The Duke's Masked Wife

"Tea? What tea? I haven't drunk any tea with Hazel yet," Alessandra replied, not understanding what Eleanor spoke of.

"You did when we were at the palace and we went into the room to have a break. We all drank tea and I am not concerned about myself. The two of you are married and will want children. Well, the queen needs a child," Eleanor rambled off, pacing back and forth.

"Eleanor," Alessandra touched Eleanor's shoulder to calm her down. "What was wrong with the tea?"

Eleanor took a deep breath. "At the red light district, it is important the girls do not become pregnant so there are some herbs you brew and drink to prevent pregnancy. I know it well because I grew up around it and I smelled it the day we were in the palace. I drank the queen's tea," she explained. A flash of pain was in her chest as she looked at Alessandra's face.

Alessandra opened her mouth to speak but couldn't the first time. In a second attempt, she asked, "A-Are you certain?"

Standing behind Alessandra, Sally could not believe the news brought to Alessandra. She worried for both women but her greatest fear was their husband's reactions.

Eleanor nodded her head. "I would not have come to you if I was mistaken. I am sure there was something in that tea and the target had to be the queen. I did not taste your tea so I do not know if there was something in your tea but mine was normal. Then again, I don't have any ties to the palace like the two of you."

"Come inside. We need to tell Edgar quickly. The queen is also here," Alessandra warned Eleanor before she stepped inside. "She will not take this well. It might be best if I bring them away from our other guests. Wait here with Sally."

Alessandra tried to shake the unsettling feeling as she left the front door and walked to the dining room. She almost stumbled as she tried to think back to the tea she drank and if there was anything odd. Now that she and Edgar were open to having a child this was not the news she wanted.

Her mind was filled with thoughts of what would happen if there was something wrong with her tea. She and Edgar were intimate the night before she visited the palace so her mind kept bringing up the worse case scenarios. What if there was something in her tea and it was still in her body? She was hoping for news of a child soon, not this.

Alessandra rested her hand on the wall and tried to reassure herself it was a high chance there was nothing wrong with her tea. No one in the palace gained anything from her not having a child.  Alessandra removed her hand from the wall and continued to the dining room.

Alessandra forced her best smile when she entered as no one besides Hazel and Edgar needed to know at the moment. She would not be able to handle Rose's questions or see Wilma concerned.

"Edgar," she went to where he sat at the head of the table. "I-I need you to come with me right now."

"What's wrong?" Edgar inquired, immediately knowing something was wrong from how she walked into the room and then her voice cracked for a slight second. "Did this Eleanor do something to you?"

"No," Alessandra shook her head. "I need you and Hazel," she looked at Hazel. "To come with me for a moment."

"What is being discussed that everyone else cannot hear? I would like for you to introduce us to your grandmother. I thought you did not have any relationship on either side of your family," Rose said, wanting to get to the bottom of the woman sitting at the table. She had no clue who Wilma was or what her family did. It seemed they were adding random people to the family.

Edgar stood up, not caring to explain to his grandmother why Wilma was there as he needed to the bottom of what had affected Alessandra during the time she left his side. "Come with us," he looked at Hazel.

Hazel was confused as to what was going on just like everyone else at the table but she stood up from her seat, thinking Tobias might have sent some good news already.

"Do not follow us," Edgar ordered Rose when she started to get up. She was proving to be quite the nuisance recently. "What is wrong Alessandra?" He asked when they exited the dining room.

"I am also in need of an explanation," said Hazel, following behind the two.

"Eleanor will explain it to the two of you," Alessandra answered, leading them back to the front door.  There was a growing lump in her throat as she could not find it in herself to be the one to tell Edgar.

Hazel found it odd that Eleanor was present as she had only met Alessandra not too long ago. Unless they became close while she was out of town? "What is going on Eleanor? The two of you are starting to make me nervous. This has nothing to do with my husband right?" She asked as she had not received an update on what Tobias was doing.

"Your highness, do you remember when we were all in the palace and we were drinking tea before going back with the other young women? I drank your tea and there was something odd about it. Today I pieced together that there are herbs in there to prevent you from becoming pregnant. It is used in the red-"

"What?" Hazel interrupted Eleanor. "My tea had something in it?"

"Yes. I smelled something familiar and when I went to my father's business I smelled it again when one of the ladies was drinking the herbs to rid her chances of having a child. I came as soon as I found out," Eleanor explained, rubbing her hands nervously as she looked at Hazel.

"All of you drank the tea?" Edgar asked, looking directly at Alessandra as he understood her odd behavior.

"I did," Alessandra replied in a meek voice. "I don't remember if there was something strange with the taste.

"Who? Who brought all of you the tea?" Edgar asked in a calm tone despite his anger. His hand trembled due to his anger but he clenched his fists to not startle the women.

"Julia served us tea but it was always inspected. I was always kind to her so she wouldn't betray me. I helped her when she had nothing. It must be someone in the kitchen," Hazel said, refusing to believe it was someone she always helped and the one maid she could lean on in the palace.

Edgar didn't care about how loyal Hazel thought this maid was to her. What he cared about was the fact someone potentially put something in Alessandra's tea. Edgar released a chuckle. Why? He didn't know himself.

His laughter caught the three women off guard.  Edgar ran his right hand through his hair as he knew what had to be done. His laughter quickly died down and was replaced by a scowl. "Stay here. All of you," he said, leaving the three at the door to go back to Caleb.

Eleanor stayed behind to comfort Hazel who still could not believe she could have been betrayed by someone close to her while Alessandra ran after Edgar.

"Edgar! Where are you going? You need to tell Tobias about this maid," Alessandra said as she tried to keep up with him. She followed him back to the dining room.

"Caleb, gather the men now," Edgar ordered Caleb who was seated at the table as a guest for his birthday. "Get them to their feet and ready to leave right now."

Caleb quickly stood up as the tone of Edgar's voice let him know there was no time for fooling around.  "How many will you need?" He asked.

"All of them."