The Duke's Masked Wife

Alessandra was the first to wake up while Edgar continued to sleep after a long day out yesterday. It was one of the rare times she got to see Edgar sleep. His guards were down here as he slept with his arm wrapped around her waist.

To get out of bed now meant she would have to pry his hand off of her and wake him up. Alessandra wanted Edgar to get as much rest as possible since the town will be chaotic today because of news about Simon. She could stay in a bed a bit longer for Edgar to get the rest he needed.

Alessandra hoped that after all of this blew over there would be nothing to disrupt her and Edgar's life. Well, nothing aside from her mother. Alessandra didn't get the chance to tell Edgar about her mother sending a letter to join her for dinner because her husband and son were in town.

Alessandra now believed there had to be something wrong with her mother's head for an invitation to be sent when Alessandra had made it clear she wanted to move on from getting to know her mother. Alessandra wouldn't mind meeting with Claire and Melody again, but there was no chance for her to attend this dinner with her mother.

"Edgar, are you awake?" Alessandra narrowed her eyes at the man she thought to be asleep. She had a funny feeling that he was actually awake.  A tiny smile on his lips was all the confirmation she needed. "Why were you pretending to be asleep?"

"You would have gotten out of bed if I was," Edgar replied with his eyes still closed. "Stay in bed a little bit longer. We have to speak with others if we get out of bed."

"How are you so antisocial to even the people in your residence? I will stay in bed if it means you will rest. I want you to take the day off. You no longer have the case to deal with and you should not look at anything regarding your businesses or land. Just rest like you are now. I should bring us breakfast," Alessandra suggested so they could eat here instead of getting dressed to go downstairs for breakfast.

"Let one of the servants do it or Alfred must already be on it since we are late for breakfast. You are pregnant," Edgar said.

"Edgar, let's make a promise that you or anyone does not make me feel like I am not capable of doing something so small. When you were not home yesterday I lifted a-" Alessandra bit her tongue as she remembered she was not supposed to tell Edgar about that. Alfred nearly fainted when he walked in on her.

Edgar opened his eyes and looked down at Alessandra who innocently smiled. "Lifted what?" He asked. He made it quite clear that the servants would do whatever she needed. Lifting something was one of the tasks the servants should do for her. He promised to pay them a bonus if there were his second eyes and ears taking care of Alessandra.

Trouble loved Alessandra for some reason so Edgar was being extra careful with her.

"Nothing," Alessandra looked away from Edgar. She wanted to smack her face for having such a big mouth. The last person she should have mentioned this to was Edgar especially when she and Alfred made a promise to keep this a secret. "I think I have to go to the bathroom," she said, trying to sit up, but she felt Edgar pull at her dress to make her lay back down.

"Edgar, will you make your pregnant wife pee on the bed?" Alessandra asked, trying to guilt him into letting her go.

"I know your pee face. You don't need to go anywhere. What was it you were trying to lift?" Edgar asked, wanting to get to the bottom of this first. "I know you are capable of doing things on your own, but we were warned to be careful in the beginning. There are chances of you losing the babies."

"It was nothing heavy I promise. I was simply dragging the table in my room for painting to put it in a better spot. I lifted it a little bit and then Alfred walked into the room, screamed and I dropped the table. He truly is dramatic," Alessandra said as Alfred scared her to the point she peed a little. "Is that table going to disappear now?"

"Maybe," Edgar replied. He wouldn't put it past her to try lifting the table again when no one was watching. "I will get you one made of lighter wood, but that does not mean you should go around trying to lift it. This just tells me that neither Andre, Clyde, Ivy, nor Sally were keeping a good eye on you. Not even Alfred. He's gotten too old to be at the top of his game."

Alessandra wanted to say that Edgar's little panic group was in the room watching her and rushed to take the table from her, but Alfred had walked in and screamed before they reached her. "They were keeping a good eye- Hey!" Alessandra realized something. "I am not a child who needs watching. How would you like it if I assign a maid or guard to keep an eye on you? Every little thing you do, they are in the background repeating the word "careful."

"I wouldn't mind it," Edgar replied. Whoever she tried to send to watch him would only get scared and not say a word around him. Besides, Alfred was already like that with him.

"At this point, I am going to accept your mother's offer to spend a day with her so I can get away from all of you who worry too much," Alessandra said. "The only way you could keep an eye on me there is if you join me at your mother's home."

"No," Edgar replied as he had no reason to visit his mother's home. "It's not good for you to travel around right now. No, it is not because you are pregnant and I am overly worried about hurting yourself. There is something about your sister I need to confirm and until I do, it doesn't feel safe to let you leave home."

"That and the fact that if anyone sees my symbol on your carriage, they might be foolish enough to block your carriage to get answers about Simon. Stay home for the time being and let my mother come to you," said Edgar.

"You are calling her mother again," Alessandra noticed. She knew Priscilla would be delighted to hear him call her mother again, but Alessandra was going to wait for Edgar to take baby steps. Priscilla also knew she had to wait for Edgar to be comfortable.

"You can get out of bed now. You're boring," Edgar released Alessandra and rolled to the other side so he would not have to face her.

"I can't believe that is what you finally let me go for," Alessandra said in disbelief.  Had she known, she would have mentioned Priscilla long ago. "Now I know how useful it is to mention your mother in the future."