Chapter 1

Note: Happy Valentine's Day!

"Hades! Have you heard the news!?" Persephone Princeton exclaimed as she entered the sitting room. Hades Princeton looked up from his book and his eldest daughters, Lois and Diana, looked up from theirs. Shayera Princeton, his third child, stopped playing on the pianoforte and Cassie and Harley Princeton stopped gossiping.

"What news, my dear?" Hades asked.

"That someone is taking Netherfield, of course!" Persephone informed him. "And guess who it is?"

"Who?" Hades asked in complete disinterest.

"A nice and handsome young man named Mr. Kent!" Persephone told him. Diana resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Ever since Lois turned eighteen her stepmother had become obsessed with marrying them off. Why was beyond her. What was the rush to marry right away? Diana was twenty and Lois twenty-two; they since had plenty of youth to find a husband. "He is positively dashing! Or so I've been told. Hades dear, you simply MUST go down and call on Mr. Kent!"

"My dear, why would I want to do that?" Hades asked as he resumed reading his book. Persephone gasped in surprise.

"But don't you WANT your daughter to get married?" Persephone questioned.

"Eventually yes, right now, no," Hades responded. "I'm in no rush to have them married."

"But what if you die?" Persephone suggested. "Then what? We'll all be forced out of the house and onto the streets! Aren't you concerned about your daughters' future!?" Diana, Lois, and Shayera rolled their eyes and resisted the urge to groan.

"I am but I also like having my elder daughters here," Hades said. "It provides this house with a least a little bit of sanity. But since I can tell that you are going to be persistent about it. I will go and call on Mr. Kent."

"Oh thank you Mr. Princeton," Persephone responded. Diana and Lois got up from their spots on the coach.

"Father, me and Lois are going for a walk in the garden," Diana informed him.

"Okay, have fun," Hades said. Diana and Lois walked out to the garden and Diana groaned. Lois chuckled.

"I know; I hate it too," Lois responded.

"I just don't understand her obsession," Diana admitted. "I know marriage is important but I don't see the point in rushing it."

"Agreed," Lois said. "BUT. There's no point in telling HER that." They giggled at that. Shayera ran up to them.

"Hey!" Shayera exclaimed. "What's the big idea? Leaving me in there."

"Sorry, Shayera," Diana responded.

"I don't like being in there when they're talking about marriage either," Shayera said. "I honestly don't understand her obsession."

"Neither do we Shay," Lois admitted. "I, for one, am in no rush to get married until I know for certain it's the right guy. And NOT so that Miss Persephone can say she's married one of us off."

"Yeah," Diana agreed. "It makes me miss Mother."

"Me too," Shayera said. "Her dealing in this would have been much better than Miss Persephone's. Or so I've heard. Oh, I do wish we could visit her grave. But apparently 'It's not ladylike to go about wondering through a graveyard.'." Diana and Lois laughed at Shayera's mocking impersonation of their stepmother. Lois, Diana, and Shayera's mother was Hippolyta Princeton, the first wife of Hades Princeton. She had died when Shayera was merely three and their father was soon after remarried to their mother's cousin, Persephone Flora, and later on had Cassie and Harley Princeton.

"Now that there does not even make sense," Lois responded. "I mean, who makes up these rules about what is and is not ladylike?"

"I was wondering the exact same thing myself," Diana told her. "And apparently there is no book on the subject or at least not one that I can find."

"So they just make up rules accordance to their standards and opinions?" Shayera questioned. Diana nodded.

"That is correct," Diana responded.

"Great. That means the standards are not going to be consistent. AT ALL," Shayera complained.

"What makes you say that?" Lois asked.

"Because she's constantly changing her mind," Shayera said.

"That's true," Lois admitted.

"Anyways, when do you think is the next ball?" Diana asked them.

"Why? Got a date?" Shayera teased.

"No," Diana responded. "I've been meaning to see Mercy but she's been too busy. She said she would be at the next ball for sure though."

"Well if anyone knows the answer to that it's Father," Lois informed her. "You should ask him once we go back inside."

"I will be sure to," Diana said.

"The clouds are getting rather gray," Lois noticed. "We should head back inside before it rains."

"Good idea," Shayera responded. So the three ladies walked back into the sitting room just as rain started to fall. Shayera turned to Lois. "Are you psychic?"

"No, just good at making predictions," Lois responded. "As opposed to you."

"I am not!" Shayera exclaimed.

"You always say it won't rain and it always does," Lois said. "You are a regular Marianne."

"I am not!" Shayera insisted. Diana snickered to herself before heading off to her father's study. She knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" Hades asked. She opened it slightly.

"It's me Father," Diana responded. Hades looked up from his desk work to see his second eldest and smiled. Out of all of his children, Diana was his favorite mostly due to the resemblance between her and his late wife.

"Come in," Hades said. Diana walked inside and smiled before sitting across from him. "What is it my dear?"

"I was wondering if you have received an invitation to a ball yet," Diana responded.

"Why do you want to know?" Hades asked. "If I did not know any better then I would say you WANT to married off." Diana rolled her eyes.

"No Father," Diana said a bit annoyed but still respectful. "I want to know because Mercy promised she would be at the next one. And I have not seen her in so long."

"Well, in that case, read it for yourself," Hades responded as he handed her a letter. Diana took and read it. Her face brightened up.

"Does Miss Persephone know?" Diana questioned.

"No," Hades said. "She also does not know that I called on Mr. Kent last week." Diana chuckled.

"Why Father, you are such a cad," Diana responded teasingly.

"I know," Hades replied with a smirk. "Now. Let's keep this a secret for now, shall we? You know how much I love to see your stepmother all wound up."

"I'm aware," Diana stated. "When are you going to tell her?"

"I think she will bother me with it in about three days," Hades said. "I'll tell her then. Oh. I can only imagine the look on her face."