Page 37 of Alessandra (Chisholm Manor #1)

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.