The Duke's Masked Wife

The next day, Alessandra walked slowly downstairs, a yawn escaping her lips as she was still tired. Unlike the day before, the house was back to having servants roaming around.  She looked at the large clock as she reached the first floor and found out that it was nearing noon. She had missed breakfast with Edgar who was out of bed by the time she woke up. Of course, he would be perfectly fine the next day.

"Duchess!" Sally called, running to Alessandra from the direction of the dining room. "I was coming to check on you. I would have helped you get dressed if I knew you were awake. The Duke ordered me to keep checking on you."

"I wasn't in need of assistance this morning," Alessandra said as she would have died of embarrassment if Sally saw the marks covering her body. She had to wear a dress to cover her neck and even her arms. "What time did you return?"

"The time you normally get dressed. I came a little later with Caleb than the other servants," Sally replied.

"I see. Do you know where Edgar is? Has he left home?" Alessandra asked, hoping he was still around.

"He was in the dining room last time I saw him.  The dining table was getting changed. It must have been fun for the two of you to be here alone," Sally said, knowing why the table suddenly had to be changed. Caleb wasn't quiet with his thoughts on why he thought it had to be changed.

"It was good for it to be just the two of us. Oh, there he is. Excuse me a moment Sally," Alessandra said. She walked toward Edgar who quickly noticed her presence. "Good morning," she greeted him.

"Good morning. I didn't expect to see you out of bed so soon. Have you rested enough?" He asked as he inspected her appearance. It was amusing to see how she had covered up herself. He didn't bother to hide where she had kissed his skin.

"I have rested enough. You haven't opened the rest of your gifts without me, right? And you hid what I drew for you right?" Alessandra asked, fearing the servants might have seen it if Edgar was not quick to move it.

"I have not opened anything else and I moved it last night. This I did open last night and I have already responded to it for you," Edgar said, holding out a letter to her.

Alessandra took the letter which had the seal of the palace on it. After she read the full letter, she said, "My grandmother is in town and wants to meet today. What did you reply?"

"You would like to meet with her. You have anticipated their arrival but I am curious why there is only mention of your grandmother. The court would have informed you if your grandfather passed," Edgar said.

"Well it was a sudden request for them to disrupt their daily lives and come to speak with me," Alessandra replied, nervously playing with her fingers. It was nearing time for her to see what kind of people her mother's parents were. She might also receive some answers about her mother's disappearance. "Where will I be meeting her?"

"Here so you do not have to travel. You must be sore from all that happened yesterday so I thought it was best you stayed at home and if you need me, I will come to you. I am going to give the two of you some privacy to speak with each other in the waiting room. She should be here in two hours. What is wrong? Do you want me to be present?" Edgar asked after he noticed her expression.

"No, I think it is best that I am alone with her. Your presence might scare her. I am just thinking of what will come. If I will be able to move past her absence and have a relationship with her or if I have another relative to add to the list of people I should avoid. I am nervous about the person she is and what I might find out about my mother. I won't think about it until she arrives," Alessandra shook her head to get rid of her worries for now.

"Hazel will be returning to Lockwood this evening to stay with us. Think about that instead-"

"Really?"Alessandra exclaimed, looking forward to having Hazel as a guest. "I need to make sure her room is perfect before she arrives. Your grandmother is supposed to have dinner with us tonight to celebrate your birthday. I need to start changing around the house to please her. I think I should just change the furniture whenever she visits us in town. It is a waste of money to keep buying new furniture because everyone else does it."

Edgar thought of his mother's words about his grandmother wanting to turn Alessandra into the perfect Duchess. She had already given Alessandra a list of things she needed to do as his wife which he hadn't found necessary. From day one, he wanted Alessandra to do things her way and live life carefree because of what she endured in her father's house.

Edgar planned to keep an eye on the things Rose wanted Alessandra to do. He loved his grandmother but he knew how demanding she could be when it came to the family name.

It was true Alessandra wasn't the type of woman to marry into their family. The last time a male relative married far below his status, he was excluded from family dinners and parties.  Edgar still saw him from time to time and the man appeared to be happy.

Edgar took hold of her hand and twisted the ring on her finger. "Do as you want. If changing furniture or meeting with other wives does not interest you, you do not need to do it to please my grandmother. As for the servants, even though Alfred is fired we won't be able to stop him from overseeing matters concerning them."

There was nothing about Alessandra he was going to let anyone change even if it was his grandmother. He didn't mind anyone helping her to handle her life as the Duchess better but that was where it should stop.

"Okay but I still want to be helpful to you. You earn the money so the very least I can do is take care of the household. I need to meet with Erin again to go over our plans for a business together. I am going to have breakfast and prepare Hazel's room until my grandmother arrives. We should also gather the servants and let them see you open their gifts. I will see you later," she tiptoed to kiss him goodbye.

Alessandra stepped out of his hold before he could try getting more than a simple kiss. After the amount of time they spent tangled up in each other yesterday, he still looked at her as if they had not been together for days.

"Goodbye," Alessandra hurried away before anything more could happen. She would not be swayed by his charms after she had given all of her yesterday. Her cheeks turned red and she bit her lips as memories of what happened yesterday came back. Alessandra walked in the opposite direction of the dining room as she was not ready to face there yet.

"You keep forgetting that I enjoy a good chase," Edgar reminded her.