Aloysius Grabiner sat in his study behind his large desk, not really paying attention to the missives left there for his perusal. Considering what he had done last night, the results were potentially explosive. They were necessary, but quite possibly damaging. Therefore, he was not the least bit surprised when the door banged open and then slammed shut behind his clearly upset son.

"I see you obviously wish to dispense with pleasantries, so why don't we dispense with me pretending not to have realized what I have done as well?" Aloysius started.

"It may interest you to know," Hieronymous said, "that due to some amount of luck and my wife's mental capabilities, I figured out what you had done before anything…irreversible…happened. You should not be expecting a grandchild anytime soon. You had no right to do that."

"I had every right to do that," he bit, realizing failure. What chance there had been was now surely gone. The point about the girl's mental strength he tucked away to be examined later. "Potioning your daughter or daughter-in-law to give you an heir is not illegal. Even Carleton did that!"

"To save the life of his only daughter and ensure her children would not grow up without her," his son answered.

"Yes, see! The end does justify the means," He shook his head. "Fool boy!" Aloysius exclaimed, standing with his hands on this desk, leaning towards his son. "That was your chance as much as it was mine!"

"I would have you explain that stretch of logic," Hieronymous snapped, placing his hands on the other side of the desk so they stood face to face.

"Carleton told me last February that you only had a one-year contract marriage! You didn't tell me, I had to hear it from him! I don't know what game that man is playing with the two of you, but I saw those flowers in her hair…the same you had been preparing for Violet when you were planning to ask the Wildseed to marry you. You went along with whatever Carleton was planning, and then went and fell in love with the girl knowing full well that she will likely leave you when the year was up.

"It was a win-win situation for everyone. I get my heir, since most women will stay so their child can have a father you would be able to keep her, and her brother told me that she wants children so she might have even been happy too!"

His son's face lost some of its rage as it went blank. "Lord Carleton had nothing to do with the marriage, and she was only sixteen when I married her last January."

Aloysius stared wide-eyed at his son, trying to process this information. Carleton had nothing to do with it. The girl was probably only seventeen right now, instead of her mid-twenties as he had supposed. If he had succeeded…what would his allies and rivals alike have thought of him, given her age? He doubted that Hieronymous would have kept quiet about what had happened. There were some conventions it was not wise to cross. There was a difference between arranging a marriage involving a girl her age…which was permissible, especially if it could be contrived as a year-long trial marriage that was on paper only…and forcing her to give birth. It was a tactic only the vilest or the most desperate employed, and he did not want to be identified as either.

He slumped back into his chair, still staring at his son who was sitting down on the chair on the other side of his desk. "Sixteen?" he asked, making sure he had heard correctly.

Hieronymous nodded.

"I can still recall your letter to me on the subject. 'Father, I have married a young Wildseed named Alice Hayes. Sincerely, Hieronymous.' There was no mention of her being sixteen," Aloysius said, rubbing his head. It was not often that he was taken by surprise, but this entire situation was absurd! "I never pictured you as one to rob the cradle, and I would wager her to be one of your students to boot."

His son sighed, and then recounted the story of his marriage, which had been made necessary by the manus he had been sent. He told him of how the relationship of necessity had become a friendship, how they had been exposed, and then later that they had come to love each other.

If he had known that this would be the result, he would have sent that increasingly troublesome manus years ago. But perhaps it was good that it had happened as it had. He wondered how many freshman treasurers would have been a young woman with the capability or desire to keep his stubborn son after he had managed to put his foot into the snare. Apparently, it had been a matter of chance that she was Carleton's granddaughter…a fact neither of them had known about until some months after the marriage.

"I see," he said after his son finished. He cleared his throat somewhat uncomfortably. "I owe the young lady an apology then…for both last night, and if memory serves, the wedding gift I sent. Given her age and the circumstances they were inappropriate."

"And I should have been more open about the circumstances," his son admitted. "We might not have had this…misunderstanding."

Aloysius nodded. "I suspect that we will never agree on some things…but I hope she makes you happy son." After all, a happy marriage would be more likely to result in children without him needing to intervene…not to mention the fact that House business could be conducted much more smoothly if his son and daughter-in-law could function as allies. There was the fact that the pair would likely espouse political viewpoints much closer to Carleton's than his own, but one could not have everything. For now, survival of his House was enough.

"She already has," Hieronymous admitted. "She's more than I deserve."

