Page 33 of Alessandra (Chisholm Manor #1)

The young couple spent their first day in Bath in their room, eating, drinking, making love, and talking.

Always they seemed to find it easy to talk to one another about so many things, continuing to learn new things about one another.

The following morning, Alessandra looked out the window and felt her excitement take over.

"Shall we go out and walk around the town, Edward?" she suggested.

"It looks so beautiful."

Edward moved up behind her and kissed the back of her neck, making her temporarily wonder if she did want to leave their room.

"You look so beautiful, my lovely wife."

Alessandra pulled away from him as she smiled.

"Come, my love.

There are things for us to see and do," she said with mock sternness.

Edward laughed before putting on his coat and starting to follow her.

As they walked through the streets, Alessandra grew wide-eyed in looking at the many people around.

Everyone she saw seemed to have come from a much higher place in society than she had ever seen.

She found herself looking at gowns, jewels, and the elaborate ways the women wore their hair.

If she had been of another kind of nature, the experience might have made her feel ugly, and not of a class high enough to be among such people. With her exuberance and keen eagerness for learning, she walked among them like a scholar in a university.

Edward watched his wife much more so than he looked at anyone else.

Her facial expressions were a constant source of allurement to him.

He knew that even he, with the standing his family had in the land due to the size of his family's estate, would never be regarded as high in society as many of the people around them were.

Despite that, he, at least, had grown up around such people through his parents' entertaining at the estate. To know and fully understand where his wife had come from, made him even more in awe of her for so easily walking among such people without any indication of unease at all.

From a distance, another pair of eyes found their way to Alessandra, and were now watching the way that she and her husband looked at each other.

As Tom Missinger stared at the couple, he felt a deep regret once again for not having insisted to his parents that she was the one he wanted to marry.

He also recognised that he had a deep longing for her.

He needed to be looked at the way that Alessandra looked at the man beside her.

While continuing to watch her discretely, he took a moment to think about his own marriage, and look at his wife beside him.

Of course, their marriage had seemed an acceptable idea at the time.

With his intended bride, he would be able to add much land to his family property - Missinger Estate.

It had been easy when he had first met his intended, as he'd been truly struck by her immense physical beauty. That hadn't wavered since they'd wed, but now he looked at Alessandra, and even though she was no beauty - and had never been - the level of happiness and contentment on her face transformed her into someone with a very attractive quality about her indeed.

"Are you well, Tom?" he heard his wife ask.

He smiled sadly at her.

"Of course, Katherine."

That was all it took for her to be reassured and turn her attention elsewhere.

Even though they had been married for so long, she still seemed, to him, to be just an accessory to him.

Equally, Tom felt like he was just an accessory to her.

She had never seemed to have any desire for them to have true intimacy. She treated the marital act like it was a necessary unpleasant thing that had to be done, but should be done as quickly as possible and then forgotten. Even in that, there was still no child. That had left Tom wondering what the point of all that land would be if there was never going to be any heir to inherit it.

Looking at his previous beau and her beloved, Tom could tell that they had an entirely different type of marriage.

It was evident that Alessandra's husband was sharing with her all the things that Tom had always wished for.

The thought made him feel unbelievably sad.

He was still processing that thought, looking at Alessandra, when he came back to the present and realised that she was looking straight back at him.

Without any thought of his wife, Tom Missinger moved forward.

Alessandra and her husband enjoyed exploring and looking at many things.

They were just about to head back to their lodgings when Edward saw Alessandra's face change from joy to surprise, and then to intense thoughtfulness.

When he followed her gaze, he was unhappy to see heading toward them the same handsome man he'd seen her with in her home town.

Thinking quickly, this time he made sure to be in the picture that the man saw of Alessandra. Edward remained close to her, holding her hand.

"What a delightful surprise, seeing you here," Tom said directly to Alessandra and not giving Edward any acknowledgement at all.

Alessandra curtseyed but avoided his eye contact.

"Tom, what are you doing?" Tom heard his wife ask as she approached them.

Alessandra saw his face cringe.

"Katherine, please allow me to introduce an old friend - Alessandra - and her husband," he said, trying to seem normal even though his nerves were frayed.

"This is my wife, Katherine."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Mrs Missinger," Alessandra said to the woman.

She couldn't help but see the icy cold look being returned to her.

"It is good to see you, Tom.

Please excuse us as we cannot stop," she said and walked away quickly, holding Edward's hand tightly.

Once they were a suitable distance away, Edward stopped their walking.

"Alessandra, take a deep breath," he said.

"I can see you are tense.

What is upsetting you so much?" he asked, then saw Alessandra give him a look that almost made him reel.

"I do not feel comfortable being around a man I once thought I had feelings for," she said.

"It makes me feel ... ill at ease."

Edward looked at his wife and did not want to say anything more that might upset her.

He decided to divert her instead, moving forward to her, putting his arms around her, and kissing her.

It was not a done thing to do in such an open and public place, but Alessandra reacted quickly.

As she put her arms around him and held him, she let her mind be taken to another place - a far more pleasurable place.

She looked at him demurely and whispered close to his ear, "Could we please go back to our room?"

As Edward smiled at her, she could see - and feel - his reaction.

It was strong.

"Yes, of course my love, but I do need a minute to think about the weather," he said, smiling shyly, and causing her to giggle in her more relaxed state.

Across the road, the same eyes were still on the two of them.

Tom watched as the two of them embraced.

He watched as Alessandra's husband kissed her, and saw how eagerly she responded.

What hurt even more was the way her husband said something to her, and she laughed so freely and easily, with true happiness on her face. What it must be like to have a wife look at me like that, he thought to himself. He watched Alessandra and Edward walk off, hand in hand. Even as they moved further away, Tom could still see them looking at each other with a message of desire broadcast openly on their faces.

In their room, Edward felt Alessandra undress him and then walk him backward to the bed, pushing him down so that he was lying on his back.

He lay still as he watched her undress before him, and then climb up to lie down on top of him.

As aroused as he was, he kissed her as she moved over him in a way that enabled her to rub against him.

To Edward, it was exciting to have his wife moving in her own way when usually he was on top.

Alessandra felt confident and highly aroused, taking control of the movements between them.

She moved down on him, experimenting with how it felt.

Both of them groaned at their joining.

"Oh, Alessandra," Edward breathed out, enjoying the new feelings while watching his wife move on him.

"Oh, my love ... what you do to me," he continued, moaning in pleasure while alternating between kissing her and watching her.

It wasn't long before Alessandra saw, heard and felt his release.

She relaxed on him, content to just be with the man she loved so deeply.

They kissed softly, immersed in emotion, both knowing that nothing needed to be said.