Stardust_Breaker
The whole thing with the maid doesn't really fit with the setting. I blame modern sensibilities. Our perception of people and history is really warped. There was no middle class back then. There were the clergy, the nobility, and the commoner (in that order of class). The position of each within their class was dependent upon proximity to power or the power wielded. The modern thought is that the merchant is somehow higher than a nobleman's servants. However, this wasn't usually the case at all, particularly when it comes to the servants of royalty (versus a non-titled country gentleman's). A number of royal servant positions were downright prestigious and sometimes awarded(!) to relatives of loyal nobles. Merchants and tradesmen were very careful not to offend them. Even minor nobility would be hesitant to cross a high ranking noble's personal valet or lady's maid, let alone the house butler or housekeeper (the latter two were in charge of the domestic servants). If anything, the engagement to a merchant(!) family's daughter to a royal heir would be scandalous, if it weren't for the imperial family's dire straits at the time. Even if they're now titled!