So, after all this years, despite being in love with another, he still held onto the guilt over what had happened with the Wildseed. He knew that now was not the time to pry. It was a small miracle that they were having a conversation at all…and one that did not look like it was going to end with his son storming out of the room at that! Besides, he had a feeling that Alice would find a way to deal with his son's lingering grief. With her charms…be they magical or otherwise…she had gotten Hieronymous this far. Not that he would care if she had used magical means to ensure his son's devotion, but he knew of no one that would be able to produce a spell that would yield the result he saw before him.

"This does not mean that you have my permission to potion her later when she is older," his son warned him.

Aloysius smiled at him. He did not strictly need permission, but there was no reason to rock the boat. Of course, if it had not worked once, he might have the same result if he tried a second time. "You two are remaining married?"

His son nodded ascent.

"And you are planning on having children after she is done with her education?"

His son nodded again.

"Then what motive do I have?" Aloysius said, carefully not saying that he was promising not to do so. It was always best to give yourself as many options as you could. You never knew when the circumstances could change, and sometimes the circumstances deemed you changed with them to maintain or grow your own power.

Hieronymous raised an eyebrow, clearly understanding what he had not said. He should not be that concerned, though. His son would know that he would not promise that the sun would rise in the East unless forced to. "In the meantime, you owe Alice an apology. If you care to come tomorrow, we are having a small ceremony to satisfy the British law requirements. It will be at five o'clock at Carleton's church, but only come if you have apologized and have gained her permission to do so. And if you are able to behave yourself."

Aloysius nodded. "Tell your wife to expect me call on her early this afternoon, then."

After all, the proper forms must be maintained. And now that the survival of his House was practically assured, the next priority was to position himself in such a way that he could have access to his hopefully not too distant grandchildren. At the moment, this meant giving an eloquent apology and attending the wedding. Perhaps one of his future grandchildren would be better suited to take over his own 'unofficial' duties than his son was. It was always prudent to prepare for the future.

...

Clark shifted in the pew where he sat alone, occasionally glancing at the elder Grabiner sitting across the istle from him. The man had come and asked to see his sister earlier in the afternoon, and was received by her and her husband. He had no idea what had been said, but had a feeling that something significant had happened last night.

He knew that Hieronymous had gone to see his father that morning, and had seemed somewhat…mollified…when he had returned. He knew that the two did not get along from speaking with Alice, so obviously something essential had needed to be addressed. Given that Lord Grabiner was here waiting for the wedding to start, Clark guessed that whatever problem they had had must have been resolved. Perhaps a truce had simply been declared.

Their grandfather had seemed disturbed about something after checking through the wards, like he did every morning. He had never told Clark what wards he was checking, or what they did, but he seemed to calm down once Alice had pulled him privately into the library while her husband went to see his father.

Yes, something had certainly happened. Maybe he could get Alice to tell him about it in private. If she told him to drop the subject, he would. He just hoped that when he got married, things would be less complicated than it was for his sister. Most girls were complex enough already, never mind undesirable in-laws, the school rumor-mill, fierce pets that tried to eat you, and the baggage of a previous sweetheart's ghost. Sometimes he wondered how Alice put up with it all, but apparently she thought that her husband was worth the trouble. He liked Mr. Grabiner…or Hieronymous…himself, especially now that he was getting to know him a little better. He hoped that the developing friendship could continue once they got back to school, but was aware that it could make for some awkward situations.

His thoughts turned to his own issue last night. He had found Adelaide on the way to the box of her family's host, and he did not think that he had ever seen anyone more relieved to see him.

"Clark!" Adelaide said with a smile, taking his hand to lead him over to a small couch by a window where they could have semi-privacy.

"My sister said you had a favor you wanted to ask me?" he said, sitting down beside her.

Adelaide nodded grimly. "My parents have me here tonight to meet a man that wants a single-year contract marriage purely for the production of an heir. He's willing to wait until I get out of school, but theoretically a promise could be made before then and he's at least five times my age, and four times my weight."

And there would be a sizeable sum given to her in exchange for her 'service,' Clark guessed. He wondered if the last Lady Grabiner had been a woman in a similar situation. "So, if your parents made a promise, and you didn't go through with it, you would lose them? But can't you just say that you don't want to?"

She shifted. "Theoretically, but in practice it's not that easy. My parents are nearing the end of the point where they can maintain their standard of living. I would be perfectly happy living in a house a quarter of the size we have now, but they don't seem to know how to do without."

