The Duke's Masked Wife

"Young master. Your mother is here" Alfred knocked on the door of Edgar's office.

"Send her away," Edgar replied as he was not in the mood to deal with his mother. He had little to no information on the person taking the young girls and after putting it on hold to spend time with Alessandra there was a lot to be done by the end of the day along with his other work.

"Is that how you greet your mother, Edgar?" Priscilla entered the room, ignoring Alfred advising her to come back another time. "I traveled for countless hours to be here for breakfast and this is how you treat me? I raised you to be better than this."

"You didn't raise me, mother. Alfred and the nannies you hired did. I am too busy to entertain anything you have to say. Alfred, please see her out," Edgar did not look up from his papers.

"You will do no such thing," Priscilla said to Alfred. "We have a lot to talk about Edgar. Do you care to explain why you could get married in the middle of the night to that woman?"

"No," Edgar bluntly replied. This was exactly why he suggested leaving to avoid the headaches his mother would cause.

"Good morning, Edgar," Heather made her presence known.

"Why did you bring her here, mother?" Edgar sighed, finally looking up at the two intruders.

"Why wouldn't I? Heather has been keeping me company so that I wouldn't lose my mind with boredom. Do you know how embarrassing it was for her to hear you have gotten married when I promised the two of you would get married to each other? Don't you care about her reputation?"

"That's why I told you to mind your business mother. I never entertained the idea of one day being with Heather. Even if I had not recently gotten married, there would be no chance for her. It is you who does not care about her reputation, mother. Please leave now that our conversation is over," Edgar put his paper to the side and stood up from his desk. He needed to find Alessandra to make sure she did not have a conversation with his mother.

"I am not leaving, Edgar. I convinced your father to stay until winter has passed and I wish to meet the woman who thinks she will continue to be a Duchess. I do not approve of her and you know it. Send her away and marry Heather instead," Priscilla proposed. It wasn't too late to end the short marriage and marry the right person. "What on earth compelled you to marry a woman with a disgusting face?"

"I should ask what made her marry a man with a mother who has a disgusting attitude. You have never seen her face to speak about it. I am warning you mother, do not speak ill of Alessandra to her face or I will deal with you and my father won't be able to stop me."

Heather found it hard to stand by and listen to Edgar threaten his mother for his new wife. She was right when she thought he had fallen in love. There was nothing to be done to put them together and it was time Priscilla realized it too.

Priscilla scoffed, unable to handle the way Edgar spoke to her. She was tempted to slap him for his words but refrained as she never struck her son and now was not the time to get on his bad side when she wanted him to listen to her. "Heather has always been the best choice to become Duchess. She has spent her entire life preparing but someone with a terrible reputation stole it. When will you view her as a woman?"

"Do you think I have been viewing her as a man this entire time? I have two good eyes thanks to the vegetables Alfred practically forced down my throat. I am a married man and I suggest you refrain from mentioning having an interest in Heather. Fish will fall from the sky the day I become interested in her. Leave," Edgar said specifically to Heather this time.

His mother was stubborn and would not leave without the help of his father but if Heather wished to not look like a fool, still expecting to be with a married man, she should leave now to truly save her reputation.

Priscilla grabbed Heather's hand so the young woman wouldn't consider leaving. "She is not going anywhere. I am currently her guardian so she goes where I go."

"Works for me since I want you to leave too. I am trying my hardest not to be rude to you, mother. I know how you are and I tolerate your behavior when it comes to me but I will not allow you to mistreat my wife. Accept the fact that I am married and leave," Edgar walked past his mother, heather, and Alfred to go out of the room to find Alessandra.

"I will ruin her," Priscilla confessed before Edgar could leave. "I will not have that cursed girl as my daughter-in-law. I will only accept Heather as your wife."

"If you try anything with Alessandra, you will lose your only child," Edgar replied, continuing to leave the room.

"You did this," Priscilla glared at Alfred. It angered her to hear her child say he was raised by the butler. She was very involved in his life, enough to spend countless years looking for the perfect wife to give her grandchildren. She showered Edgar with the finest things any child could desire but the credit for the man he became always went to the butler. "You turned him against me."

Alfred didn't reply to Priscilla's words. He had never talked ill of Priscilla to Edgar and he certainly did not turn Edgar against her. Priscilla had always underestimated how perceptive Edgar was and that he was capable of making his own judgment. He could not tell her these things because he was only the butler and he had no right to tell a mother about trying to understand her child rather than blame others.

Just like their interactions in the past, he had to stay quiet while Priscilla thought of how to get rid of him from Edgar's side.  Alfred hoped Priscilla would fail in trying to get rid of Alessandra.

"Are we leaving, Mrs. Collins?" Heather spoke up to break the suffocating tension between Priscilla and the butler.

"Have you not been paying attention?" Priscilla snapped at Heather. "We are not going anywhere until I see the woman who has possessed my son. Had I remained in Lockwood, I could have stopped this ridiculous union. We must follow after Edgar quickly."