The Duke's Masked Wife

365 Letters (4)

“We also have two kittens that were a gift to me from Edgar. They are two little traitors who only come to me when Edgar is not around. I was thinking of convincing him to get another who would love me more but I don’t think the other two would get along with a newcomer in their space. Maybe a dog will be more suited. I’m sorry if I am rambling,” Alessandra apologized when she caught herself talking about something off-topic.

“No no. I enjoy hearing every little detail of your life. I also have a cat I have had for five years now. It was a gift to my husband to keep him company when I had to leave the house. You should see the two of them in bed together. Sometimes I think the cat stole my husband,” Wilma chuckled.

“See, there are such traitors. I’m not sure where they would be right now since they have so many areas to play around. Sooner or later they will hunt Sally down for food,” Alessandra said, briefly glancing at Sally who looked terrified now.

‘I hope not,’ Sally thought as she wanted to avoid the two little things when they were hungry. It was hard to believe two kittens were being fed and cared for better than most people.

“Edgar named the two of them but I don’t plan to let them keep the names. It is time I bring Edgar to meet you. I think we’ve chatted long enough and he must be worried about how our meeting is going. I will find him-”

“Let me,” Sally offered so Alessandra would not have to leave in the middle of her conversation. She wanted to stretch her legs in her search for Edgar. She was sitting around listening to Alessandra and Wilma but her feet needed to be woken up now.

Alessandra wanted to be the one to find Edgar and tell him Wilma was nice so there wasn’t a need for him to have his guard up but considering how long she was speaking with Wilma, he should be able to guess the conversation was going well. Hopefully. She didn’t want scary antisocial Edgar to show up first.

“Thank you,” she said, in the end deciding to let Sally go.

“My palms are sweating,” Wilma said, rubbing her hands in her dress to dry them

.....

“You don’t have to worry about meeting Edgar. I don’t know if you have heard anything about him. He likes to joke around a lot but don’t let it get to you. It is his way of having fun. He’s not the type to enjoy being around other people so don’t take his closed-off behavior as him not liking you. He is a really good person once you get to know him,” Alessandra said, certain the two would like each other.

“I don’t know anything about your husband. When I arrived in town, I just settled down and then came here so I didn’t have much time to ask around about him or you. I do know his father Edmund Collins. He was the young gentleman all the girls were trying to marry but he quickly became engaged to his now wife. It must be the same for Edgar given his title,” Wilma said, looking around at the grand room.

“Yes, Edgar had and still has many admirers. Sometimes I can’t help but wonder how I was able to snag him. Thankfully, his desire to not get married kept him a bachelor until we met each other,” Alessandra replied.

“What of your younger sister? Kate was it? Has she gotten married too?” Wilma inquired, interested to know about the daughter of the woman who replaced Melanie. She had never seen Kate or Katrina.

“I do not keep up with news about my stepmother or sister so I do not know if she is engaged, already married, or not. I don’t like to think about the two of them. If you ever meet the two of them you will see why.”

“I have no reason to meet with the two of them. It was your father I would have wanted to speak to but I have missed that chance. Thank heavens he has died or I would have killed him myself if I ever got close to him. I am sorry dear,” Wilma covered her mouth as it was Alessandra’s father she was speaking so harshly about.

Alessandra didn’t mind Wilma’s words considering she had told Edgar to go ahead with killing her father. “It is alright. Given how he had lied and treated both of us, you are free to want to strangle him. I have thought about it many times.”

“Not like I have. You have no idea how shocked we were to learn that you had not received your inheritance. There were items I had given your mother to be passed onto you. Honestly, your father had his nose in the air but turned around and stole the things your mother left for you. That low-down bastard. I used to hate how he made it sound like he was above your mother because of his title. Our family had more money than his and didn’t need the title,” Wilma argued, becoming angry as she thought about the past.

Alessandra was curious about the wealth on her mother’s side. She had never sat and thought about the fact her mother was a lady from a good family. She always focused on her father’s finances. She was looked down on because her father had run his house into the ground but she had another family with perhaps a better status.

Although she was curious, Alessandra didn’t want to ask about it now in case it seemed like she was looking for what she could gain from this new reunion. Wilma already handed her a will she had not read through.

“I think the problem with your father was his title. He would have been better off if the king had not named him Baron. His new status in society made him have to keep up appearances. He made his home bigger, had to have the finest clothes and so did your mother, and did everything he could to be where everyone with a title gathered. I liked my daughter being spoiled but your father wanted too much attention,” Wilma explained.

Alessandra already knew about her father’s love of attention. He loved showing that he had a perfect life and when she didn’t fit what he wanted to show others, she was replaced with Kate.

Alessandra wished Kate would have realized that their father only cared about her beauty. If something had happened to Kate, their father would have tossed her to the side too. Instead of his daughters, they were viewed more like accessories. Like a necklace for example. When that necklace became broken instead of fixing it, their father placed it in a box and moved on to the other.

“He was such a good man before. He did so many good things for the kingdom which earned his title. As soon as he got it, he slowly stopped caring about good deeds and more about his peers’ opinions of him. I remember one year long after he had remarried, he sent us a letter asking for money to help raise you. I requested I get to see you but he never replied. That fool,” Wilma muttered.

She could not believe someone could have such audacity. To force her away from her granddaughter but still want money when Alessandra was not even getting the gifts or money she sent. If only she could dig up his grave and give him a couple of slaps he might feel wherever his soul is.

Wilma moved to sit beside Alessandra on the same couch and held her hands. “I am sorry for what you endured in your father’s house but it is good to see you have a kind heart. I have been searching for your mother for years but I will try harder to reunite the two of you.”

“Honestly, you do not have to for my sake. It does not make me happy that someone has to search for my mother and bring her back to the daughter she left. What is making her so happy that she remains away from her mother and daughter? I will be forgiving if she probably found herself in trouble and therefore she could not see either of us but if that is not the case, I do not want to see her,” Alessandra said, standing firm on her decision.

She came to this conclusion long ago and she was not going to change her mind.

Wilma didn’t like how Melanie had not come back to see her daughter. From the letters, it sounded like she was happy so it wasn’t like she was in trouble. If only there was a way to find out where Melanie lived now and send her a letter about Desmond’s death and Alessandra’s sad life.

Wilma felt guilty for not being one hundred percent honest with Alessandra as she had kept one letter away. A letter Melanie sent about another grandchild Wilma had. She didn’t want Alessandra to learn her mother had started another family somewhere in the kingdom. She didn’t want to see Alessandra sad to learn her mother left her alone but ended up raising another child elsewhere.

“I am going to find her. I promise,” Wilma said, making a note to use whatever she could to search the kingdom for her daughter again. “You should get to see her, hear her side, and voice what you felt about her leaving you alone. She deserves to be yelled at and scolded. I would have accepted her not ever appearing before me if she took you with her.”