"So your parents are spoiled, incapable of living within their means, and willing to rent the womb of their daughter to extend their ability to live a lavish lifestyle," he commented, unable to keep his tone from becoming harsh.

Adelaide grimaced. "I know that they aren't the best parents…or Mother isn't anyway. Father is more flexible and wants me to be in a situation where I at least have a good chance at being happy, but he doesn't have a spine when it comes to what Mother wants. But they still are mine and I can't just walk away from them. I know that whatever the amount of money their share would be, they have no idea how to make the money work for them, so it would run out eventually. It would not do any good in the long run. Your sister mentioned that I could work for a living to support them, but…."

"But you don't see yourself as capable of doing that in the near future, and your mother will probably be emotionally blackmailing you before then," Clark considered. "I think you have two viable choices, assuming that you can't establish another source of income for them. First, to find a husband that would support them with a stipend. The second would be to trick your father into giving you a promise not to be part of any arranged marriage himself, so it would be only your mother's promise. That way, if you don't like who she sets you up with enough you can refuse to go through with it you would only loose her instead of both her and your father."

Adelaide nodded. "I've done that much already. I told father that I didn't want to blame him if mother set me up with someone horrible, so he did promise that mother would handle the 'any legal and or binding arrangements' should that occur. It was the truth as well as a failsafe. I'd rather it not come to that, though. Father loves her."

He paused, just now noticing something. "You don't really seem like the gossipy girl I met earlier this year."

"I…I have been trying to abandon that tactic," she explained. "I've guessed that this is what was coming down the pipe for me for some time now. I was trying to meet as many people as I could, increase my chances for something substantial enough to develop that my parents would refrain from the sort of arrangement they are considering now. But being 'gossipy' only earned me a reputation for being an airhead. And the only guy I met that I actually liked was you."

It was his turn to shift uncomfortably. "I'm afraid that I judged you in that manner as well. And you do know my interests lie elsewhere."

"Virginia Danson? Yeah, the entire school knows," Adelaide said dismissively. "Most assume that your sister has some reservation about you dating her roommate, and that's why you aren't going out yet."

Was he so transparent? It was not that his sister actually had a problem with him dating Virginia, it was just that he had not gotten the nerve to ask about it. Anyway, it was time to steer the conversation back to where he had originally intended it to be. "So, you want to introduce me as a prospect of yours so your parents will lay off?" He thought that it would be only a temporary reprieve, but apparently she was willing to take even the temporary.

"If you don't mind," she said with a hopeful smile. "I'd be profoundly grateful."

And then he realized that this tactic could backfire on her. To them, it would be like finding that their daughter had had the Holy Grail in her hands, and then lost it once they found out who he was…or rather, who his grandfather was. There was a risk in telling her, but she had to know. "If we do this, your parents might be furious enough to stick you with an even worse deal than before when they find out that I'm dating someone else. And in return, I would appreciate it if you did not mention that you saw my party in Lord Carleton's box tonight to anyone."

Adelaide blinked, processing that, and then her hopeful smile stretched into slack jawed surprise. "By the Three…no wonder your sister said that she didn't marry Professor Grabiner for money; it was probably a political arrangement," she almost whispered. "If they are staying married, that would make you…."

"They decided that they are, and don't even say it," he said, not bothering to correct her supposition that his sister's marriage had been political in nature. It was a long story, and Adelaide had more urgent issues at hand. "I think that it won't last much longer, but I want peace and quiet for as long as I can have it," he admitted.

"From girls like me," Adelaide said. It was not a question.

He grimaced. "I just want a girl that would want me even without the money."

She raised an eyebrow. "You do know that it's not just the money? There would also be the prestige. Your family is a powerful one, since your grandfather basically controls our currency. Aside from the benefits, the girls with brains will know that not all women would be able to skillfully navigate the circles and situations you will find yourself in. Some would find it intimidating instead of a challenge."

He noted that she had implied that she was one that would actually like the challenge. "You make it sound like I should be posting a job description rather than courting a young woman," he remarked.

Adelaide shrugged. "You want love in a marriage, or at least friendship? There is no reason that you could not find that as well as political acumen in a wife. Someone as eligible as yourself will have your choice of the crème de la crème."

