Essex and thereafter to her East Anglian estates. 49 Her sister Elizabeth remained in the capital and was frequently seen in the queen’s company: she was rather more aware of Catherine’s secret marriage than her stepmother realized. 50 Towards the end of the month, the queen and her younger stepdaughter moved briefly to St James’s Palace, while they prepared for the move to Chelsea. 51 It was warmer now and Elizabeth’s lady mistress, Kate Ashley, took her exercise in the park beside the palace. One day she came upon Thomas Seymour, who was probably attempting to visit his wife. She approached, telling him boldly that she had heard it said that he should have married Elizabeth. 52 No, said Thomas, she was mistaken since he did not intend to lose his head for a wife. ‘It could not be,’ he continued, but he assured Mistress Ashley that he would prove to have the queen. The forthright Kate merely laughed, saying this was past proof as she had heard he had already married Catherine. Seymour said nothing; but his silence was telling.
Catherine and Elizabeth set out for Chelsea in April 1547, accompanied by their households. The queen, who distributed alms liberally to the poor that she met on the road, had mixed feelings. 53 She was relieved to be leaving behind the strictures of life in the capital, but she regretted the inevitable separation from her new husband. Before parting, the couple promised to write to each other every two weeks. 54 It was an interval that the queen found too long, and she playfully claimed to Thomas that ‘weeks be shorter at Chelsea than in other places’ as she sat down to write to him long before two weeks had expired. Signing the letter ‘by hers that is yours to serve and obey during her life’, Catherine settled down to wait impatiently for a reply.
Soon, Thomas was haunting the fields around Chelsea, seeking the intimacy of a secret encounter with his wife. In the early hours of the morning, as the spring sky was just beginning to lighten over Chelsea, a cloaked figure intent on remaining unseen would make its way through the damp grass to the gate at the edge of the field. Here Catherine would listen for footsteps, and, on hearing them, would open the gate, before slipping back with her visitor to the smart brick manor house. There they could spend a few precious, unnoticed hours alone together. In this way, the woman who to all the world was a grieving dowager queen and the man who was looked upon as the realm’s most eligible bachelor could make the most of their still-secret marriage. By 7 o’clock in the morning, Thomas had hurried away.
In their correspondence Thomas reminded Catherine of a promise she had made, ‘to change the two years [of public mourning and widowhood] into two months’. 55 He had seduced her, he had married her and he had bedded her. The time had come, as far as Thomas Seymour was concerned, for Catherine’s ostentatious mourning to end. He wanted to reap the rewards of having a royal bride.
*1 Seymour had also already managed to alienate Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, when he complained about his hospitality to the king (Narratives, pp. 260–3).
*2 He was the son of Edmund Dudley who, along with Sir Richard Empson, had attracted opprobrium under Henry VII for their assiduous implementation of royal measures to squeeze money out of England’s nobility. Henry VIII, on his accession in 1509, courted popularity by having both men arrested and charged with treason. They were executed in 1510.
*3 Records at The National Archives (TNA E36/120 f. 70) describe the discovery of a wax effigy of Prince Edward, stuck through with a knife in 1538. Prophecies and other such attempts on his life are also recorded.
*4 See Vertot, pp. 101–3, for Seymour’s declaration of love, and Leti for the date of the marriage. The marriage date is controversial, although the surviving evidence supports an early date. (James, in Catherine Parr , p. 269,
Catherine and Elizabeth set out for Chelsea in April 1547, accompanied by their households. The queen, who distributed alms liberally to the poor that she met on the road, had mixed feelings. 53 She was relieved to be leaving behind the strictures of life in the capital, but she regretted the inevitable separation from her new husband. Before parting, the couple promised to write to each other every two weeks. 54 It was an interval that the queen found too long, and she playfully claimed to Thomas that ‘weeks be shorter at Chelsea than in other places’ as she sat down to write to him long before two weeks had expired. Signing the letter ‘by hers that is yours to serve and obey during her life’, Catherine settled down to wait impatiently for a reply.
Soon, Thomas was haunting the fields around Chelsea, seeking the intimacy of a secret encounter with his wife. In the early hours of the morning, as the spring sky was just beginning to lighten over Chelsea, a cloaked figure intent on remaining unseen would make its way through the damp grass to the gate at the edge of the field. Here Catherine would listen for footsteps, and, on hearing them, would open the gate, before slipping back with her visitor to the smart brick manor house. There they could spend a few precious, unnoticed hours alone together. In this way, the woman who to all the world was a grieving dowager queen and the man who was looked upon as the realm’s most eligible bachelor could make the most of their still-secret marriage. By 7 o’clock in the morning, Thomas had hurried away.
In their correspondence Thomas reminded Catherine of a promise she had made, ‘to change the two years [of public mourning and widowhood] into two months’. 55 He had seduced her, he had married her and he had bedded her. The time had come, as far as Thomas Seymour was concerned, for Catherine’s ostentatious mourning to end. He wanted to reap the rewards of having a royal bride.
*1 Seymour had also already managed to alienate Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, when he complained about his hospitality to the king (Narratives, pp. 260–3).
*2 He was the son of Edmund Dudley who, along with Sir Richard Empson, had attracted opprobrium under Henry VII for their assiduous implementation of royal measures to squeeze money out of England’s nobility. Henry VIII, on his accession in 1509, courted popularity by having both men arrested and charged with treason. They were executed in 1510.
*3 Records at The National Archives (TNA E36/120 f. 70) describe the discovery of a wax effigy of Prince Edward, stuck through with a knife in 1538. Prophecies and other such attempts on his life are also recorded.
*4 See Vertot, pp. 101–3, for Seymour’s declaration of love, and Leti for the date of the marriage. The marriage date is controversial, although the surviving evidence supports an early date. (James, in Catherine Parr , p. 269,
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