The Duke's Masked Wife

Alessandra and Edgar walked to where his grandmother Rose stood all alone. When they got closer, Alessandra could see a slight resemblance between Rose, Edmund, and Edgar. As Edgar looked like his father, it seemed Edmund inherited a lot of his looks from his mother.

Rose smacked Edgar on his arm when he was within reach. "Why didn't you invite me to your wedding? Why didn't you write to tell me that you were seeing someone? You know I hate hearing things about you from other people."

"Then stop listening to what they say," Edgar grinned and released Alessandra's hand for a moment to hug his grandmother. "Why did you worry when you knew I would visit?"

Rose patted Edgar's back, happy to have her only grandchild back in her presence.  "Still, it would have been nice for me to be there. Introduce me to the woman who has changed your views on marriage," she looked behind Edgar at where Alessandra stood.

"Of course. Grandmother, this is Alessandra Collins, my wife. Alessandra, this is my grandmother Rose Collins," Edgar introduced the two women. "Lovely, isn't she?" She asked his grandmother.

Rose reached out to hold both of Alessandra's hands. She was curious about the mask but didn't ask knowing there had to be a pitiful backstory to someone hiding their face. "It's nice to meet you, dear. You have no idea how much I owe you for getting this grandson of mine to finally get married. Is he treating you well?"

"It's nice to meet you too, Mrs. Collins-"

"Call me grandmother just like Edgar does. You are now part of the family. Edgar, go ahead to the table. There are guests there. I want to have a conversation with your wife alone. Go," she shooed him away. "No harm will come to her."

"I am aware of that. It's your guest that I do not want to go see. Please do not be long," said Edgar. He could not take being around one particular person.

"No fighting in my dining room," Rose reminded Edgar of her one rule. "How do you deal with my anti-social grandson? People annoy him so easily," she said as she and Alessandra slowly walked towards the dining room.

"We get along well. I think there are good reasons why he doesn't like being around someone," Alessandra honestly replied. Outside of Edgar teasing her, they got along well.  She didn't think Edgar gets annoyed easily, he was just tired of people who do and say the same things each time they are in his presence and that was why he hated seeing that they were around.

Rose enjoyed the fact that Alessandra disagreed with her. Right from the start, all the other wives of relatives she met would agree with her every word. "Tell me about your family."

Alessandra was surprised someone with money like Rose Collins did not look into her background or maybe she did but she was going to see if Alessandra was going to sugarcoat her life. "My father, Desmond Barrett, was a Baron. He recently died and will soon be buried. I have not seen my mother in many years but my stepmother and sister live in Lockwood."

"A Baron's daughter. How did you and Edgar meet?"

"He visited my home to get information from my father. We met that night and took a liking to each other," Alessandra lied to keep up with the contract rule. Plus, she knew Rose would be sad to learn Edgar had only gotten married through a contract.

"The two of you got married quickly. I want to believe that it is love but I know my grandson well. You two might be married but I know him better than you do. It's hard to believe that he went from being against marriage to one day just popping up with a wife. Even more surprising that you are the daughter of a man he dislikes. Don't look so surprised. I keep up with my grandson and I once lived in Lockwood," said Rose.

"I don't have anything to do with the relationship my father had with Edgar. I did not blackmail him into marrying me. We truly met at the party and then a proposal was given not too long after. If you just give me a chance-"

"I don't need to," Rose interrupted Alessandra. "Thanks to you, my grandson won't end up alone in that house. I know him well enough to see that he is happy and that is all that matters. Whatever the situation may be, I don't care. Whether you two fell in love with each other or not, does not matter. Please keep my grandson happy."

Alessandra didn't expect the conversation to turn to Rose thanking her. By questioning if she and Edgar loved each other, she was expecting his grandmother to say the marriage was a lie. "I will try my best," she replied.

"Have you met his mother yet? If you have, I'd bet my house she didn't take a liking to you," Rose said and already knew the answer.

"She has not and I don't she ever will. I don't have the best reputation back home because of my face and I don't seem to be the perfect match for Edgar. Taking Edgar's words into consideration, I will just ignore her for now. However, I am able to have a civil chat with his father," said Alessandra.

Rose didn't find it surprising that only Edmund was trying to warm up to Edgar's wife. "Edmund is trying to fix the relationship he has with Edgar so he will be kind to you. Not that he is never kind. Priscilla on the other hand is a piece of work. Just cares about her status and appearing perfect. If you knew the number of times I had to travel and take Edgar from her care. He's the way he is now because they relied on servants to raise him."

Rose continued to say, "It didn't help that their marriage wasn't as perfect as it seemed on the outside with rumors of infidelity. That was mostly because of the engagement my husband forced Edmund into but that's a story for another day. If his mother starts getting between you and Edgar, sent me a letter and I'll pay a visit to send that witch away. The only good thing I got from her was my grandson."

Alessandra was grateful to have someone to help her stand up to Priscilla in the future. As people back home were playing dirty to ruin her, she would need an ally like Rose Collins.

Before they entered the dining room where chatter was heard, Rose stopped Alessandra as there was one last thing that needed to be said.

"Edgar has fulfilled one of his promises by getting married. You can help him fulfill the other promise before I leave this world. I only wish to be able to play with one of my great-grandchildren," Rose placed her hand on Alessandra's flat stomach. "Will you make that promise?"

Alessandra found herself to be trapped at the edge of the cliff.  She and Edgar had done nothing for anyone to be expecting to hear she was pregnant anytime soon but his grandmother appeared so excited that she dear not break the woman's heart. "Yes," Alessandra promised Rose.