Clark decided that she sounded almost pained at the last of that. Of course, he thought it was because he would have more choice than she was likely to if things continued on their present course. In spite of the business-like way she approached the subject, she wanted someone that would love her too. He could not fault her for that.

"At least Grandfather isn't pushy about me finding someone. He's also said that he will only 'help' me find a wife if I request his aid. He did say that if I do start dating Virginia, he would like to meet her," he considered.

"On that topic, you should ask Virginia out as soon as possible so you can figure out why it won't work and you can move on," she said rather bluntly.

Clark was not sure whether he should be offended or not. From her point of view, she might be simply being honest. "Why don't you save me some time and spell it out for me?"

Adelaide took a deep breath. "This is not what you want to hear, and maybe neither you nor your sister has seen it yet, but Virginia would not be an appropriate wife for someone in your position. If you were a minor lord, or even the younger son of your house, it would not be a problem, but I don't think that she is the type that could keep pace with you. I've seen her solutions to problems before, she prefers brawn to brains and that kind of approach will not work in the situations you will one day find yourself in. She does not consider every angle of a problem before trying to solve it; she simply takes the fastest route which could be dangerous in the political world. If you take my meaning, she would be a better foot soldier than an officer. She would not be able to help you in the ways your wife would need to."

Clark sat back, considering. He had not thought about it in that manner, precisely, but did recognize that he had been hoping Virginia would mature a little. After all, she was only seventeen and he knew that rather few people had it all together at their ages. He knew that he and his sister were exceptional in that area. "I'll take that suggestion into consideration," was how he answered.

She bowed her head toward him. "Back to the matter at hand…I think intermission is about to run out…I would like to modify my original request to please allow me to introduce you to my parents as a friend of mine that happens to be the younger lord Grabiner's brother-in-law. After you leave, I can tell them that I have reason to believe it is not going to work out between you and your current girlfriend. If that does not get them to at least delay negotiations, do I have your permission to tell only my parents that you were seated in Lord Carleton's box?"

Well, if were only her parents instead of the entire school…. "That would be acceptable," he answered. That might distract her parents, who would then be trying to figure out why Lord Carleton was entertaining the younger Grabiner and his party. When they figured it out correctly, they would almost certainly be encouraging Adelaide to go for him and start downsizing their lifestyle to give her more time to succeed. In that was some chance, however slim, that they would learn to live within their means without needing their daughter to marry a pocketbook.

"I know I have no right to ask this," Adelaide said, "and I know you probably currently disagree with me about Virginia, but if or when it doesn't work out between you two, would you consider me? Until then, I would really like you as a friend."

Clark frowned, considering, when something else occurred to him. "If you give your Word that you have not lied to me tonight, then yes."

"You have my Word of Honor, I have not lied to you tonight," Adelaide answered immediately, and then she smiled. "You are cautious as well as intelligent. You will do well."

While he had still been considering the conversation, and all it had entailed, he had barely remembered to lift the curtain for her to enter into the box.

She went from a girl desperately seeking an escape to one that happily explained to her parents that he was a friend from school. Her father looked pleasantly surprised as well as a little hopeful. Her mother, however, had been harder to please—and somewhat dismissive as soon as the word 'friend' had been mentioned—demanding to know who he was with this evening. He had explained that he had traveled to England with his sister and her husband, the Lady Grabiner and the younger Lord Grabiner of course. That had seemed to placate her, and while she was processing this information, he told them that his sister had mentioned seeing Adelaide and he could not resist coming to find her.

Judging that his performance was sufficient, he bid them good evening and said that he hoped to see Adelaide when they returned to school. She was still smiling gratefully when he left the box.

He had mentally wished his new friend luck, still kicking himself for misjudging her so. Apparently, the 'resident gossip' had actually been working a flawed strategy to mitigate a problem she knew she would be facing. She had wanted to get to know as many people as possible to have a better handle on who her prospects might be, and find out if she liked any of them. There actually were ways to get information that involved more talking than listening, but apparently Adelaide had overdone it. She had realized the mistake, and was doing what she could to correct it. Come to think of it, within the last month or so, a different girl had taken the mantle of the biggest gossip while Adelaide seemed to pay more attention to her studies instead. He had expected her to be an airhead, and she had managed to throw that impression on its face tonight. It was too easy to simply give someone a label and forget that a more complex person lie under whatever face they chose to show the world. It was not a mistake that he intended to replicate.

