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The fact that his daughter Frances was to be married to her cousin was too much for Lord Grant to bear. Of course, he had nothing terrible against the boy, for he was in general a courteous boy with impeccable manners. However, he was Frances' cousin and was born of two clans known for their infamous inbreeding habits. Being a man of science and a man knowledgeable about all the bad things breeding with a cousin could do, the rich lord could not allow it. His wife, though, thought otherwise.

"Edward is a nice boy, I assure you," she told him over dinner that time. She was slicing some of the mutton and potatoes served to her, but her attention was far from the sumptuous meal. "He has only the most aristocratic men and women as ancestors."

Lord Grant sighed, saying, "And because of that, the boy only has four great-grandparents instead of the usual eight. You do realize that even though he was lucky enough to avoid the disadvantage of being an inbred child doesn't mean his future children with Frances will also be, right?" He took a drink from the glass of ale beside his plate. "I don't care if my daughters marry kings, princes, commoners, or peasants. As long as the man's upright and with morals, I don't really give a flying rat's tail about whether or not his mother was a descendant of Queen Elizabeth III."

While the two were arguing, the four children only continued their eating silently. Patricia, the youngest, ate in a normal fashion, but she was well aware that her older twin siblings and her eldest sister were merely picking at their food. It took a long time before all the plates were cleared.

Nathaniel, the only son of Lord Grant, could only wonder how he could avoid such a similar talk about him in the near future.

~~~

"Elle, what happens when you marry your cousin?" Nathaniel, or Niel for short, asked his twin sister.

The two were simply lying down on the green turf of their meadow, observing the tens of dandelions fly. Both of the thirteen-year-olds avoided each other's gaze.

His twin replied, "Father told me that the kid could have a defect when he's born. Like horrible jaw placement, or stuff like that." She laughed, albeit mirthlessly. "You're worrying about Frances, are you"

"Yeah," Niel said. "Aren't you worried as well? You know that you're going to be married off to one of our cousins too if mother finds yet another unsuspecting boy our age to pair you up with." His hand lashed at a dandelion that was about to land on him.

Elle smiled sadly. "There's nothing we could do about it, now is there? Frances is gonna get married to Edward next year, and by that time, Mother's going to find some relative of hers for me." She caught the dandelion heading for her and played with its millions of tiny seeds.

"Do you even want to get married?" Niel asked her. He had to get some sort of rebellious answer out of her.

"Not really," Elle answered, "but I don't want to be sent to a convent as well. I'm sure that'll be something Mother would make me do--get me into a convent if I don't want to marry."

Niel retorted, "At least you don't have to get yourself hitched." He was already sitting up, his back peppered with dirt and grass.

"I don't want to be there, even if I get to be with nice motherly women and all" Elle explained. "Heck, I don't even think I can handle praying five times a day. Maybe you could, but I can't." She sighed. "But if I get married, I don't think I can handle having a family. Life's unfair. I either go to the devil or drown in the sea."

When his sister stood up and went off without him, Niel was left to ponder about what his twin just said.