The Duke's Masked Wife

Mark sat with his right leg comfortably placed over his left leg as he watched Alessandra and Edgar continue to talk.  His first impression of Alessandra was she was too quiet for someone like Edgar, but surprisingly, she was able to keep Edgar in line. Perhaps when he wanted Edgar to behave, he needed to come to Alessandra.

"Are you better now?" Mark asked when they entered the drawing room, ignoring the fact he had caused trouble between the two.

"You are sitting quite comfortably in someone's home," Edgar said, intentionally walking by Mark to brush his feet. He sat down beside Alessandra to face Mark.

"How grown up of you. Hopefully, you mature by the time your child arrives. I hope your children take after their mother.  I don't need another Duke or Duchess with your personality," said Mark.

"My personality is wonderful. It is just because you fools cannot keep up with me that you complain. I am creating another generation of smart people who will be far above their peers," Edgar smugly replied. No other children will be a match for his own. It might be quite hard for them to find partners to suit them.

'Why does it sound like he is creating an army?' Alessandra thought. She could admit she would love for their children to have his confidence. They needed it if they were going to live in this town.

"If you say so. Let's start with why I came here today. We've sent out a request for your mother to return to Lockwood. She cannot ignore it as there is a price to pay. We are giving her one week to return to Lockwood. She will be imprisoned if she tries to run away from us. Your mother needs to officially sign away her divorce from your father and be told about what happened to the inheritance. Since your husband kept secrets from you, here," Mark picked out the paper with information on Melanie and handed it to Alessandra.

Edgar tapped his fingers on his leg and smiled as he held back from responding to the jab Mark took at him. Mark was making use of his issue with Alessandra a moment ago but he was setting himself up for a battle he would not win.

"My mother has other children," Alessandra said, her shock evident from her tone. Not one child, but there were three her mother was raising. What made the other three better than her? Did her mother not care for her because of her father? Did her mother truly believe she would be better in her father's care so she forgot about her?

"The son is from her husband's previous union, but they share the two daughters," Edgar said. This was part of the reason he would have liked to prolong Alessandra learning about her mother's life.

Alessandra continued to read the information about her mother's life. Although she gave up waiting for her mother's return and didn't have any good feelings toward someone who abandoned her, it still hurt. It was a painful slap in the face to learn her mother had moved on to another life raising two girls and a son who did not share any blood with her. It was quite unfair.

Was she supposed to not hold any negative feelings toward her mother because her mother might have assumed she would be better in her father's care and had no idea what life was like for her with Katrina or Kate?

Mark found the situation to be quite sad to witness a daughter learn that her mother was able to raise a child she did not share blood with while the blood daughter was left to be mistreated by her stepmother. Regardless of what Melanie faced with Desmond, there were enough years for her to return to see her daughter who was far past being of age.

"She truly let go of her old life," Alessandra released a dry laugh. This hurt her as much as it hurt for her father to ignore the things Kate and Katrina did.

"You don't have to meet with her when she-"

"No," Alessandra shook her head. Her mother should not continue to forget. It was time her mother sat face to face with the child she left behind. "I want to arrange a meeting with her the day she comes to town. Excuse me for a moment," she gave the papers back to Mark. "I want to be alone, Edgar," Alessandra said as she stood up. She needed to clear her mind alone and calm her emotions before continuing to speak with Mark.

"I'm a little surprised you didn't go out of your way to bring her mother here on your own terms. Why let the court handle it?" Mark asked when Alessandra left them alone.

"Isn't it your job to deal with these matters? Why should I do your job? I am already looking for a murderer which is your job along with the guards. Since you're so involved dealing with her family matters, you should take care of it," Edgar folded his arms, looking off in the direction Alessandra walked off to be alone.

"I personally think you don't want to piss off your mother-in-law in case there is a chance your wife makes amends with her," said Mark.

"I think we should both mind our personal business," Edgar replied.

"So, that means you won't mind your mother's business-"

"Do you want to die?" Edgar glared at Mark.

"Eventually, but not right now. Even though it took more than a month, you were quicker than the court was to find a woman who did not want to be found for years. I need your help," Mark handed a paper to Edgar. "There are only a handful of people in the court I trust who cannot be paid off. Corrupt men and women can get past the court with the right amount of money. You cause a lot of trouble, but you are trustworthy and there is no denying you are better than most of the other wealthy men in town. I want you to find everything you can about a man named Randall. Involved in the red light district."

Edgar quickly read through the one paper with little to no information about Randall. "My hands are already full. Why should I-"

"He might be the only link we have to Katrina's past. He showed up in Lockwood out of the blue and went straight to her. I have been keeping an eye on her and I know you must be too. Do you already know something about him?" Mark inquired. He didn't believe Edgar's don't care attitude about Randall.

"Of course, I am looking into him. I have not forgotten what those two women did to my wife," Edgar replied. He had not let Katrina and Kate off the hook even for a second. First, he was looking to find the past Katrina worked so hard to hide. "Leave it to me. I will send what I find out, but I cannot promise my mouth will remain shut."

"I didn't expect it to. Do as you wish, but know this, I want to punish Katrina or Kate for whatever they did to your wife through the court. One of the things I don't tolerate is abuse," Mark said as it was the reason he was sticking to this case.