"They are all from Tom Missinger."
"What? And 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," he said and paused before continuing, seeing his wife's face reveal her processing of the information. Edward felt tears come to his eyes, and could not hold back how deceitful he had felt each time he had taken the letters and hidden them. "I am so sorry, Alessandra. I don't know what came over me. I just couldn't 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 me. I would like to read them as I am worried I have not heard from my mother, and he is from my village originally so in case he has some news of my parents, the letters should be read if you still have them."
He nodded and got up to retrieve them from one of his drawers, before coming back to the bed and handing them to her.
"Edward, all I want to know is if there is anything about my family in there. Come and lie with me and you can read them with me so your mind is at rest about whatever is in them."
Alessandra started opening up the letters with the intention of only scanning to find any reference to her mother or father, but as soon as she started reading the first one, she and Edward both realised that these were not letters of just a childhood friend - they were love letters.
Edward moved to get up.
"I should not read these," he said but she put her hand on his and restrained him.
"Stop, Edward. These letters are only one sided and if you run away you will keep torturing yourself inwardly, wondering what they say, so let us both face this together and then we can forget it," she said and he agreed with her logic, even though he knew it was going to cause him pain.
She opened, held up and let the two of them read page after page but it was all the same. Tom Missinger was obsessed in thinking about her, and 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 were a student, learning about human behaviour. She felt no attachment or romantic notion about the words that had been addressed to her, and 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 he did so, remaining quiet. "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," he said, looking at her to try and read her true feelings, but 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 and pulled him close to kiss him deeply. "You are no ugly man. You are my husband and 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 don't care who sends me letters, or what they say. I only want to be with you."
He kissed her, immediately feeling a blend of relief but also pain at not having trusted how strong she was, to be able to read those 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 and he smiled shyly at him.
"That was worrying 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 for 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. If he has heard nothing I can ride to your home and see your mother and father, if you wish."
She wanted to not want him to leave her alone, but the concern for her mother was too great.
"Thank you. I don't 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 her parents, and Edward resolved himself to riding to check in person 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, so 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 so much but I thank you for doing this for me," Alessandra said quietly to him as he prepared to leave the manor.
He 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.
And then he was off, feeling 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 was here, he needed to get out and run Beauty more like this, he decided.
Chapter Thirty Eight
Unwilling to stop at all in his riding, Edward rode through the day and night and arrived at Alessandra's family home the next morning.
After securing Beauty, he knocked on the door and at first he thought that no-one was there, but then an older woman who he had never seen before opened the door.
"I am looking for…"
"Oh, you are Miss Alessandra's husband! Has something terrible happened to her?" she asked, with a look of terror on her face.
"Oh no. Sorry … you are?"
"Oh Mister Edward, sorry I am June, the housekeeper. Sorry, we were not introduced when you were here before."
"Alessandra has been worried she has not heard from her mother so I have come to see if everything is alright," he said, still wondering what was going on.
"The mistress and master are well, Mister Edward. Come inside and sit down. They are not quite up for breakfast yet, but the food is ready so if you are hungry, you are welcome to sit at the dining table and I can bring in some food for you."
Edward entered the house, remembering now how small it was, and thanked the housekeeper in her offer to have breakfast, having not stopped for a meal along his journey.
When he was finishing his meal, he was joined by Alessandra's mother and father.
"Edward! What brings you here? Oh no! Something has happened to Alessandra?"
"Oh no, Sir. Actually Alessandra was worried that something had happened to you, as she had not had any reply to her last two letters. I want to keep her calm so I thought I could just ride here and see that you are both alright."
Alessandra's mother looked confused but sat down and took his hand.
"We are both well. But Edward, I wrote to Alessandra twice in the past month. Why would she not be receiving my letters? Are you having problems receiving post at your home?" she asked and he laughed quietly to himself, remembering the painful letters that most definitely had b
een arriving.
"No, there has been post most days. Perhaps it is a problem at this end?"
"I do not think so. Other letters I have sent have been replied to. An old friend of Alessandra's, Tom, has been kindly bringing our mail to us and sending away our outgoing correspondence."
