The Duke's Masked Wife

"I don't mean to pry, but have you heard from Erin?" Eleanor asked.

"No actually," Alessandra replied, now remembering what was happening with Erin. "She was meant to come and measure me for new dresses. I'll need her to start making dresses for when I start to grow, but she has not shown up. I have not been leaving home to be able to pay her a visit so I've sent her a letter. I don't see why she is avoiding me."

"Well, it is a pretty embarrassing situation she found herself in. She probably thinks you'll pity her. I'm certain I've heard that she and Dale are back together. Perhaps they will officially get married soon to end all the gossip. She took the spotlight off of Emma for a while," said Eleanor.

"I disagree with what she did, but I understand her feeling betrayed. With the way this town is, it would be hard for Oliver to explain why he did not want to marry her. I don't think it was needed to tell the entire town that he is fond of men," Alessandra said as people were harsh to those who liked others of the same gender.

"He's no longer captain of the guards. The other guards claim they are not comfortable around him. That he has made advances to them in the past. It is a whole load of lies. They should honestly just say they don't like that he is interested in men. All of his achievements are forgotten and he is no longer a guard. Now Emma is saying she didn't think this would happen. She only wanted to hurt him a little bit. Idiot," Eleanor muttered.

"At this rate, he will have to move out of town. Have you heard about his parents? Are they supporting him?" Alessandra asked though she knew there was a high chance Oliver would be abandoned by his parents.

"His father was quite cruel to him. Disowned him right away. You are right that he will have to move out of town and start over where no one knows about this. It's funny to me how all these men all of a sudden have a problem with him, but there are so many parties in the kingdom where men get together to have fun with each other. You'll be surprised who," Eleanor said, smiling as she thought of the names in her head.

"I don't want to know who. I think that sort of thing should be kept private, but at the same time, those indulging in it should not be pointing fingers at Oliver. I didn't have good run-ins with him, but I hope he will find a place where he belongs and no one judges him. If he had stopped being so angry with Edgar, he might have been able to find work with Edgar's help-"

"Why do you two have Sally asking about my mother? She's not the best person to ask to be secretive. She cracked the moment I asked her why she was asking about my mother," Caleb said as he walked into the room with Sally right behind him.

Sally kept her head low as she had failed her one mission.

"Duchess, I am a little bit offended that you tried to use Sally instead of coming to me directly. I would have answered any question about your mother. So," Caleb dragged a chair close to Alessandra and Eleanor. "What do you want to know about her? Is it for her?" He pointed at Eleanor.

"Why does everyone just straight assumes it is for me?" Eleanor asked.

"Because everyone can see how stupid you have my brother acting. For fucks sake- Sorry," Caleb looked at Alessandra. "He faked a wound to get your attention. Do not tell him that I revealed this. Have you heard Duchess? Reed claimed he got a wound from Simon. We didn't even get the chance to fight Simon. When have you seen Reed put so much effort into doing something unless he wants to get a task over with to go to sleep?

Alessandra thought about it. "Well, never. He is smitten."

"Yes. Do me a favor and let him court you. I can't take the sight of my brother acting a fool to get you to care for him. It should be funny, but it is a sad sight. Like a puppy with a broken leg. What does my mother have to do with this?" Caleb asked, looking at Alessandra.

"Do you think your mother would be welcoming of me with my background? The red light district?" Eleanor asked.

"Well," Caleb scratched the back of his head. "I don't know. She often told us not to bring just any woman off the street into her family, but I believe as long as we're happy, she wouldn't make a problem out of it. Quite frankly, she should be happy we found a woman we want to introduce her to. We both never had plans to settle down anytime soon. Truthfully, I thought I would have gotten married before Edgar in like five years, but then the Duchess came along."

Caleb continued to say, "You know what, I never expected Edgar to get married at all. He was enjoying his single life. Having his home empty and then there were those women he would meet with from-"

Eleanor cleared her throat to get Caleb to shut up.

"Time to time that I would envy. Isn't it surprising that none of them have shown up yet? What?" Caleb asked Eleanor since she smacked her face and shook her head.

"You have no awareness," Eleanor answered.

"It's alright. I'm aware that Edgar had relationships before me. We've talked about it before. I trust Edgar, but I hope no one shows up in my life at this time," Alessandra replied, going back to focus on her painting.

'Nice going you fool,' Eleanor mouthed to Caleb.

'Oh shit,' Caleb thought. If Edgar were to ever find out about this, he could kiss his head goodbye. 'Why would I mention her husband having other women to her now? When she's pregnant!' Caleb screamed in his mind.

"Duchess, I apologize for souring the mood. I wasn't thinking," said Caleb.

"The mood is not ruined, Caleb. I have already gone through this with Edgar and it doesn't upset me. In the end, I got to be with Edgar and trust that he is faithful enough that should any of these women show up, he will not look their way. So, it's determined that Eleanor doesn't have to worry about your mother?" Alessandra changed the topic.

"Yes so go ahead and make the poor fool's day. I want to watch it. Don't you, Duchess?" Caleb asked, excited to see Reed be riled up over Eleanor speaking with him. It would serve as something useful to tease Reed with later on.

"Only if Eleanor wants to speak with him. We shouldn't rush her to do anything she doesn't want to," Alessandra replied.

"I've made all of you go through the trouble of asking about his mother, so I suppose I should try letting him properly court me. It's either him or Hayden at the moment and if my aunt tries forcing me to speak with Hayden once more, there will be another murder in town. Let's find Reed," Eleanor stood up.