The Duke's Masked Wife

"I will take this out," Alessandra said, pointing at the bowl of water and a cloth stained with Alfred's blood. After sitting around watching the two men carefully clean Alfred trying not to hurt him any further and dressing his wound, she got tired of watching and wanted to make herself useful.

Before they could object, Alessandra picked up the bowl and started to walk to the door. It has been almost an hour now since Alfred was returned to them and each tick from the clock with the doctor still not present made Alessandra want to find a horse and drag the doctor here herself.

Alessandra twisted the doorknob and pushed the door out. As she expected, Sally was leaning against the wall on the opposite side with two other maids. "Has there been any word on Edgar?" She asked, catching their attention.

"Someone else went out to inform him that Alfred is here but they only stumbled across one group which your husband was not with. They had spread out in many groups to search for Alfred but it wouldn't be long before the Duke returned," Sally answered.

"What about the doctor?" Alessandra didn't see why he was not here yet.

"He is on his way. That is all I know as of right now. Do you need more warm water?" Sally asked,  taking the bowl from Alessandra's hands.

"Not right now. Most of the dried blood has been cleaned-"

"Where is he?" Edgar's voice was heard from the front door.

Alessandra was shocked by the tone of Edgar's voice. She had never heard him like this. It sounded like panic mixed with a lot of anger. "Stay out of his way but do not go too far for when you are needed," she advised the maids. Edgar was not in the best state of mind and it would only get worse once he saw Alfred's state.

Alessandra hurried to the front door before Edgar could turn the house upside down to find Alfred. "Edgar!" She called before he could go upstairs. "Alfred is here. Someone brought him on the back of a cart almost an hour ago. His wounds have been cleaned but we are awaiting a doctor."

Edgar tried to calm his anger as he stood before Alessandra. "Where is he?" he asked. Edgar needed to see Alfred with his own eyes to confirm that he was back.

"He is in the guest room on this floor," she replied

Edgar walked ahead of Alessandra, quickly going to the room with the door still open after Alessandra had walked out.

Clyde and Andre stopped what they were doing and stood up straight now that they were in the presence of Edgar.

Edgar slowly approached Alfred laying on the bed with his closed and his arm bandaged up. He clenched his fist as the anger came over him once again. He looked away from Alfred moment to the two men who had taken care of him. "Thank you. The two of you can rest now," he said.

"Yes, Duke."

Alessandra offered them a smile as they asked her to leave the room. They had done a good job at taking her mind off of Alfred's state. She waited until the click of the door closing was heard then walked to Edgar's side and placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him.

"Who brought him here?" Edgar asked as needed every detail to solve the mystery of who the hell did this.

"A man I have never seen brought him on the back of a cart. He might be a farmer. I told him to return tomorrow morning to be rewarded for bringing Alfred to us and for any information he knows," Alessandra replied.

"Timothy died," Edgar revealed their loss. "We found him almost covered in snow with a wound at his side."

Alessandra stared at Edgar in shock, trying to process the loss of the man she saw many times. "I," she began but couldn't continue. She had been at the door this morning when Alfred and Sally left. Right at the front of the carriage, Timothy had titled his hat which was his way of greeting her without speaking.

Her eyes fluttered as tears threatened to fall. It was painful to think of someone who had been alive and well hours ago but now they were gone. She tried to keep herself composed for Edgar who had to bear the loss of Timothy and worry about Alfred's recovery.

"I am going to have fun torturing everyone involved in this," Edgar chuckled, gripping a handful of the bed sheets as he imagined breaking their necks.

"Do you have any suspicion who it might be?"

"There are only a few people cowardly enough to attack Alfred to hurt me and even fewer who personally hate him. Alfred might know who attacked them. I will focus on that tomorrow morning. Right now, I need him to open his eyes. I will break every last one of those plates you cherish unless you wake up," Edgar taunted Alfred as a way to wake him up.

Alfred would always pop up when there were threats of his special plates being broken.

"Alessandra is pregnant," Edgar used another tactic. He would pay any amount to have Alfred dramatically react to his words. "You better wake up. I will drag you up from down there if I need to."

'Down?' Alessandra thought, looking at Edgar like he was crazy. Why on earth did he think Alfred was going to hell when he died? She didn't know much about Alfred's past to know what dirty secrets he had but she didn't think he belonged in hell and if he did, wasn't Edgar's guardian enough punishment?

A knock at the door interrupted Alessandra's thoughts.

"I will see who it is," she said to let Edgar stay by Alfred's side.

When she opened the door there was a short man with a head full of gray hair and a scrawny boy behind him holding a bag.

"Hello, Duchess. My name is Robert Williams and this is my helper Davis. I am the doctor you called for. My apologies for being late. We were dealing with someone else when you called. May I?" Robert asked for permission to enter.

Robert prayed his lateness had not offended the Duke known to have a temper. He could never leave one patient for another because of a greater title.

"Do whatever you must to make him better," said Edgar.

"We will. I must ask that you and your wife exit the room."

Edgar had no intention of leaving. "No-"

"Edgar!" Alessandra stopped him. "We will only get in the way or distract them if we stay in the room. You need to rest Edgar. You've been out for many hours in the cold. Please."

"The moment something seems to be going wrong, call for me or I shall have your head," Edgar gave a warning before leaving the room.

Alessandra followed Edgar out of the room and left the door open so the maids standing outside could keep an eye on the doctor and bring him anything he needed. "Sally, please get something warm for Edgar and all the men who were searching for Alfred to drink and eat. Get more maids to help you please."

"Yes, Duchess."

Alessandra grabbed a handful of her dress and lifted it to go after Edgar who was going to the second floor. "Edgar!" She called after him but he did not stop.

When Alessandra reached the top of the stairs, she flinched as a painting that was once on the wall in the hallway was thrown onto the floor. It had caught her by surprise. She didn't move another inch when Edgar pulled another from the wall and smashed it against the floor. Edgar needed to take his anger and frustration out on something.