The Duke's Masked Wife

162 Trip (3)

“Why are you watching me, Edgar?” Alessandra gave in and asked after feeling his burning gaze on her from the moment the carriage took off.

“I’m waiting to see your skill of drawing the scenery while the carriage quickly goes by it. Don’t mind me,” Edgar replied. He sat with one foot lapped over the other and his right arm propping up his head while he watched Alessandra. He felt it wouldn’t be long before Alessandra put her book aside.

Alessandra found it almost unbearable to draw while Edgar stared at her so intently. “Can I recommend you find something better to occupy your time with? You knew we were going on a long trip yet you did not prepare anything to pass the time.”

“What did I need to prepare while you are with me? I am passing time just fine. It is you with an issue.”

“Can you find another way to pass the time that does not involve watching me? It is annoying. Here,” she tore a piece of paper from her book. “Entertain yourself with it.”

Edgar took the paper from Alessandra. With him occupied with something, she went back to drawing until a small balled-up piece of paper landed in the middle of her book. Alessandra gripped her pen irritated with Edgar but she did not stop drawing. Edgar also did not stop throwing the paper to get her attention.

“Okay, so it was my fault for thinking you wouldn’t annoy me with paper. I give up,” she closed her book and placed it on the side along with her pen. “What now? There’s nothing for the two of us to do.”

“There certainly is but you never want to go along with my plans. I am still meaning to tell you what I wanted earlier about having separate-”

“Edgar, I’m going to sleep. We’ll arrive there in no time if I fall asleep,” said Alessandra. She fidgeted in her seat trying to find a good position to fall asleep but unless she held onto something she would fall off the seat when she was in deep sleep.

.....

“Need my help? There is a comfy place here,” Edgar patted his lap. “I will see to it you don’t fall.”

Alessandra sighed, knowing she did need his help. It was either she laid on his lap to go to sleep or she stayed awake only to endure what Edgar had in mind. It was fun speaking with him but six hours of Edgar finding entertainment in teasing her was not fun.

Alessandra carefully stood up while the carriage moved on the bumpy road. She sat next to Edgar and she was almost certain she could feel him enjoying that she had come to him. “Aren’t you going to remove your leg for me to lay down?” She asked as he still had one leg lapped over the other.

“Well first I am waiting for you to ask if you could lay against Wait,” he held her hand as she stood up to go back to her side. “Must you ruin the fun? I’m patiently waiting for you to start teasing me back as you said you would.”

Alessandra laid on his lap now that he removed his foot. “I don’t want to have a teasing match with you while we are stuck in a carriage. Please wake me up when we are nearing where we will be staying,” she closed her eyes.

“Will do,” Edgar replied. He played with the strands of hair that spread all over his torso and looked out the window as they left Lockwood.

“Edgar, if your parents find out we are going to see your grandmother, would they follow us there?”

“My father would but my mother wouldn’t tag along. The one person she cannot have her way with is my grandmother. If my grandmother were to visit us in Lockwood, you wouldn’t hear a word out of my mother’s mouth. It was my grandfather who arranged for my father to wed my mother. I’ve been told my mother and grandmother bumped heads from day one,” Edgar replied.

Alessandra hoped it wasn’t because they had similar personalities therefore they couldn’t coexist with each other. “Why are you so confident she will like me?” She wondered.

Over the last few days, she learned a lot about his family both from Alfred and Sally along with paper articles about them that were in the library. They were all wealthy and had partners from other wealthy families. She didn’t find it surprising that one of Edgar’s relatives married a prince a long time ago.

To come from a family with such a good background, Alessandra worried about her background. Her father was a Baron but he had financial troubles. Even if he did not have any financial trouble, he wouldn’t have spent money on her. She brought nothing with her into her marriage with Edgar for his family to see her as a good candidate. Her money came from the allowance Edgar gave to her.

“Oww,” Alessandra touched her forehead where Edgar had pinched her. “What was that for?”

“You are already overthinking before we’re even there. I wouldn’t have taken you to meet my grandmother if I didn’t think she would like you. Relax before your brain explodes. Besides, we won’t be going to see her today. She doesn’t even know that we’re coming.”

Alessandra’s eyes opened as a thought came to mind. “Edgar, does she know that you are married and who you’ve gotten married to?”

“It may have slipped my mind to inform my grandmother personally that I have gotten married-”

“What?!” Alessandra exclaimed. How was Edgar causally going to his grandmother’s with a wife the woman did not know existed? For heaven’s sake, they might give the woman a heart attack.

“Just like how my mother and father found out about it, I’m sure my grandmother had someone inform her. News from Lockwood would have spread to one of my relatives who would inform her or maybe Alfred sent the note in my place. The two of them are quite close. My grandmother certainly knows she just wouldn’t bother herself to travel to Lockwood as I would come to her. I will offer her an apology for not writing a letter.”

From the moment they had gotten married, something was keeping him busy whether it be Alessandra’s family or work. He meant to inform her personally but it slipped his mind which was rare and his grandmother would understand as he was not one to forget about her.

“I will take your word for it that she will not be upset. Until tomorrow, I will not worry about it,” Alessandra closed her eyes. For the time they would be out of Lockwood, she did not want to waste it stressing about new problems. Nothing would ruin her happiness of finally traveling outside of Lockwood.

‘That was quick,’ Edgar thought. He expected he would have to say something more to reassure her but she had gotten over it quickly. Her ability to not care about things for too long was astonishing and each day her lack of care increased.

Edgar had a feeling she was more worried about how the lie regarding the cook would affect him rather than herself. She didn’t seem to care what happened to herself. After their last run-in with his mother, Alessandra didn’t seem bothered by the woman or want to be liked. Was it because he was close to his grandmother that she was worried about being liked?

“Silly woman,” he stroked her hair. If for some reason his grandmother wouldn’t like Alessandra, it wasn’t like he was going to stop their marriage. The only person she needed to be liked by was him.