The Duke's Masked Wife



"Throwing water to wake them might help," Reed suggested.

"We mustn't be rude to our guests," Edgar said, watching James start to sit up. "If you have somewhere you need to be, leave. Hearing you tap your fingers repeatedly is annoying me."

Reed pushed himself off the wall, happy to leave, but before he could leave Edgar said, "If the place you have to be is with my wife's friend Eleanor, keep your ass here."

Reed folded his lips and went back to where he stood before. "You're an ass. Are you to be the only one who has a woman?"

"No, but I still get annoyed you and your brother had to go after the women around my wife. Luckily, there is no one for Clyde and Andre to go after. Wake up faster before I am tempted to throw water on you," Edgar said to James.

"Why am I here?" James softly spoke as he rested against a wall. He had nothing to do with Edgar and Katrina's issues. He was simply the butler.

"There was a point in time when you should have distanced yourself from her. Your urges blinded you and now here you are. I wonder if your relationship with her started when Desmond was alive or did you jump into her bed right after?" Edgar taunted.

"I have never slept with her-"

"Oh come on," Edgar replied, not interested in lies at this point.  "Everyone with a pair of eyes sees it. You said you saw it right away, Randall."

"Don't speak to me," Randall said as Edgar should have released him by now. He should have never been brought here in the first place. He did not want to speak about Katrina and her butler. 

James looked at the cell opposite him and saw Randall sitting down. 'Katrina was right. It was Randall who exposed her. Now look at him.'

James wished to get up and punched the man for ruining everything. All because he could not get Katrina he did this. Now they could all die. 

"Am I to believe you do not have a relationship with her when you are looking at Randall like you would kill him if I were to open the doors and let you? Do you really love her?" Edgar asked, genuinely wanting to know. He'd bet Alfred that Katrina did not share the same feelings.

"That has nothing to do with you," James snapped at Edgar. He was just as angry with Edgar as he was with Randall. "You've gone too far to take her instead of letting the guards do their job."

"Hmm. What do you think of my wife now, James? Do you hate her? Given your love for Katrina, I must ask Alessandra how you treated her when she lived under her father's roof. Sometimes, I get angry thinking of how the servants must have treated her. I promised the court I would hand over Katrina and Randall eventually, but I might keep you depending on what I find out," Edgar said.

"I did nothing to your wife. I treated all members of the Baron's family with respect as any other butler would. Alessandra-"

"Duchess," Edgar corrected. "You addressed a dead man with a title he no longer holds. Show respect and address my wife by her title. Unlike the fools you served, she will continue to hold her title."

"What-Ah!" Katrina's screams filled the dungeon. She shook her dress to get rid of what she felt crawling on her.

"That was fast," Edgar said as normally you needed time to come to your senses.  A rat or whatever was in her cell, aided her in coming to her senses quickly. 

Katrina shook her dress, trying to find the source of what had crawled on her. "Get it off," she pleaded with anyone around. "I," she paused when she looked up and noticed she was not in her home. The memories of what happened quickly flooded her mind. "Where am I?"

"In my lovely home. We've been waiting for you to wake up. I was starting to believe that you were dead and this would be no fun. I told Randall you would like to see him."

Katrina looked ahead of Edgar and first spotted James who looked concerned. He was not meant to be taken. James was supposed to look after Kate while she would be away. Before she could speak, her eyes settled on Randall. "You bastard! You ruined everything!" She yelled. 

"Give it a rest," Randall muttered. It was obvious that he knew that he ruined everything. Look where he was now. If he could reverse time, he would not end up here. He would have gotten the money and got far out of town. His mistake was underestimating the Duke.

Randall thought for a second that he and Edgar had become acquaintances because of how Edgar had spoken to him and then with all the money Edgar offered him. Edgar used that one second of trust to catch him off guard and take him here. 

"I cannot give it a rest. I did everything you asked for and still, you ran your mouth to this bastard here. For what? Because I would no longer sleep with you? You are still delusional to think that I would ever want to be with you. Now look where the fuck we have ended up!" Katrina yelled, beyond frustrated with Randall. 

"Don't act like you weren't planning on killing me so you could take the business for yourself. I just made the move to stab you in your back first," said Randall.

"You," Katrina gritted her teeth. She could not take how much Randall had ruined her life. When she was a young girl and now, when she had everything she wanted. "Where is Kate?" She asked, needing to make sure her daughter was safe. 

Edgar shrugged his shoulders. "I am here with you. How should I know?"

"Do not play with me. Tell me that my daughter is safe. There is no need for you to take her captive.  I am the one who has plotted on you and Alessandra. Do not bring Kate into this because you or your wife dislike her," said Katrina. She would take all the punishments in Kate's place. 

Edgar was amused by the sight of Katrina pleading with him. He knew very well that it wasn't just Katrina playing games with Alessandra. Had Katrina forgotten that he knew of Kate working with Simon to take Alessandra? Had he not caught onto how Simon was acting, the man would have tried to take Alessandra. Why? To satisfy Kate. 

"Kate's already living out part of her punishment. With her face and then losing you. You are not in any position to be pleading with me to not wrap your daughter in what you started. It is you and her who have always hated Alessandra and tortured her. It is time for the two of you to be punished. You will be tortured more because you knew better when you let your young daughter toy with your stepdaughter. What type of woman are you to have been jealous of a child-"

"I was never jealous of Alessandra," Katrina quickly replied. What did she have to be jealous of?

"I've heard your story from Randall. There is no point in lying to me. I am already aware of your jealousy toward young children from families with money. Specifically young girls. You could not take it that Alessandra had an easy life while you had to struggle. You let your daughter, who I personally think you live through to imagine you didn't have a bad childhood, to harass Alessandra.  There is no other reason why you should have hated my wife so much," Edgar said.

"All of you point fingers at me, but never at the men who made me like this. Men like Randall who used me to their liking-"

"I am not interested in your sob story," Edgar stopped Katrina before she could make excuses for her terrible actions. "Yes, you had bad things done to you, but you turned around and did bad things to others. Just like Simon. Instead of trying to help others just like you or try to find some peace in your life, you decided to hurt others and then, you are no longer viewed as a victim for anyone to care about you."

"Alessandra was tormented by you, your daughter, her father, and this town because of foolish rumors. Instead of using her power as Duchess and connections to the crown to ruin all of you, she moved on with her life. Never did she try to treat others like she was treated or sought out to ruin your lives when she should have. She hardly thought about you or Kate. She found peace and held onto it. Keeping her heart the same as when I met her," Edgar said.

Edgar didn't know how Alessandra managed to remain so kind after all that she dealt with from the people she called family. Not just from Katrina and Kate, but from her mother and father.  He learned she had given what little her father left for her to Clark. A man who wasn't much of an uncle to her. 

"Duke Collins," a guard interrupted the moment. "The Duchess wishes to come inside."