The Duke's Masked Wife



"As soon as all of you have finished eating, please leave. I've had enough of hearing all of you talking and I need to rest," Priscilla said.

"Getting old?" Dominic joked, but quickly regretted his words. "I apologize."

Priscilla glared at Dominic for using the foul word. "I am still quite young. Be careful with the words that slip out of your mouth or I will be inviting your mother to town to deal with you. It's about time you settle down and let the poor woman stop trying to have you compete with my son. I've always found it funny that she thought you could measure up to Edgar. Ha!"

"Okay now my feelings are hurt," Dominic said, putting down his fork.

"That is exactly how it feels to be called old," Priscilla said the word with disgust. "The two of you should teach your children to not call me a grandmother. I don't want to be reminded of how quickly I shall have white hair all over my head." 

Alessandra looked at Edgar who smiled and without him saying anything, she knew what was going through his mind. "Saying that will have Edgar make them call you grandmother extra loud.  There is nothing wrong with being called grandmother."

Priscilla replied, "That's because you will have no one calling you it any time soon. I should just paint my hair white and sit around talking about the weather if I let someone walk around calling me a grandmother. The only good thing about a child calling me it is that I get to rub it in the faces of my friends who have been showing off their grandchildren. One of them had to shut up because her son had officially brought the child of a mistress into the family."

"Speaking of which. Alessandra and I were talking about the possibility of you cheating, Edgar," Priscilla said, continuing to cut her food while everyone else stared at her. "Alessandra has more sense than I did because she said she would leave you."

"Why the hell did the two of you talk about something so foolish? Do you want me to go back not speaking to you?" Edgar asked his mother. Just when he thought of being civil, she was having a ridiculous conversation with Alessandra. He did not want any thoughts about him cheating in Alessandra's head. "You still want to ruin my marriage, don't you?"

"Relax," Priscilla rolled her eyes at how defensive he was getting already. "Women talk about it all the time. Alessandra and I already know that you wouldn't cheat. That's why you aren't speaking to your father, but I was just telling her that if you were so foolish to be like your father, I would strangle you."

"He just called you mother. Why are we having this conversation?" Alessandra muttered. Everything was going perfect up until this point. "So Heather, wonderful day isn't it?" She tried to change the topic.

"And how exactly would you strangle me? I am far stronger than you and I tower over you. Enlighten me, mother. The day is starting to get boring so I need something to humor myself with," Edgar said, waiting to be amused. 

"Trust me. Any mother who is fed up with their child would find a way to punish them no matter how strong the child is. You're lucky I've held back for years. There is something else Alessandra ad I were talking about-"

"What now?" Edgar interjected, still convinced his mother was trying to ruin his marriage. First cheating and now there was something else. Alessandra should stop talking to his mother.  "Don't take relationship advice from her. Look at her state."

Priscilla's lip twitched and she was suddenly reminded of how peaceful life was when Edgar was not around. Did she really want him back in her life to be giving her the harsh truth? "First of all, that jab was not needed, you bastard. Alessandra and I were talking about going to a gathering for women and hoped you would let her out of your sight."

"I am not her parents. Thank goodness," Edgar mumbled, taking a grape from the basket of fruits on the table and placing it in his mouth. "She doesn't need my permission. Simon is dead and her relatives won't be roaming the town for a while."

"I'm a little surprised you're so relaxed about this. Have you been smoking behind my back?" Alessandra leaned forward to get a whiff of his breath.

Edgar rolled his eyes. "I have not smoked since someone told me it will kill me."

"He threw away his cigars instead of being kind and giving them to me," Dominic interjected so everyone would know how cruel Edgar was to him.

"I also think you shouldn't smoke those things. My father has a terrible cough and I have been trying to convince him to stop," said Heather.

Dominic looked to his side at Heather who was playing a dangerous game here. He was not throwing away his expensive cigars as Edgar did. He would have to smoke the ones he had and then not buy any. Too much shopping wasn't a good thing for women, but he was not walking around telling them to stop.

"Back on topic here," Priscilla clapped her hands to bring attention back to what was important. "I will make arrangements for Alessandra, Heather, and me to attend this gathering. It is not one for women like us to miss."

"Speaking of gatherings, I need to speak to you for a moment," Edgar stood from his seat. He was looking at his mother who he wanted to have a private conversation with.

Priscilla became suspicious of Edgar wanting to speak to her alone. "Is it about the cheating-"

"Stop mentioning that. Do you wish to make her paranoid? I want to talk about something else. I should have gone home and enjoyed the peace," Edgar muttered under his breath as he left the table.

"Excuse me," Priscilla stood up to follow Edgar. First, he arrived at her home, only because Alessandra was here, but it was still a surprise. Secondly, he called her mother and now he wished to speak with her alone. Priscilla pinched her hand to make sure this was real and she was not still in bed. "What is it?" She asked, feeling nervous. 

"Tomorrow morning, something about the former Baroness Katrina will hit the papers. I want you to gather your friends and talk about it. Speak about it around your servants so they will pass it around to other servants until it reaches Katrina's servants. Do your best work to help it spread around quickly," Edgar said. 

"If there will be something about her in the papers, why do I need to gather my friends and talk about her? I have not given Katrina or her daughter a thought since they were going to spread rumors about Alessandra and the cook. I have to at least know your reasoning before I use my time to talk about Katrina," Priscilla said since Katrina was old news. She was only getting a bit of sympathy because of what happened to Kate.

"Katrina will close herself away from the town when the papers arrive at her home tomorrow. I don't want that to be the end of her knowing the town is speaking about her. I want her servants to talk and spread what ladies are talking about her. I want her servants to fill her home with a constant reminder that her secret is out," said Edgar. He realized a moment ago how useful his mother would be in pissing off Katrina.

"That is outright evil of you. Luckily, I enjoy gathering my friends to talk. I need to be given something for my hard work. A new bag will do for now."