Just as a point of discussion, the fumble on Cedwyn's courtesy roll was a failure no matter the target.
However, since he picked the tougher target he had set the bar higher for himself right off the hop. A woman of equal rank is not as easily impressed, so so the difficulty in wooing is higher, and such a woman would not be terribly forgiving of mistakes. A woman below your social station would be more easily impressed (lower difficulty), and also more forgiving of blunders and fumbles. The greater the social gulf, the easier it would be.
Corey was doing a good job in the narrative, but I interpreted his fumble on the courtesy roll as a modifier of the lady's reaction to his efforts. He was (I think) going for thoughtful and ambitious, but the lady did not perceive it that way. Does that make sense?
A lower social status woman in the same situation would have been more forgiving, as she has much more to gain from the arrangement, and there was a better chance she would have overlooked any shortcomings.
This isn't meant as a criticism, just a statement of how I interpreted the rules.
Also keep in mind that during the Uther period, there's no real requirement for you to interact with the ladies at all. You could simply approach the father / guardian directly. Later in the game, that becomes much less of an option (when Romance ascends). But in the Uther period, marriage is strictly a business arrangement.
So, Corey, even the fumble is not a bar to marriage with Ysbail. She may no longer be interested, but you could still approach her father directly and marry her, whether she wished it or not.
Now, having said that, marrying someone who does not want to marry you can lead to some interesting household developments down the road.
And Cedwyn may end up winning her over in the long run - her certainly has the courtesy for it.
There's also some rules about wives, as sort of a house rule the game creator uses:
If you have an NPC wife, her stats are fairly limited. But if you have a PC wife (played by someone other than you, as an alternate character perhaps), then they get the full creation package, including special gifts (skills) and the like, and RP opportunities. So, if you can convince Ken to play your wife, you get a stronger companion, which has some benefits and drawbacks.
NPC wives are fine, but I wanted to point out that you have other options for a more rewarding but challenging arrangement.
