The Duke's Masked Wife

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Edgar sat on the edge of the bed watching Alessandra sleep. There were still a few hours left for his birthday but he wasn’t going to wake her. They had done more than enough and though she didn’t like to admit it, he could tell she was extremely tired. She wanted to be woken up before the day would be over to watch him open the rest of his gifts but it wasn’t necessary.

Edgar resisted the urge to pick out one of his cigars to enjoy while Alessandra was asleep but he remembered a certain someone saying that smoking would kill him. He had enough wine for the day so that wasn’t an option.

Edgar gave Alessandra a look over to make sure she was alright before leaving the bed to go to the closet to put on pants. He made the rash decision to visit the only other person in the house. With nothing else to do, he wanted to see if Priscilla was finally able to admit her faults and promise to leave his family alone. Then, he might free her.

He threw a log in the fireplace to keep the room warm in his absence. Edgar then made his way down to the quiet dungeon and found Priscilla, just like always, curled up in the corner which he deemed her favorite spot. Since there were no servants inside the house she was given all of her food before everyone left.

Priscilla looked up at the person who came to visit but her vision was fuzzy due to a headache. Judging by their silence she figured it was Edgar. The guard whistled each time he came to her cell. “Shouldn’t you be enjoying a party at your grandmother’s house?” She asked.

“Alessandra and I made different arrangements this year. I never really needed to have a big party. It is a year for our traditions to start. Like you in this cell. Have all of your friends died?” Edgar asked, kicking the box of rats he left as motivation. “Had I known I would have brought you more.”

Priscilla wasn’t in the mood to talk about rats when she had not too long ago stopped hearing the disgusting creatures moving around. “What do you want, Edgar? Have you come to threaten me like your grandmother or have you grown bored of your wife and sought me out for entertainment?”

“Grow bored of Alessandra?” Edgar chuckled. “Impossible. Quite frankly I came to love her even more today. Had you not been so controlling you would have her in your life.”

“Have you come to try to make me like the woman you picked?”

.....

“No,” Edgar shook his head. “I had no plans of doing such a thing when I married her and I won’t do it now. When will all of you understand that I do not care if you like Alessandra? My feelings are all that matter. I came to see if you are ready, to be honest about what happened to Alfred. You are the reason why you are still here. You cannot be honest about your actions.”

“I already told you that I did not order Federick to-”

“You took the order back and he disobeyed,” Edgar finished what she kept repeating. “Once again, you are missing what you did wrong. There was no reason for you to order Alfred to be killed and then take it back. Alfred did nothing to you. Unless there was something I was never aware of?”

Priscilla remained silent as there was nothing Alfred did to her. She just hated his presence and the way Edgar cared for him more than her.

“So there was nothing,” Edgar understood from her silence. “There must be something wrong with your head. I don’t see why you cannot admit-”

“Fine, I was wrong,” Priscilla admitted. “It wasn’t the first time I wanted him dead or to send him far away from your side. I still don’t like the place he has in your life now. No matter what, I am your mother and some portion of the love you have for that man should be given to me. It was irritating to overhear a butler advising my son to speak with me.”

“This is so stupid. It is not like he got in my head and spoke ill of you to influence me to stay away from you. I distanced myself from you. Do you know how ridiculous it sounds for you to hate him because he wanted me to speak to you?” Edgar found her hatred toward Alfred had formed for a foolish reason.

“How many times must I say you should have been grateful to Alfred for pushing me to speak to you when for many years I wanted to cut you out of my life? Are you not thankful that when our relationship became strained there was someone by my side playing the role of both parents?” Edgar asked.

“I was at first when I didn’t have to look at you. When I was younger and wanted to focus on myself so I didn’t mind there was someone present to look after you while I did the things I liked,” Priscilla said, thinking of the fun she had when she forgot about her husband and son in the past.

“I married your father at sixteen and had you at seventeen. Stuck alone with a child I only had to please your father’s demanding relatives while Edmund was out with the woman he loved. It was unfair that I was stuck at home so I left you behind or sent you away to school. That I am sorry for but I wouldn’t change that decision,” said Priscilla.

She continued to say, “At some point, I became ready to start being a mother but by then all you wanted was Alfred. It hurt that there was no room for me in your heart for me and that is when my jealousy started. When it comes to not accepting your wife, I am not the only villain here. Your sweet grandmother made it quite clear I was to find a woman worthy of the Collins name to be your wife. Now she pretends to welcome Alessandra.”

Priscilla couldn’t help but find Rose to be a hypocrite. Without Edgar knowing, Rose had given her a list of qualities she wanted for Edgar’s future wife and Alessandra fit nothing on that list. Rose demanded Priscilla find him a suitable wife before his birthday and it was Rose who settled on Heather.

Rose lectured her about the Collins family line and how it should not be tainted by someone who did not have a good background. Now she was welcoming Alessandra with open arms? It was laughable. Priscilla wanted to end the marriage before Rose could find out about it to avoid being scolded but Rose somehow turned around and welcomed Alessandra.

“I am not the only one in this family who cares about reputations. Your grandmother and father do too. Your father hid his affair better than other husbands to avoid destroying his image of a good man. Your grandmother does not want just anyone to be added to this family unless they have status. No matter how much she smiles before your wife. I suppose to make you happy she has settled for Alessandra but she will start molding your wife into someone else. The perfect Duchess,” Priscilla added.

Priscilla would bet her favorite ring Rose had started to nitpick at the things Alessandra did. Since Alessandra did not have a good background Rose would want her to be perfect as Duchess to make up for what she lacked.

“I’m amazed you took a conversation about yourself and shifted the light onto someone else,” said Edgar.

Priscilla stood up from where she sat in the corner and walked to the cell door. “I am being honest about everything. Not just Alfred. Isn’t that what you wanted?”

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