Silence No More

44. The Secret Way

"This..." I swallowed, staring at the page in front of me. "Is this true?"

Ella nodded solemnly. "It is."

"What is?" The other girls, curious pests that they were, stuck their heads over my shoulders. "Let me see!"

In a blink, the book was snatched away by Eve—only for her to nearly collapse under the weight.

"Gah!"

"Be careful!" Flora lunged forward. "I'll help you—oumph!"

For a moment longer, the two of them struggled with the behemoth of a book. When they had finally managed to manoeuvre it into a readable position, they eagerly leaned over the yellowed pages and started to read aloud.

"...is a well-known fact that the laws pertaining to heredity are based on traditions originating from medieval times. In this area of the law of our fair kingdom, a curious division exists due to the differences between Anglo-Saxon and Norman legal systems. Most peerages in the realm follow the system of patrilineal primogeniture introduced by King William the Conqueror and his Norman vassals when they introduced their customs into English society during the conquest of 1066 AD. However, a rare few peerages..."

Letting her voice trail off, Eve glanced up and sent Ella a dour look. "Is this legal drivel supposed to do anything other than give me a headache?"

"Read on," Ella commanded. "Now."

With a grumble, Eve bent down and continued.

"...however, some peerages established before the conquest, such as Markland, Herringford or Ambrose, continue the outdated Saxon custom of absolute primogeniture. This means that, for such a title, the oldest child will inherit regardless of whether it be male or female. Additionally, if it is a male heir, yet he chooses to renounce his claim, then said title may be inherited by his oldest sibling, be they...male...or...female..."

For a long moment, silence descended over the library.

Until...

"Holy. Crap."

"That is one way of putting it."

"Does that mean what I think it means?"

"Yes, Eve." Ella nodded proudly. "Yes, it does."

"Holy Moly..." Flora breathed. "Just wait till Adaira hears of this."

"I can hear the maniacal cackling already."

"So, it's really true." Swallowing, I stepped towards the book once more and gazed down at the passage that changed everything. "Adaira can inherit."

"How the heck did we miss this?" Eve demanded. "Why didn't we even think of the idea that Adaira herself might be able to become Marchioness Ambrose? We're feminists, goddammit! That's the kind of thing we should have thought of first! So why?"

"Probably because the world is full of chauvinistic bastards?" Snorting, I gestured at the portraits of men in imperious poses covering all parts of the walls that weren't covered by bookshelves. "Why would we assume that anything can be inherited by women when, through most of recent history, nothing could be? These old laws, though..." Smirking, I tapped my finger on the book. "These laws come from the dark ages, when people were too busy trying not to starve to worry about what other people have between their legs. And, apparently, nobody ever bothered to change them."

"So," Eve recapitulated with mounting excitement, "all we have to do is to tell Lilly's man that he needs to publicly renounce his title. He can keep his business empire and, with his younger sister, the old marquess will get the heir he wants.