Chapter 37

Over the following four weeks,

Alessandra was introduced to directing staff and checking the

standard of their work. She found it exciting to be slowly

discovering new areas of the house as the weather warmed and more

rooms could be opened up for attention. She found it hard to see

how Edward's mother could be right in saying that all the rooms

would be used for their upcoming hunts. The rooms seemed to go on

forever around the complex formation of corridors and

stairways.

In the estate

responsibilities, slowly she learned more and more. Each day she

became increasingly confident in her ability to identify and relate

to the service staff, and recognise who was responsible for

what.

Coming into her fourth

month of pregnancy, all appeared well, but she could see that the

further along she was, the more stressed Edward was in his concern

for her. Lying in bed at night, he would fondly caress the bump

that was forming. It was an action that Alessandra never tired of,

but she worried that Edward always seemed preoccupied.

"Edward," she said, forcing him

to look at her directly. "I am worried about you. Please tell me

what is on your mind."

"My love, you only need to

concentrate on yourself and this little one," he said quietly.

Alessandra would not let that

lie.

"No, that is

not true ," she said. "You are

my husband. I love you, and I am very worried that something is

wrong with you. If you do not want me to be worried, please share

with me whatever is hurting you so much."

Edward looked at her and

knew that by trying to not cause stress in her, he had been doing

the exact opposite. Finally, he decided to speak.

"Alessandra, I love you and I

trust you," he started to say, alarming Alessandra in his choice of

words. "Letters have been arriving for you … and I have been

preventing them from reaching you."

Alessandra's first

thoughts were that she had not heard from her mother, but as she

looked at her husband, she could not believe that he would have

stopped her correspondence.

"You have kept my mother's

letters from me?" she asked with an incredulous look on her face.

In return, she saw a look of horror on Edward's.

"No! Of

course not! Alessandra, I would never want to stop

you having contact with your mother, or anyone else in your

family!"

His comment left Alessandra

confused. She had never shared written correspondence with anyone

else.

"I do not understand. No-one

else writes to me," she said.

Edward took a deep breath, not

wanting to admit what he had been doing. He equally didn't want to

cause her more stress, especially with her having made it almost

halfway through her term.

"They are all from Tom

Missinger," he finally revealed.

"I do not understand,"

Alessandra said. "When you say 'all', how many do you

mean?"

Alessandra saw Edward's face go

redder and redder as she saw guilt and remorse on his face.

"Over the past two

months, he has written to you six times," Edward replied. He paused

before continuing, watching his wife process the information he'd

provided. Feeling tears come to his eyes, he could no longer hold

back how deceitful he'd felt each time he had taken the letters and

hidden them. "I am so sorry, Alessandra. I do not know what came

over me. I could not face you being in contact with

him."

Alessandra watched her

husband, not with anger, but with huge relief at finally knowing

what had been eating him up inside.

"Edward, I do not care

about letters that Tom Missinger has written to me," she said. "I

would like to read them, as I am worried I have not heard from my

mother, and he is from my village originally. In case he has some

news of my parents, the letters should be read, if you still have

them."

Edward nodded and retrieved the

letters from one of his drawers before coming back to the bed and

handing them to her.

"All I want to know is if there

is anything about my family in these," Alessandra said. "Come and

lie with me. You can read them with me so your mind is at rest

about whatever is in them."

She began opening up the

letters with the hope of finding any reference to her mother or

father. As soon as she started reading the first one, she and

Edward both realised that they weren't letters of just a childhood

friend. They were love letters.

Edward moved to get up.

"I should not read these," he

said.

Alessandra put her hand on his

and restrained him.

"Stop,

Edward," she said. "These

letters are only one-sided. If you run away, you will keep

torturing yourself inwardly, wondering what they say. No, let us

both face this together and then we can forget it."

Edward agreed with her logic

and sat down again, even though he knew it was going to cause him

pain.

Alessandra opened, held

up, and let the two of them read page after page but it was all the

same. Tom Missinger was obsessed with thinking about her. He wanted

to see her, and to be with her. He would leave his wife for her,

and he would raise her child as his own once it was

born.

Alessandra read the pages like

they were a novel and she was a student, learning about human

behaviour. She felt no attachment or romantic notion about the

words that had been addressed to her. At most, she was relieved

that nothing in the letters pointed to something bad having

happened to anyone in her family.

After she finished them

all, she handed them to Edward.

"Put them in the fire,

Edward," she said and watched as he did so. "All this time you have

been worrying internally, and I have seen your stress because of

it, but you never had anything to be concerned about."

"He is trying to make

love to you, to lure you away from me," Edward replied, looking at

her to try and read her true feelings. There was nothing on her

face to suggest deceit, or even any particular interest in the man

from her past.

"There is only one man

who will ever make love to me, and he is here with me right now.

Edward, you are truly the most beautiful man I know…"

"But I am ugly, and he is…"

"He is a handsome shell with no

respect for my marriage or my feelings," she said before pulling

Edward close to kiss him deeply. "You are no ugly man. You are my

husband. I love you, and only you, and you are going to be a

wonderful father to our child. Please hear and believe me when I

tell you that I do not care who sends me letters, or what they say.

I only want to be with you."

Edward kissed her,

immediately feeling a blend of relief, but also pain at not having

trusted how strong she was. He should have believed that she would

be able to read the letters and not be seduced by them.

"Now, please, whatever else is

bothering you, let us talk of it now so we can start tomorrow

refreshed and relaxed again," she said.

Edward

smiled shyly at her. "That was all

that concerned me. There is nothing else."

Alessandra let out a deep

breath and kissed him, but then he could sense stress in her

again.

"Edward, I have not heard from

my mother in over a month. She has not replied to my last two

letters. Can anything be done to find out if she is well?"

"I will talk to Father

tomorrow and check if he has heard something and perhaps forgotten

to pass it on to us," Edward said. "If he has heard nothing, I can

ride to your home and see your mother and father if you

wish."

Alessandra didn't want him to

leave her alone, but the concern for her mother was too great.

"Thank you. I do not want

to be apart from you, but Edward, I am very worried about

her."

~~~~~

The next morning,

Edward's father and mother both confirmed they had not heard

anything from Alessandra's parents. Edward resolved to go and find

out what was happening at her family home.

"It is a long journey, Edward,"

his mother said, looking worried. "It will take you at least four

days to get there and back."

Edward nodded, but

smiled.

"Mother, Beauty has not had a

good run through winter. It will be good for him, and it will put

Alessandra's mind at rest," he said as he looked at his wife and

saw her smile gratefully at him.

~~~~~

"Please be safe. I shall

miss you very much, but I thank you for doing this for me,"

Alessandra said quietly to him as he prepared to leave the

manor.

Edward kissed her lovingly and

saw only love shining back at him from her.

"As soon as I get there,

I shall send word to you of what I find, and I shall be back soon.

Please remain calm and relax, and keep this little one

safe."

Edward's mother watched with

pride at seeing her son reach down and kiss the belly of his wife.

They may have married for money, but even she could not deny the

success of their union and their love.

As he set off, Edward

felt sad at leaving his wife, but as he and Beauty began to gain

speed, he also rejoiced at the feeling of freedom as he rode.

Winter was always restrictive in his riding, but now that spring

had arrived, he needed to get out and run Beauty more. There was

nothing quite like the feeling of the two of them when they could

travel with speed.