Alessandra's father watched as he saw horror and then anger come over his son-in-law's face - an emotion he had never seen on Edward before.
"Tom … Missinger?" Edward asked, trying desperately to maintain calm.
"Yes, do you know him?"
Edward rubbed his eyes and both parents looked at him in confusion.
"Is there some problem, Edward?" he heard Alessandra's father ask and Edward was uncertain whether to speak to them or not.
"Is there any possibility that Tom Missinger has prevented your letters from getting to Alessandra - that he never sent them?"
"Why should he do that?"
Edward took a deep breath and then spoke.
"When Alessandra and I were in Bath not too long ago, he was there and he made a declaration to her, which she rejected. But since then he has been writing to her, persisting in declaring his love for her, and his desire to leave his wife and make a new life with Alessandra and the baby," he said, and saw shock on both of Alessandra's parents' faces.
"Oh but Tom is a nice boy. What would he gain from doing this?" Alessandra's mother asked, remembering that Tom had been particularly attentive to them in recent weeks.
"I don't know…"
At that moment they heard a knock on the front door, and shortly afterward the person in question himself walked into the drawing room. Upon sight of Edward, his face changed from the charming smile that had entered the room, to surprise, and then a surprising degree of eagerness.
"You!" Edward said, standing up and walking closer to him, while Alessandra's parents watched on nervously.
Tom maintained his composure long enough to ask, "Is Alessandra here?"
Edward breathed out a sigh of realisation.
"That is why you have been stopping letters from her mother reaching her? Because you thought it would bring her home, and you could see her?"
Tom quickly realised that he had miscalculated something in his plan, but now, without Alessandra to witness, took the opportunity to speak plainly.
"You need to let her go, you ugly, horrible man. She deserves better than you, and she and I are meant to be together."
Edward took a moment to maintain composure for the sake of Alessandra's mother and father, who were now watching with what looked like horror on their faces at the realisation of having had charm put on them by a man who was all the time having plans of ruining their daughter's marriage. And Edward remembered how Alessandra had described Tom the night before - only a beautiful shell - that was all she considered him to be.
Before he could speak, Alessandra's father came forward and put himself between Edward and Tom.
"Tom, you have brought unnecessary concern on my daughter, and particularly so in the state she is currently in, and that is something I could never forgive you for. Please leave our house and do not return. You are no longer welcome in our home," Edward watched Alessandra's father say, with the strength and fortitude of someone twice his size.
Tom ignored him, now needing him no more in his quest, but turned to face Edward once more.
"You do not deserve her, and I will have her," he said with a more menacing tone to his voice than anyone in the room had heard from him previously, before he stormed out.
Edward and Alessandra's parents all looked at each other, perplexed as to what just happened.
"I cannot believe it. Was he making us like him, to win us over so that he could take our daughter away from you, Edward?" Alessandra's mother asked and Edward nodded.
"I had not thought he was quite so serious, but yes, it does appear so now, doesn't it," he said quietly.
"Edward, what will you do now? You are welcome to stay here for the night, before returning home."
Edward weighed up options. He was tired, as Beauty must be also … Beauty! He quickly remembered that this seemed to be a largely horse-free township so immediately worried.
"Thank you. I do need to think about letting Beauty rest and feed…"
"All taken care of, Mr Edward," the housekeeper said as she entered, catching the end of the conversation. "My John has taken him around back and is letting him enjoy some fresh grass and a little bit of hay. Worry not, John has been a horse lover all his life - he will look after him alright."
"Thank you. But I do need to let Alessandra know you are all well, as she has been fretting somewhat. Is there some way for me to do that from here?"
"I can do that for you, Mr Edward. If you write a quick note, I can arrange its delivery when I go into the village shortly for supplies."
Alessandra's father leapt up to get writing supplies for Edward, who wrote as quickly as he could that her mother and father were well. But then, what else to disclose to her?
"I do not know whether to tell her about Mr Missinger or not. I don't want to alarm her," he said out loud, but immediately he was glad he did as both of his in-laws offered their view on the subject.
