The Duke's Masked Wife

"Finally," Alessandra muttered, slumping over to grab hold of the vanity desk before her.

With no one to aid her, she spent a painful amount of time trying to button up the dress Edgar sent. It was the worst time for him to send a dress with strings to be tied at the back rather than the front but Alessandra was not going to complain.

Though it was a task she could have left alone and called for someone to help her with, Alessandra was determined to do it alone. She was independent when it came to these things as she often had no choice.

"I don't have the energy to style my hair. Should I just do a ponytail? That sounds good," she gasped for air as the exercise from putting on the dress drained her energy. "I just need to sit on the bed for one second. Maybe laying down is better."

With trembling legs and sore arms, Alessandra slowly made her way to the large bed. Unfortunately, as her hand reached down to touch the bed there was a knock at the door.

"What good timing," Alessandra cried on the inside. She was so close to feeling relieved but the person at the door was yanking it away from her. "Please come in!" She called to the door.

"Good morning Duchess," Alfred entered the room with a wide smile which brightened up the room. "I hope you found the room to your liking and had a pleasant good night's rest. Is there something wrong?" He commented on the way she was positioned as if she was going to drive back into bed.

"No, I was going to rest for a minute. Good morning Alfred. If you like, you can call me Alessandra. Duchess is a title I must get used to slowly."

"I'm sure it is considering you two ran off and got married in the middle of the night without inviting anyone important like me for example. It's not like I could not be there before the priest could start but I am not holding unto it. Let us start your tour before breakfast starts. Follow me.," Alfred swung around, leaving the room with his head high and hands behind his back.

Alessandra felt as if she owed Alfred an apology although she did not know him well enough to be sorry he wasn't given an invitation. It wasn't like she had planned to get married in the middle of the night.

"Hurry along," Alfred clapped his hands to get her moving. "We have a lot to cover before breakfast."

"Coming!" Alessandra hurried after Alfred. She was eager to get a better look at Edgar's estate.

"Breakfast normally starts early in the morning before most of the town is awake but Edgar has instructed it be started at nine to suit you. Edgar is either in his private room or left home by this time. Right next to the bedroom you share with Edgar is one of the smaller libraries," Alfred opened the door for Alessandra to inspect the room. "Only a handful of servants are to enter the libraries as we have a vast collection of books we do not want to be damaged."

"You call this a small library?" Alessandra questioned as the room was nowhere near small. How could this one library be bigger than her old bedroom but Alfred refer to it as small?

"When you see the bigger one you will understand. Edgar enjoys reading books to pass his time and if he is attempting to hide from anyone you might find him in a library. As Duchess, you are free to visit the libraries as you like but refrain from bringing too many people along with you," said Alfred.

"I won't be having visitors in the library any time soon. I have to start making genuine friends but I fear it would a lot of time to do so. I have to weed out the people approaching me only to get close to Edgar or those who might look to embarrass me. Thanks to the ridiculous rumors about me being cursed, everyone is afraid of me."

Alfred snuck a quick glance at the mask Alessandra wore to cover half of her face. He was curious about the circumstance leading her to wear a mask when she was around others. "Do you have any idea where the rumor started?"

"I first heard my sister joking around with her friends about it. I wasn't aware of how much it spread around town until one day my father returned home enraged by what was being said. He got drunk and banged on my door all night asking me to disappear," Alessandra had a vivid memory of the terrifying night.

"My father most likely forgot about what he said the next morning as he never apologized for his drunken words or maybe he did not feel the need to apologize to a burden. That is why I do not have an ounce of remorse that he is gone. He can rot in hell forever. Pretty flowers," Alessandra caressed the dried-up petals of a flower in the library.

"I added those to bring life to the library but they have been forgotten here. Thank goodness you found them and not Edgar. He would laugh at me for not being perfect. Allow me," Alfred took the flower from where it was in a pot and moved it to the window. "I will have someone replace it."

"I'm afraid Edgar is already laughing at you not being perfect," Alessandra recalled the conversation he had with her about Jennifer. "Someone working for his mother tended to me this morning.  I said I would deal with it."

"My apologies if she offended you. I keep telling Edgar there is no possible way to get rid of the spies his mother plants in his home. She is determined to know every possible detail about her son. It honestly gives me a headache," Alfred rubbed his temple. "That is why I quit working for her and worked for Edgar instead."

"What are his mother and father like? I have never seen or heard anything about them," Alessandra was curious about the people who created Edgar. Were they just as devious as Edgar or did something go wrong with him in his youth?

"His parents are like night and day when it comes to their personalities. His father, Edmund Collins, prefers a quiet life which was why as soon as Edgar came of age, Edmund dumped Edgar with all the responsibilities of this land and left the town to live in the countryside. You should learn about all the great things he has done for the kingdom before he arrives. There are books in the libraries to help. You and Edmund will get along fine."

"And his mother?" Alessandra was more concerned about Edgar's mother. "Will I get along with her?"

"Um…" Alfred cleared his throat. He did not want to give Alessandra any false hope but he also did not want to scare Alessandra before she even met Priscilla. "The two of you will get along at some point. Priscilla was heavily invested in getting Edgar married these last few years. She had a list of young women she believed to be ideal for Edgar and well…"

"I am nothing like the women on that list," Alessandra finished the sentence for Alfred. "I take it she won't be pleased Edgar ran off in the middle of the night and married someone like me. If she has heard the rumors, she must be afraid of me too."