The Duke's Masked Wife

"Your family is causing quite the stir in town, Alessandra. Melanie who everyone thought was dead has returned. You should avoid attending gatherings for now as they will pester you with questions about your mother. Let her deal with their questions," said Priscilla, not wanting Alessandra to be overwhelmed with questions so early in her pregnancy.

As someone who was once around Melanie in the past and somewhat believed the woman was dead, Priscilla was surprised to hear Melanie was finally back.

"What was it like to meet with her? Are the two of you close now?" Priscilla asked.

"No, and I don't see us being close anytime soon. I do have two sisters and I am trying to convince Edgar to let one of my sisters teach our children in the future," Alessandra said and smiled to convince Edgar to do it.

Edgar looked away from her face since she wasn't going to get him with her smile. "No," he denied it once more. Nothing about her sisters from the two meetings they had convinced him to let either one teach his children.

"She will be studying and finished by the time our children are ready for a tutor. We just need to give her a chance. I don't know why I am even pleading with you when it is half my decision to make. As long as Melody brings no trouble to us and she studies hard, I would consider her in the future. It is final," Alessandra said, leaving Edgar's side to look at more books.

Edgar sighed, not interested in arguing about her sister. "We will deal with this later on when the children are born. Try not to find yourself in trouble while I am gone. Do not let her stand around in this room for so long," he said to Alfred.

"I am not that pregnant. I can stand for a long time," Alessandra muttered.

"Weren't you crying this morning, after you vomited, about not wanting to be on your feet? Were you just mentioning random things that came to your mind?" Edgar asked, needing an honest answer because the things Alessandra did or said recently were starting to confuse him.  "I will see you in a couple of hours, my little crybaby."

"I don't like that nickname," Alessandra sighed, shaking her head at Edgar. "Be safe!" She yelled as he left the room.

Edgar left the bedroom and went downstairs to first find the twins to get them to join him on his trip. It was no surprise to find Caleb in the kitchen eating food he wasn't supposed to and Reed laying around on one of the counters.

"The two of you are coming with me. We are going on a little trip to visit Alessandra's sister," Edgar said.

"Which one? You have to be specific now since she has two more," Caleb replied, snatching up a shiny red apple to take along with him.

Reed opened his eyes, not happy to have his sleep disrupted. "It's Kate, isn't it?"

"It is," Edgar answered, stepping out of the kitchen.

"Kate? Why the hell are we visiting her? Are you ill?" Caleb asked, worried Edgar had forgotten about the bad blood between Alessandra and Kate. "Does Alessandra know about this?"

Reed got up to follow behind his brother and Edgar. "Are you trying to insinuate he is going behind the Duchess's back and meeting with her sister?" Reed inquired, trying to get his brother in trouble.

"No!" Caleb exclaimed.

Edgar sighed and stopped before he could reach the front door. "Why do I bring the two of you anywhere when all you do is irritate me?"

"Think of it as us preparing you for when your child comes. Babies don't shut up when you ask them to. Then again, you have this big house and could send Alfred to the other side so you don't have to hear the crying," Caleb realised.

"Just stop arguing with each other. What we are doing today is important. We are going to have a chat with Simon. He's on my list of the men involved in taking the girls. Pay attention to every single detail in their home. Simon's behaviour to see if he gets nervous and his servants," Edgar said as servants were quite loyal to his employers. His servants were the same way and that was why nothing about his marriage ever escaped his gates.

"Simon? The person behind all the girls going missing? I would have never suspected him. What makes you think it could be him?" Reed asked since Simon didn't look like he could hurt a fly. He knew that looks could be deceiving, but whenever he looked at Simon all he saw was a soft man who made the mistake of marrying Kate.

When Edgar asked them to look into Simon and nothing was found, Reed thought this would be the end of Edgar's interest in the Marquess.

"There was a scratch on his hand back at the ball. One of the victims had skin under her nails so she had scratched whoever killed her. Peter said Simon gave him a look that scared him. Normally, I would take Peter's word with a grain of salt, but he did mix with all types of people in the past, and I am already curious about Simon. If there is nothing suspicious, we simply move on to the next person on my list," Edgar said, continuing to walk outside to get his carriage.

"Wouldn't that be something if the sister the Duchess hates ended up with a murderer?" Caleb joked.

More than an hour later, Edgar arrived at Simon's home which he had never visited before. He was aware it once belonged to Simon's parents. Edgar and Simon weren't friends in the past so Edgar never visited Simon's home. The few times Simon visited the palace as a child, Edgar remained near Tobias so he didn't have much interaction with Simon and the other boys.

They shared similar circles because of their titles, but their conversations were few. Simon marrying Kate further helped to seal the deal that they would not be seeing much of each other in the future.

"There aren't many houses around," Reed noted, looking around at the trees to the right and left of Simon's home.

"Well, it was a bit of a long trip to get here. Anyone with the money to build a house here wouldn't like to stay in this area. There aren't many nobles around. You know they like to stay in areas full of the wealthy. Well, what do you know? He's like you, Duke. He likes being far away from others," said Caleb.

"We are nothing alike," Edgar replied. When would others stop comparing him to people who could never match up to him?

"What about the two of you marrying half-sisters? I will just shut up and knock on the door?" Caleb added when Edgar glared at him.

While Caleb knocked on the door, Reed looked behind them at the servants by Simon's gates who easily let them in. 'Why does he have regular servants doing a job meant for guards?' Reed thought.

The reason most nobles had gates and guards at those gates was that they were always targeted by thieves who liked to steal their wealth. Guards were meant for protection. Did Simon have no fear? How could servants defend Simon's gates? 'Does his servants have some sort of combat training?' Reed wondered.

"Duke Collins! What a pleasant surprise," Simon opened the door. What a lucky man he was to have Edgar finally noticing him. "Come inside."