The Duke's Masked Wife

345 Crimes (2)

“There is nothing I can tell you about Melanie besides the fact she is no longer a Barrett. The court granted my husband a divorce after she ran away leaving him to raise their child alone. It was not easy for Desmond,” Katrina replied.

“I was not in court during that time but I have learned the only reason the court declared Desmond as divorced was that he begged and eventually paid off someone. Melanie was never present as required for a divorce to be official. I am not fond of the mistakes the court made in the past. Do you know where she ran off to?” Mark asked, not fully believing Melanie ran away never to be heard from again.

He had no idea what Melanie experienced during her few years with Desmond but to never return to check on her daughter was suspicious. Unless she didn’t care for her daughter.

“I do not and neither did Desmond or he would have sent Alessandra to be with her mother. If you are trying to suggest Desmond or I did something to Melanie then I must say you are wrong. She packed what little she could and ran away in the middle of the night. That is what I was told by Desmond. A servant woke him in the middle of the night and said she was leaving with a bag,” Katrina recalled all that she knew.

Katrina didn’t have to get rid of Melanie because the woman ran away around the time Katrina set her eyes on Desmond. She doubted Desmond had anything to do with Melanie’s disappearance. If anything, she always believed Melanie’s family knew where she ran off to.

“The court has been trying to locate her to inform her of what happened to the inheritance. It is suspicious and we are looking into what happened to her. We ask for your cooperation and a list of servants who worked here around that time. Secondly, we are planning to open a case for what happened to the Duchess’s face. Do you know what is hidden under her mask?” Mark asked, not missing the way Kate became uncomfortable.

“Alessandra had an accident when she was younger and chose to wear a mask to cover it. It is something she is insecure about. This is not a matter the court should waste its time on. My husband dealt with the accident when it happened. Children run around and get hurt all the time,” Katrina quickly answered before Kate could act suspicious.

“I find that many of your answers point to your husband. Children do get hurt but what kind of accident was this that she hide half of her face? Since you and your husband messed with her inheritance we must investigate mistreatment toward the Duchess and once again, we will need you to be honest. Keep in mind that I will make note of everything you said today and if a lie is found, you can be locked away,” said Mark.

Katrina was not worried since there was nothing anyone could prove about what happened to Alessandra. Alessandra could say that Kate attacked her but it happened so many years ago so there was no proof to point at Kate.

.....

“Lastly, there is a matter concerning your late husband. There has always been an investigation on Desmond Barrett and with the information provided to us by the Duke and other sources, there is a high possibility your late husband will be stripped of his title,” Mark said, holding out three papers for her to take a look at.

Katrina was stunned to hear that Desmond could lose his title as Baron. She snatched the papers out of Mark’s hands to read. “You cannot do this. He was given this title by the previous king for all his efforts,” she argued.

“He was but given the crimes your husband has committed he has disgraced himself and the title bestowed upon him. These crimes cannot be forgiven and as more information comes in, he is likely to lose his title and so will you. I suggest you take a good look at his crimes to see why his title will be stripped. It is not something that happens often but your husband got himself wrapped up in schemes that endangered many of the people in the kingdom,” said Mark, disappointed in the man Desmond became.

It was a shame to see Desmond Barrett, who was once respected in his youth, have such a big fall from grace.

“Mother,” Kate tugged on her mother’s arm. She would never be able to show her face any time soon if her father would lose his title. The only thing that could save her would be for her to marry Simon soon so she would become Marchioness. No one could ridicule her with the new title.

“Edgar Collins is the same man who killed my husband because his union with Alessandra was not approved of. There is no doubt in my mind he has framed my husband. Desmond would never do any of these crimes,” Katrina threw the papers back at Mark.

Mark licked his lips, looking at the papers falling to the floor. Luckily he had a lot of patience when it came to women. “I know there is a difficult relationship between your late husband and Edgar but it is not only the Duke who has come forward with information about your husband. We have caught other men who engaged in disgusting business practices pertaining to girls far less younger than your daughter.”

“So, you will come after my husband but not get rid of the red light district where girls sell their bodies daily? You only care to punish my husband because you dislike him. The Duke is no saint and has done things worth being stripped of his title,” Katrina argued, her voice rising with each word she spoke.

Contrary to what Katrina thought, Mark was simply doing his job. If she could provide evidence of Edgar’s crimes, he would do everything in his power to make Edgar pay. Desmond’s punishment had nothing to do with what Mark thought of the man. Desmond just had too much evidence highlighting his crimes.

Mark knew some of the things Edgar did but there was never a trial to show others to arrest Edgar and quite frankly, Edgar got rid of people Mark thought the kingdom would be better off without. People the guards often times let get away and his peers were paid off to ignore.

“First of all, the red light district is a tricky business and the court has announced our plans to get rid of it. We can not do anything about women who wish to sell their bodies-”

“What about the children!” Katrina yelled, grabbing a handful of her dress as she was reminded of her past. “You do nothing for the children.”

“There is a law that no child can lay with any of the customers. They should only work to help clean the establishment. Their parents have signed away their children to those places with contracts we cannot easily break. Your husband got involved in a business that snatched young girls from their homes and sent them to sleep with men who could be their fathers. That we can get him for,” Mark clarified the difference.

He had a good judge of her character now that she was defending her husband’s crimes and pointing fingers at Edgar.

“That is only one of the despicable businesses he got involved in to keep himself out of debt. You will be called to the palace the day the decision is made when you will lose your title,” Mark said with great certainty she would no longer be a Baroness. “The land will be taken back but you will be able to keep the house. It is unfortunate you did not have a son to pass the title to him instead so you have a chance of fixing your ruined name.”

Mark’s words only pushed Katrina’s plan that she should claim to be pregnant to solve many of her problems. She opted not to blurt out that she was pregnant now as it would be suspicious. First, she would sleep with James again tonight and not make any attempts to get rid of a child, and then at the right moment, she would announce it.

There was no way she would lose her title.