'muggle nobility' he said with a scoffing laugh, 'but I suppose when one isn't pureblood one will cling to anything that makes you feel special. But I suppose you are right that if a maid were to steal from a Selwyn the repercussions would be dire...' he smirked and consulted his nails for dirt. 'but then you are not a real Selwyn.' He looked at her from toe to head, 'Selwyns are pureblood, you are not, Selwyns are not base born, you are, Selwyns are not the illegitimate leavings in an old whore...you are' he dared her to challenge anything he had said as untrue. When the both knew it was -her mother hadn't even been a mistress, just a port in a storm for a man with a known penchant for beautiful if vacuous women.

'You over estimate your power in this house' he retorted, 'Father took you in because of his sense of honour, but you have no dowry, no debut as a daughter of this house, you rely on a muggle noble to take pity on you. You are a pet, like a dog or horse that father is fond of, but if you bit one of the true born members of the family, you would be out on your ear, and the law would not protect you.' Liliana might have been pretty, in a common way, but it didn't change what she was, her own delusions about the position she held in their fathers home was exactly that - a delusion. Their father had acknowledged her, and although named a Selwyn she had no legal claim to the name, but that was as far as his protection had extended, and the only social norm he had bucked for her sake. Her mother hadn't been special - only the first trollop to give him an illegitimate child. There were others - at least if you believed the gossip.

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