against the marble floor.

"You gave me a fright," she placed her hand on her chest and took a deep breath. "It would have been nice for you to make your presence known. Now look what I have done," Alessandra pointed at the broken plate.

Edgar looked down at the worst possible thing Alessandra could have done. "You should start packing your bags or better yet just run away before Alfred finds out."

"What? Why?" Alessandra started to panic. She was now worried about the broken plate as it seemed to concern Alfred. As no one got hurt, she figured it could get cleaned up and she would go back outside but Alfred changed the story.

"Those are plates given to me by my grandmother and other relatives. Many of them are rare since the creator only makes a handful. Alfred took more of a liking to them so I let him do whatever wanted with them. He treats those damn plates like they are his children and doesn't let me eat off of them. Why did you kill one of Alfred's children, Alessandra?" Edgar grinned.

"I," Alessandra paused and looked back at the broken plate one more time. "You scared me. I didn't mean to drop it."

"Hmm. Well, good luck with Alfred," Edgar patted her shoulder and then tried to leave but Alessandra grabbed his shirt.

"You have to help me get rid of this before Alfred comes back here to put them up or do whatever."

"You do know that he can count right?" Edgar asked.

Alfred would most definitely count the plates before he put them back up in the cabinet to make sure no one stole one.

"I am not getting in his line of rage. It was nice knowing you," Edgar removed her grip on his shirt. This was one of the few times he wouldn't dare try teasing Alfred. You do not mess with Alfred's clean floors and his plates.

"That was your fault," Alessandra held onto his shirt again. "I wouldn't have dropped it if you didn't scare me. If they are so precious, why were they left alone on the table?"

"Because everyone knows to see the plates and leave them alone. How bold of you to pick up one. It won't be long before he returns so think about something quickly."

"I am going to bury it in the backyard and feign ignorance," Alessandra said. She stooped down to pick up bits and pieces of the plate.

Edgar couldn't judge the normally sweet and honest for wanting to lie when it came to avoiding Alfred's anger. "I will show you where to bury it. Watch your fingers," Edgar stooped down beside her to pick up the broken pieces.