Lady Steinhouse went downstairs to the sitting room to meet Grand Lady Steinhouse and Old Lady Steinhouse seated and waiting for her. The Steinhouse spinster was pacing the room, and when she had seen Lady Steinhouse arrive, she almost pounced on her.
"You little..." she had started to say.
"Lilly!" Grand Lady Steinhouse scolded her, her eyes giving the Steinhouse spinster a warning look.
"Helen. You are getting married, I hear," Old Lady Steinhouse had said.
"Yes, is that why you have come?" Lady Steinhouse took her seat in a relaxed manner.
"Do you think the Steinhouse Dukedom is something you can give to anyone? This is..." the Steinhouse spinster had started to say.
"...My Dukedom. Did you expect I remain unmarried for the rest of my life? By tomorrow, you will not be maintaining your title as Steinhouse, as this title will belong to my husband," Lady Steinhouse had said.
She loved the title when referring to Walter. Her husband; It made her smile.
That satisfied look on her face had made the Steinhouse ladies want to crush her smug expression.
"You forget, only we can marry you out. Under law, we are the ones with the right to prepare a husband for you. You cannot go out and do it on your own!" Old Lady Steinhouse had scolded.
"Oh, but I did not go out on my own. You forget that law is invalid before a royal decree. Long story short, as a member of the royal family, my marriage even if you decide, must be agreed upon by the king. This is a husband the king chose for me, himself," Lady Steinhouse had said, her innocent expression angering the ladies present.
"You," the Steinhouse spinster had started to say.
"I had not truly considered you through all of this, I apologise," Lady Steinhouse had said and Grand Lady Steinhouse had known that this woman had something up her sleeves.
"You better be careful, Helen. If we have this reported to The Religion, even the royal family will not be able to take this kind of heat. This marriage is unlawful! The king still had to ask us if we agreed to give you out, before arranging your marriage. Anyone that listens to us will understand!" Grand Lady Steinhouse had raged.
"That is why you must be there when I marry. You must stand there as I take my feather and my husband, his horn. You will be there; by so doing, show the entire world that you have agreed to this marriage," Lady Steinhouse had smiled deviously.
"Come and support your marriage? That will happen," The Steinhouse Spinster had scoffed in sarcasm.
"Oh, you will, or I can have you all executed this night. You see, His Majesty had told me that he intends nothing go wrong with this marriage. It is a job he must do well, is what he said. You must understand, all the laws you have broken since you met me I will accumulate into one and take your heads. Your choice," Lady Steinhouse had threatened.
"Laws? What Laws? Do you think just because you say we broke a law others will not see your true purpose for having us killed? You must think we are children to want to scare us with something so fickle," Old Lady Steinhouse had sneered.
"But you don't understand; The Religion will not go that far to save you, nor will anyone help you once they understand, that it is I you have offended and in extension my family," Lady Steinhouse had said.
"The king still needs to be wary of The Religion," The Steinhouse spinster had said.
"You still forget, I'm also a descendant of the Ligrel clan. All your haughty nature, all your actions, you have always seemed to drag my upbringing into it. When the king executes you, it will be because he has no choice. Even though it's unlawful, it will be seen that he was only trying to appease the Ligrel clan," Lady Steinhouse had said gleefully.
"I know your Ligrel clan is powerful, but do you think..." Old Lady Steinhouse had started to say.
"Shut up!" Grand Lady Steinhouse had scolded her. Looking at her face, the other mother and daughter had known that this Ligrel clan must be too much to handle, that even The Religion would look the other way. The two had always known that this was a powerful clan. Why that was, they had never understood. Probably because they had always taken Lady Steinhouse for granted, they extended this to the clan.
"What? Have you finally seen the light? Dare you to talk about laws; those laws are made by power, and under greater power laws will bend!" Lady Steinhouse had declared.