"Oh Edward, I don't know. If she is already fragile, would it do any good to tell her?" Alessandra's mother said, while her husband threw in a different perspective.
"Do you think there is any chance he will go to her now?" her father said, putting Edward in a panic now.
"Oh, I should get back to her…" he started, now very worried.
"No! Edward you have been riding all night and you will need to rest. Just send her word that we are alright, and if you want to alert anyone to the issue of Tom, perhaps you could send a second note privately addressed to your father. Just so that someone there is aware of how this young man has been acting."
He thought about that and agreed.
"Yes, you are right. I shall stay tonight, if you are sure I am not inconveniencing you, and I shall set out first thing in the morning. Thank you."
He wrote the two notes and gave them to the housekeeper, who assured him they would be off later that afternoon.
"I have also put some hot water up in your room, Mr Edward, for you to wash with if you wish," she said and he was appreciative of her kindness.
"Thank you," he responded.
When all was done he realised that now he was alone in Alessandra's family home, with her family, which did seem an odd situation to have gotten himself into.
* * * * *
Edward spent the afternoon partly in the company of Alessandra's father, then partly just with her mother, and at times with both, and found himself enjoying their company very much. In particular, hearing her mother talk about Italy was exciting for Edward.
"Alessandra has never been to my homeland, you know, Edward. I always hoped we would one day go there so I could show her some of her heritage, but it never happened. But as your family grows, Edward, do not forget that there will be some very special Italian blood in your children."
Later in the evening, lying in bed alone for the first time since he had wed, Edward kept thinking about the images of Italy he had had put in his head during the day. And he filed those thoughts away in the 'one day' section of his mind, to talk to Alessandra about at a later date. For now he lay back and brought the image of his beautiful wife to his mind, and in exhaustion was almost instantly asleep.
Chapter Thirty Nine
"Edward!" Alessandra called out as she saw him approaching the manor two mornings later, after having ridden through the most of the previous day and the night.
Being the confident horseman he was, he seemed to fly down off Beauty, cast the reins at the groom and rush into his wife's arms all at once and then they were kissing, as if they had been apart for much longer than only three nights.
Breaking apart, breathless, she looked at him, feeling like she had missed him desperately and just wanted to be closer to him, a desire that made her feel
shy around him all of a sudden.
Edward looked at her face and smiled in the knowledge and belief that she really did love him, and no matter how handsome his adversary was, it was he - Edward - who held her love.
"My beautiful wife, I have missed you," he said before kissing her again, and then laughing as they realised they had an audience.
"Father, Mother," he greeted his parents, who had come out also.
"Edward, it is good to have you home. Come and see us when you have given your wife the attention she deserves," his father said, walking his wife away and leaving the lovers to go to their room and have some privacy.
* * * * *
Once in their room, they were immediately in each other's arms, making Edward laugh at her enthusiasm.
"Wait, Alessandra. First, tell me if you did get the message about your mother and father being well."
She nodded and smiled.
"Yes. Oh Edward, it was so kind of you to go and check on them for me. And I am very happy they are well. Were they good to you, without me there?" she asked, curious since she had spent the previous three nights in the company of just his parents also, and had found that not uncomfortable but very strange.
"They were very kind, and I learned much about your family background, which was good to know, since that will be part of our children's heritage," he said as he led her to the seat by the fireplace. "Speaking of which, how is our little one?"
As he asked, he placed his hand on her belly, caressing it softly.
Alessandra put her hand over his, having missed his touch.
"All is well, Edward. I am just so happy to have you back with me though. It was not the same being in bed without you," she said, looking at him with a look that fuelled him instantly.
"Oh, how you invigorate me, Alessandra, even when I should be feeling so tired."
He looked at her fondly, trying to back away from the desire he was feeling, but she leaned in to kiss him and he felt himself melting in to her, and eager to please her. He gently guided her back so she was reclining on the seat and let his hand move up her leg, inside her gown, and felt her legs part as her breathing deepened.
Alessandra Page 13