The Duke's Masked Wife

280 Throwing stones and hiding hands (3)

Eleanor looked in the direction the stone was thrown from and spotted a couple of women running away. She only saw the back of them but it wouldn’t be hard to point out who they were from their dresses. ‘Idiots,’ she thought.

If not for Alessandra bleeding, she would have chased after the women to repay what they had done. Then there was the mask that fell off that she wanted to put back on quickly since Alessandra would not want anyone seeing her face.

Eleanor saw what looked to be old cuts but didn’t think Alessandra required the mask. She was still quite pretty and now Eleanor was curious about the real story behind the mask. Why did no one question why a young girl had to hide her face?

Alessandra stood still trying to wait out the pain in her head.

“We need to put some snow on it,” said Eleanor.

“I will get the queen,” Heather said. She would say it was foolish of anyone to throw a stone at the Duchess while they were in the palace but worse things had happened at parties she attended.

Heather wasn’t present for the entire gathering but she didn’t think there was a reason for anyone to throw a stone at Alessandra. She was curious about what was said in the room before she arrived.

Heather left Alessandra and Eleanor’s side, going back to the room Hazel had walked in to speak with her husband. Heather was nervous to disrupt whatever was happening inside the room but they needed the queen and king.

Heather knocked on the door and said as loud as she could, “Queen Hazel, you must come quickly. Someone threw a stone at the Duchess.”

.....

Heather heard a muffled yell come from the inside but it didn’t sound like Hazel. It sounded more like the-

“What,” Tobias flung open the door. “Did you just say?”

Heather stepped back, looking at the king in shock. His cheeks and neck bore the faint color of the paint Hazel had on her lips. Heather shook her head wanting to stay on track. “I was walking with the Duchess and out of nowhere a stone was thrown at her. Her head has a small bruise-”

“Good fucking dammit,” Tobias cursed, angered by the news. He thought he had misheard what was said at the door, no. He was hoping he had misheard it. “Is Edgar still in the palace?” He asked, closing the door behind him to give Hazel privacy to straighten herself.

“He left a little while ago. Do you want me to check if-”

“No,” Tobias quickly replied. If Edgar were to return before they had the culprit, he would flip the palace upside down. Tobias already had a lot on his plate so why did someone have to add this to it? Someone dug their grave today and as king, there was hardly anything Tobias could do to save them. “Take me to the Duchess now,” he ordered Heather.

“Right away,” Heather answered, leading the king to the Duchess. “Pardon me if this is rude but should we not call her husband.”

It didn’t take long for Tobias to spot Alessandra leaning back against a wall while another woman tended to her. “You’ve been around Edgar so you already know the answer. Edgar doesn’t take too well when anyone tries to harm the people he cares for. Now it is his wife who has already lived a hard life. The man is going to see red when he returns. Duchess,” Tobias said once he was in front of Alessandra.

Eleanor curtsied and stepped out of the way for the king to handle the matter. She considered taking this time to go find the women she had spotted running away from the scene.

“Are you alright Alessandra?” Tobias asked, leaning down to get a better look at the wound. Had it been thrown lower it would have hit her eye and caused serious damage.

“It stings a bit and I have a headache,” Alessandra replied. The ice Eleanor had wrapped up in a cloth had been helpful.

Tobias looked carefully at the small open wound. It didn’t seem too deep but it was swelling. They could save her from a scar if they took care of it now. “You there,” Tobias stopped a passing-by maid. “Get the royal doctor and tell him to come to my private room right now.”

“Yes, your highness.”

“Did either of you see who did this?” Tobias asked Heather and Eleanor. They needed to move quickly in case the culprit would try to leave.

Heather shook her head as she was more focused on Alessandra to look around for who threw it.

“I did,” Eleanor replied. “I saw a small group of women running away from the direction it was thrown. I didn’t see their faces but I can identify their dresses. One of them looked familiar. Was it,” Eleanor paused to think.

“Heather, take the Duchess inside my private room where the queen is,” Tobias said then looked at the young woman he believed was Eleanor. He had seen her with her mother who was known as the madame in the red-light district. “Come with me to identify the women.”

Eleanor was pumped up, ready to call out the people who had done this and if the king could turn his back for a moment, she had a good aim to make them feel what the Duchess was experiencing. It was amusing how they said she was not a lady because of her father’s business but then they went around throwing stones at someone.

Eleanor led Tobias in the direction the women had run off in. Most likely, they were heading back to the room to get their things and leave. It would have been satisfying if Edgar was still in the palace as heads were bound to roll but Eleanor had a feeling once he found out, there would still be chaos even if the king were to deal with the culprit.

Eleanor and Tobias received odd stares from the other young women who didn’t have the slightest clue what was going on. Eleanor inspected their dresses as she passed by to make sure it wasn’t any of them. One person threw the stone but the others around that person should have checked on the Duchess.

“No way,” Eleanor said the moment they entered the room. “I knew that dress was familiar. You were sitting right in front of me, Sophia. How I could forget who wore that tacky design is beyond me.”

Sophia bit her lip panicking at the sight of the king. She was on her way out of the palace when she remembered her bag was still in the room. She figured she had time to collect it as she had asked a maid to send notice she was ready for her carriage which would take a moment to come from wherever it was parked. “What do you want from me, Eleanor?” She asked, choosing to play dumb about why the king might be here with Eleanor.

“Don’t play stupid but then again, you are naturally stupid for throwing a stone at the Duchess. It is her, your highness. I saw her running away with three young ladies,” said Eleanor.

“Me? Throwing a stone at the Duchess? You must think we are the filthy red-light district where everyone acts a fool. We are in the palace dear Eleanor. No one goes around throwing stones and I am not a fool to harm the Duchess,” Sophia replied. In her opinion, Eleanor’s words were not credible for anyone to believe a woman of Sophia’s status would throw a stone. It would look like Eleanor was simply jealous and wanted to point fingers.

“Julia,” Tobias called to the woman dressed differently from the other maids. She was the one to ensure the women present at the gathering and all the servants were acting appropriately. “Tell the servants to bring all the ladies back into this room. Now!” He yelled, his voice sounding like thunder in the room.

They were moving too slowly for this liking.

“Yes, your highness,” Julia bowed, confused and afraid by how angry Tobias was. “Gather the ladies,” she ordered the maids in the room.

Sophia’s palms started to sweat. She was standing with her friends when she threw the stone but separated from them afterward. She didn’t trust that if pressured by the king they wouldn’t admit it was her. Sophia knew these women for a couple of years and hung out with them frequently but at this moment they would not lie for her. If the shoe was on the other foot, she would expose them right away to avoid being punished by the king.

Eleanor found Sophia to be stupid for prolonging admitting it was her. It was possible that any of the other women could have been the culprit but judging by how Sophia was the only one trying to run away and she looked as if she would pass out at any moment, it was her.

The king was not in a good mood as the wife of his friend was struck so why drag this out?

All the young women started to enter the room slowly and right away, Eleanor was able to spot the three others. These women not clashing in their dresses turn out to be a good thing. There were no dresses alike to say she had seen wrong.

“Now that you are all here, does anyone want to step forward and tell me who the fuck struck the Duchess, Alessandra Collins with a stone? Show yourself while I am being nice. If you prolong this, I won’t stop the Duke from having your head,” said Tobias.

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