» Wed Dec 07, 2011 9:49 pm
Okay first off, you bumped your post 40 minutes after posting it? C'mon...
And you were posting for someone to hurry up and help you before it had even been up for an hour? C'mon again...
To answer your question, Lydia is just a Housecarl. They are just basically like protectors of your house. Since nothing ever tries to hurt you or steal from you in your house, they really don't do anything except if you recruit them as a companion. There is one for every house. They aren't related to marriage in any way (other than that it is possible to marry most, if not all of them).
There are many NPCs in the game that can be married, but not all of them can. To do it, you need to go to the temple of Mara in Riften, and get an Amulet of Mara. Then, while wearing it, just talk to someone you want to marry. If they are available for marriage there will be extra dialogue options. In most cases, you have to do something for them, like a quest related to them or a small favor in order to gain their favor. That's pretty much it.