The Duke's Masked Wife

'So much for a peaceful day,' Alessandra thought.

"You look surprised, Duchess. Did you not know she was making an appearance in town these days or did you not know what she looked like? I thought the Collins family would have a big meeting to deal with this but then again, Priscilla isn't a Collins anymore so your family wouldn't care. She must be boiling-"

"Viscountess," Alessandra stopped Nadine before more of the nonsense flowing out of her mouth could be said. "The seats were assigned so I must remind you that you have stayed where you do not belong far too long. You should watch what you say about other women before you find yourself in a similar position years later. Karma skips no one."

Nadine rolled her eyes. "Always the fool. Everyone knows Priscilla did not care for you and yet you sit here defending her. Even more comical that you sit with the woman she wanted her son to marry. Your replacement isn't so far away."

Alessandra took a deep breath as she did not want to be the one to argue with a pregnant woman though Nadine would deserve it.

"You are out of line, Viscountess. Instead of questioning the Duchess about her family, you should be more concerned about your husband's late whereabouts in the red light district. Rumors have started to visit the stores I frequent for my bags," Heather said in defense of Alessandra.

"My husband would never," Nadine huffed, standing up to get away from the lies.

"If she can paint your husband to be a cheater when he is not, then I can do the same to her husband. I don't know the slightest thing about the Viscount," Heather shrugged her shoulders. She lied in the moment to help Alessandra.

"Thank you. You've been spending too much time with Eleanor. I don't have it in me to argue with a pregnant woman. I feel tired," Alessandra yawned. Her attention went from Edmund's former lover to her empty glass. The juice had worked at first but now it felt like it slowly wanted to come back up to make her vomit.

Alessandra picked up her glass of water to help with how uneasy she felt. Early in the morning, she didn't feel well but she did not want to remain at home when she already replied she would be in attendance today. 'Only a few hours,' she said as motivation.

"Are you alright?" Heather touched Alessandra's shoulder.

"Yes but I think I drank too much juice. I might have upset my stomach by drinking water," Alessandra covered her mouth. The water had not helped to settle her urge to throw up all the juice she had drunk. "I need to find a bathroom," she stood up as any minute she could let it all out.

"Would you like me to join you?" Heather asked.

"Yes," Alessandra replied but when she noticed the woman Nadine pointed out as Edmund's lover was standing near Priscilla's table, she changed her mind. "No, I will go with someone else. Priscilla!" Alessandra called to the other side of the room. "I am not feeling well. Can you please join me to go to the bathroom?"

Confused was an understatement to Priscilla. She was already trying to deal with Edmund's foolish whore trying to attend the same parties as her. Cassidy was acting like she needed to convince Priscilla to let Edmund go despite the fact they were divorced.

It was obvious Alessandra was trying to help Priscilla avoid speaking with Cassidy or being entertainment for the other women. Another day Priscilla might have remained in her seat but she stood up since she was not in the mood to hear Cassidy act as if they were friends.

'Why is she trying to help me?' Priscilla thought. She had not seen Edgar or Alessandra for weeks and here was Alessandra acting like some savior.

On the bright side, Alessandra and Priscilla leaving together would take the conversations away from Cassidy for a moment. The women would try to put together when Alessandra and Priscilla had formed a good relationship.

"I didn't need your help," Priscilla said when they were out of the room. "I've been doing a good job at avoiding her for two weeks."

"That doesn't change the fact you wanted to get away from her just now. You wouldn't have come with me if you did not. Where is the bathroom?" Alessandra asked a passing maid. Another minute of talking and she might throw up the juice where she stood now. After receiving the directions, Alessandra picked up her pace to find the bathroom quickly.

Priscilla followed behind, walking with her arms folded as she tried to figure out what was going on with Alessandra. "Do you honestly need to use the bathroom? I thought it was a fake excuse. I am not going to go inside a bathroom with you-"

"I need to vomit," Alessandra said, keeping her mouth covered with her right hand while the left grabbed as much of her dress as it could to help her run.

"Vomit?" Priscilla said in disbelief. Alessandra did start to look pale and kept covering her mouth like she wanted to vomit. Curious about something, Priscilla continued to follow Alessandra. "Well, this is a nice surprise," Priscilla closed the door of the room Alessandra ran into. She locked it to give them some privacy in case someone wanted to eavesdrop.

Priscilla scrunched up her nose, put off by the sound of Alessandra throwing up everything in her stomach. Priscilla found herself in an awkward situation as she didn't know if she should pat Alessandra's back or say comforting words. She wasn't the best person for situations like this. She was already afraid of Alessandra's vomit getting on her new shoes and dress.

"I must be crazy," Priscilla muttered, walking toward Alessandra who was slouched over the toilet. Priscilla hesitated at first but eventually, she pulled Alessandra's hair back. "You must be the crazy one to attend these gatherings when you are pregnant. When I had Edgar, I remained home and sat near a bathroom."

"What?" Alessandra looked up at Priscilla. Her head felt light and her forehead started to sweat profusely. Her stomach was better after she vomited but she was not done with vomiting yet. While trying to feel better, Priscilla mentioning her being pregnant surprised her.

"Don't tell me that you have not noticed a change in your body. You are pregnant. Why do you think you are here vomiting everything you have eaten?" Priscilla replied.

"I thought it was because I drank too much juice. My stomach feels uneasy," Alessandra softly spoke. She wanted nothing more than to lie on the floor right now.

"You thought wrong. That is how it starts. During the first few weeks with Edgar, I couldn't keep anything down. I stuck to water and a few fruits. I fired three cooks until I found the perfect one who brought me just what I liked. You need to see a doctor right now. The beginning of your pregnancy is dangerous and just to be sure, you need to be checked to see if you are pregnant. When was the last time you bled?" Priscilla asked.

"I cannot remember right now," Alessandra replied. She couldn't place a date but now that she thought about it, she hadn't bled for a while.  At first, she and Edgar paid attention to it but then they decided to not worry about it. Neither wanted to get excited but then face disappointment when she started to bleed.

"Get it all out first and then I will walk you to your carriage. If you vomit on my shoes, you will find yourself in the dungeon I just spent a fortune to build," Priscilla warned but she didn't mean it. She didn't want to pick a fight with Edgar again.