suggested that the marriage occurred at Baynard’s Castle in late May 1547, though this is mere supposition.)
*5 There is at least one earlier recorded mistress.
4
WHAT WE CANNOT REMEDY
Catherine and Thomas struggled to decide on the best way of presenting their secret marriage to his brother. Catherine’s relationship with the Duke of Somerset was coloured by her belief that he had outmanoeuvred her in the dying days of Henry VIII. She had once been close to his wife, Anne Stanhope, and had hoped for more support from her. 1 In the weeks following Henry’s death, as the two women’s positions shifted, Catherine found Anne’s conduct towards her neglectful: it was ‘her custom to promise many comings to her friends, and to perform none’. Catherine was still brooding over these slights when she arrived at Chelsea. She wrote to Thomas to complain that his brother had made many promises, but that they were as yet ‘unperformed’. She thought Anne ‘hath taught him that lesson’. Thomas, however, was more hopeful that his sister-in-law could be their friend. He spoke to her in person at court one day in March, and asked her if she would see Catherine. The Duchess of Somerset’s imperious response was that she would be at her house in Sheen for the next few days, but that ‘at her return on Tuesday’ she would see the queen. 2
Neither Catherine nor Thomas was convinced that they could obtain the duchess’s favour. Thomas wrote to Catherine asking her: ‘if ye see yourself in good credit with her, to desire Her Grace to be my good lady. And if I see myself in more favour than you, I shall make the like request for you.’ 3 But Anne Stanhope, as the Protector’s wife, saw herself as the queen of the court, and she was not prepared to cede her place to a woman whom Henry VIII had merely married in what a chronicler described as his ‘doting days, when he had brought himself so low by his lust and cruelty that no lady that stood on her honour would venture on him’. 4 The Duchess of Somerset questioned the morals of ‘Latimer’s widow’ even before she knew of the queen’s secret marriage; either way, she was determined not to ‘give place to her’.
As spring turned into summer, Catherine and Thomas continued their snatched meetings at Chelsea. Such trysts were highly charged given the constant danger of detection. On one occasion, while he was lurking in the fields with a letter for his wife, Thomas was spotted by a servant of Catherine’s brother, the Marquess of Northampton. 5 Seymour thought no more of it, as he did not recognize the man, but he himself was instantly recognizable. The servant rushed to inform Nicholas Throckmorton, Catherine’s cousin.
The couple were lucky that it was only Throckmorton, who loved his kinswoman, and the matter went no further. Nonetheless, on realizing how close they had come to being discovered, Thomas threw his letter in the fire. Catherine had already cautioned him to ensure that their correspondence, so full of passion and plotting, did not fall into hostile hands. Yet she had already broken her own commandment by keeping his letters. And Thomas could not bring himself to stay away from her. He wrote to her again, expressing the hope that his words would be received with ‘goodwill’. In May he sent her a red deer and a buck that he had killed. The queen generously rewarded the servants who bore the gifts. 6 She ordered that her plate be brought up from London for a banquet but, without Thomas there, the celebrations must have been muted. 7
There is no doubt that Thomas, in spite of his earlier attempts to find a more prestigious bride, was deeply attracted to Catherine. He probably even loved her. He swore that when he wrote letters to her they were ‘from the body of him whose heart ye have’. 8 On another occasion he wrote in reply to one of Catherine’s letters to him: ‘from your highness humble servant, assured and faithful friend, and loving
*5 There is at least one earlier recorded mistress.
4
WHAT WE CANNOT REMEDY
Catherine and Thomas struggled to decide on the best way of presenting their secret marriage to his brother. Catherine’s relationship with the Duke of Somerset was coloured by her belief that he had outmanoeuvred her in the dying days of Henry VIII. She had once been close to his wife, Anne Stanhope, and had hoped for more support from her. 1 In the weeks following Henry’s death, as the two women’s positions shifted, Catherine found Anne’s conduct towards her neglectful: it was ‘her custom to promise many comings to her friends, and to perform none’. Catherine was still brooding over these slights when she arrived at Chelsea. She wrote to Thomas to complain that his brother had made many promises, but that they were as yet ‘unperformed’. She thought Anne ‘hath taught him that lesson’. Thomas, however, was more hopeful that his sister-in-law could be their friend. He spoke to her in person at court one day in March, and asked her if she would see Catherine. The Duchess of Somerset’s imperious response was that she would be at her house in Sheen for the next few days, but that ‘at her return on Tuesday’ she would see the queen. 2
Neither Catherine nor Thomas was convinced that they could obtain the duchess’s favour. Thomas wrote to Catherine asking her: ‘if ye see yourself in good credit with her, to desire Her Grace to be my good lady. And if I see myself in more favour than you, I shall make the like request for you.’ 3 But Anne Stanhope, as the Protector’s wife, saw herself as the queen of the court, and she was not prepared to cede her place to a woman whom Henry VIII had merely married in what a chronicler described as his ‘doting days, when he had brought himself so low by his lust and cruelty that no lady that stood on her honour would venture on him’. 4 The Duchess of Somerset questioned the morals of ‘Latimer’s widow’ even before she knew of the queen’s secret marriage; either way, she was determined not to ‘give place to her’.
As spring turned into summer, Catherine and Thomas continued their snatched meetings at Chelsea. Such trysts were highly charged given the constant danger of detection. On one occasion, while he was lurking in the fields with a letter for his wife, Thomas was spotted by a servant of Catherine’s brother, the Marquess of Northampton. 5 Seymour thought no more of it, as he did not recognize the man, but he himself was instantly recognizable. The servant rushed to inform Nicholas Throckmorton, Catherine’s cousin.
The couple were lucky that it was only Throckmorton, who loved his kinswoman, and the matter went no further. Nonetheless, on realizing how close they had come to being discovered, Thomas threw his letter in the fire. Catherine had already cautioned him to ensure that their correspondence, so full of passion and plotting, did not fall into hostile hands. Yet she had already broken her own commandment by keeping his letters. And Thomas could not bring himself to stay away from her. He wrote to her again, expressing the hope that his words would be received with ‘goodwill’. In May he sent her a red deer and a buck that he had killed. The queen generously rewarded the servants who bore the gifts. 6 She ordered that her plate be brought up from London for a banquet but, without Thomas there, the celebrations must have been muted. 7
There is no doubt that Thomas, in spite of his earlier attempts to find a more prestigious bride, was deeply attracted to Catherine. He probably even loved her. He swore that when he wrote letters to her they were ‘from the body of him whose heart ye have’. 8 On another occasion he wrote in reply to one of Catherine’s letters to him: ‘from your highness humble servant, assured and faithful friend, and loving
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