The Duke's Masked Wife

Kate bit her lip to hold back from squealing as Simon placed the ring on her finger. She knew the ball would bring good news and now what she always wanted. Kate couldn't wait to rub this into the faces of those who were talking about her family recently.  Her status was about to soar and she would be surrounded by people who envied her.

'Marchioness Kate,' Kate repeated in her head. Nothing sounded better than the title that would go in front of her first name. She would be owed respect from her peers just from their engagement alone. 'I need to find my mother.'

"You don't have to hold back your excitement," Simon said as he wanted to enjoy her happiness before he would one day destroy it. He was savoring the moment more than Kate. It would be fun to look back on her expression now. He was looking forward to seeing how long she could remain happy.

Hopefully, Kate continued to prove why she was so special so he would not kill her. After all, Kate was the first young lady he thought of marrying and he was going through it. She would find herself tortured more than his other victims if she turned out to be flawed. The game was too entertaining for Kate to ruin it.

Simon touched her shoulder and could not look away from her slender neck he would break if she could not continue to put on a good show. He hated to be disappointed. "We should find your mother to tell her the good news," he said, removing his hand from so close to her neck before he could be tempted to strangle her here in the dark maze. "Should I make an escape before your friends find out? I can already hear them screaming."

Kate kept her eyes on the large ring as she walked with Simon to find her mother. None of her peers had a ring better than the one on her finger.  "I would have to search for Grace but I am not sure if Lila is here. I have not seen her for days. This is quite big," she commented on the size of the ring. It was big enough to make anyone else who received a ring tonight jealous.

"Really? Is she ill?" Simon asked. "Have you visited her?"

"No," Kate shook her head. Why was their engagement all about Lila now? "I don't know what happened to her. She's been silent since she announced her engagement."

"Perhaps she has buried herself in preparing for her wedding. I'm sure you will hear from her soon," Simon replied. He thought of running the ball by putting Lila's body in a nearby field but why ruin his engagement? He already ruined the last ball.

Lila's parents started to bore him with their silence. Why wasn't she reported missing yet so he could watch the town guards hopelessly try to find her? Did they not care for their daughter or did they think they could find her on their own?

Lila's death wasn't fun and maybe it was due to the fact she was not on his list. Simon was aiming for Grace but foolish Lila showed up randomly wanting to tell him what Kate was really like. He didn't appreciate Lila acting like more of a saint than Kate was. He had no reason to keep her alive long when she wasn't what he wanted. It was a headache to hide her trail so no one would know she came to his house in the middle of the night.

"Probably," Kate replied, not caring about Lila but she quickly realized how bad of a friend she was sounding. "I will visit her tomorrow to see how she is fairing and share the good news. I cannot wait for us to be married," Kate pulled Simon close as they reached where the crowd could see them. She wanted everyone to see how much of a happy couple they were.

Kate kept the ring in view so everyone could see she was now an engaged woman.  Kate subtly moved her hand around as much as she could to show off her ring. Her smile fell when she looked around and noticed that Alessandra was not paying attention to her like everyone else was.

Why wasn't Alessandra looking? The ring Simon gave to her was bigger than the one Edgar first presented to Alessandra. Alessandra should look to see who has the bigger ring now. Instead, Alessandra was busy laughing about something with Edgar, acting like she didn't care about anything around her.

It was frustrating for Kate but she forced a smile to not let Alessandra ruin the moment. It was soon time for the men and women to separate which would be when Kate paid for someone to make a move on Alessandra.

Kate was smart enough to send a servant to visit a place that did all sorts of jobs for the right price. Without knowing her name, the job to have a male servant in the palace have his way with the Duchess and then get away quickly was accepted. Soon, Alessandra's life would shatter.

Meanwhile, Alessandra tried her best not to laugh at Edgar's impersonation of what was happening among the couples in the garden. He kept making up sappy lines the men must have practiced to win the hearts of young ladies.

"I am sure they are speaking from their heart and that is all that matters. If I asked you to, would you give me a sappy romance line? It doesn't seem sappy when it is coming from the person you love. Was there ever something I said to you that made you cringe?" Alessandra asked, curious as sometimes things just slipped out when it came to Edgar.

"No. I love everything you say," Edgar replied.

"See that was sappy," Dominic said, feeling like throwing up the more he listened to the two. "Hey!" He exclaimed when Edgar pushed his head in the other direction. "Don't get mad at me that you have become one of the men you once shook your head at. You in love bastard."

"It is sweet to me," said Heather. She enjoyed the romance in the air from the married couples and newly engaged. Her heart went out to those she saw storming out of the garden in anger or their eyes full of tears as they did not get the ending they wanted.

"Enjoying the lovebirds?" Tobias asked as he approached the group with Hazel by his side and two lines of servants behind them. "I don't see why they make my birthday the time for others to get their heartbroken or engaged. Isn't this like someone wanting to get married at their friend's wedding? Stealing all of my attention."

"Happy birthday," said Alessandra, Heather, and Eleanor.

"Thank you. At least you're not rude like your partners who have not visited me once today or brought me a gift. I need to find new friends," Tobias said, looking at Dominic and Edgar.

"I'll help you look," Dominic offered. "Happy birthday. You act like you are not surrounded by a lot of people on your birthday so it is a waste of our time to see you before the ball. Hazel, I feel sorry for the attention-seeking husband you have to put up with."

"It's his birthday so I will put up with it today. Ladies, it is nearing time for us to go off on our own to have a chat while the men go off to drink with Tobias. I promise to keep an eye on her," Hazel said, knowing Edgar wouldn't trust leaving Alessandra alone with the women after what happened the last time she was here.

"What are we going to chat about?" Eleanor asked as it didn't seem like something she would enjoy. A room full of these women meant drama.

"It's mostly young women asking me for advice or trying to get into my circle. The three of you cannot leave me alone. Linda is having a hard time coming out to the ball because the things said about her grandfather are taking a toll on her. I need all of you in her absence and it would be fun to get away from the men," said Hazel.

"Hey! That is not something you say when your husband is around and it is his birthday," Tobias stated, pretending to be offended.

"Don't act like you are not excited to go off to have a drink with Edgar and all the other men. Follow me. I will take you to the room the ladies are starting to gather in. Don't get into any trouble," Hazel warned before giving Tobias a goodbye kiss on the cheek. She could already hear someone scolding her for being affectionate in the presence of so many people.

On a night full of love and fun, it couldn't hurt for their guests to see her kiss Tobias.

"It seems no one wants us to enjoy our time together. Don't drink too much Edgar. I want to have a dance with you when we return," Alessandra said, also giving him a kiss goodbye before she followed Hazel with Eleanor and Heather.

Unbeknownst to the group, someone was watching their interaction, waiting for the perfect moment to make their move.