He realized that he had missed a clue about her, back during the election. An airhead might have just gone ahead with the election, rather than cutting her losses and making a bold play for a date with him. Perhaps she had wanted to be Treasure mainly to gather information about the other students, so she could use it in her hunt for a 'prospect' that she would have no objection to marrying. When he had denied her that, she decided to try to get at least some of what she had wanted in an opportunity to get to know him. It had been no secret that he was Lord Grabiner's brother-in-law after all, which had put him on her list of possibilities.

The result had been that she had decided that she liked him as opposed to the other guys that she had not. And he had made clear that he was not interested in her. Perhaps if she had not struck him as a gold-digging socialite with no brains at the time, it might have turned out differently.

Her opinion about Virginia though…. Well, it was only one opinion. As one of his favorite books said, "If one guy calls you a Hutt, ignore him. If a second guy calls you a Hutt, begin to wonder. If a third guy calls you a Hutt, buy a drool bucket and start stockpiling spice." It was his favorite I, Jedi quote, and it rang true in the real world.

Clark wondered if part of his hesitancy in asking Virginia out was that she might not want to have a serious relationship with someone in his position. Well, she would be a better judge of that herself than he ever could. It was time to bite the bullet and just ask her out.

It seemed like he had been waiting in the pew forever when the wedding started. Finally, the reverend and Hieronymous came to stand by the alter, his sister was led down the aisle by their grandfather, and the ceremony began. His grandfather gave her away, and joined him on the pew. Then the reverend gave a short sermon on marriage before moving on to the vows.

"Do you, Hieronymous Grabiner, take Alice Carleton to be your wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do you part, according to God's holy law, in the presence of God?" the reverend asked.

"I do," he answered.

"Do you, Alice Carleton, take Hieronymous Grabiner to be your husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do you part, according to God's holy law, in the presence of God?"

"I do," she answered.

It seemed strange to Clark to think that there would be another wedding in less than a month. He guessed that since they would have to live in both the normal and the wizard world, they would have to be married in both dominions. Apparently, most wizard families were 'off the grid' of the normal world in most ways. Otherwise, the IRS and similar agencies would be trying to locate all the people that lived and worked in Otherworld. He guessed that keeping the wizard and normal world separate was a complicated task that kept many mages busy. As he would eventually be going into both normal and wizard politics himself, he suspected he would become intimately involved in the process.

Blinking, he realized that his sister and her husband had just traded rings, had kissed, and were being announced as husband and wife. In the absence of a room full of guests, they just got up from their seats to directly congratulate the 'new' couple. Afterwards, the 'newlyweds' went with the reverend and Grandfather to fill out the necessary paperwork, leaving him alone with the senior Grabiner.

When the door closed behind them, Grabiner turned to face him. "Out of curiosity," he asked, "exactly how did my son and your sister meet?"

"She physically ran into him after Mom and Dad dropped her off at school last year," Clark answered, having heard that story only a few evenings ago over the playing cards. "Apparently he wasn't impressed at the time, but that eventually changed."

Grabiner made a nose that almost sounded like a chortle. "Sometimes my lad, there is no substitute for simple luck."

"For which result, Lord Grabiner?" he asked, deciding to fish a little. "That you son is married, that your daughter-in-law is of another House instead of a Wildseed? About last night?"

Grabiner raised an eyebrow at him. "You sister tells you everything, apparently. You must be very close. You can rest assured that I do not flagrantly defy convention—I thought that your sister was older than she is."

Clark nodded as if he knew what the man was talking about, trying to appear offended…but only moderately so. If he should be more offended than that, the older man would probably take it as restraint, and if less offended was appropriate under the circumstances Grabiner would take it as youthful passion. "She has not acted her age since she was twelve, before our mother got sick," he said, as if reluctantly granting the elder Grabiner that particular point.

Grabiner sighed. "It was fortunate for your family that your grandfather succeeded in his action, and fortunate for everyone involved that I failed in mine. As I said, I misjudged her age. I was also ignorant of the fact that they were planning on extending their contract."

Clark nodded, as if he accepted that, then turned away to sit back down to wait while he replayed that last through his head again. Grabiner had failed…his grandfather had succeeded….

He went rigid, realizing what had almost happened. Now he knew why Hieronymous wanted little to do with his father, and was even more grateful for the father he had himself even if he had to hide part of his life from him.

...

There you go, a nice long chapter. Reviews will be answered in a timely fashion, as always. :)