One day he did not even speak to me afore making his way directly to the king’s daughter. “My Lady Elizabeth.” One of Kate’s men took his coat and Thomas sat near the fire, where Elizabeth practiced her letters.
“Lord Thomas,” she said, a grin on her face. At shy of fourteen she was not yet a woman but no longer still a girl. I kept in mind that my lady mother had been but two years older than Elizabeth when she had married my father and, shortly thereafter, bore me. It put me on guard. He spoke to her softly for a few moments before I heard him challenge her.
“You shall be sure not to bedevil the queen whilst a member of her household,” Thomas said, grinning wickedly in her direction. “Or you shall have to answer to me, my lady, and ye shall find the discipline not to your pleasure at all.”
Elizabeth’s white skin grew red and her freckles darkened. But her black eyes remained calm and resolute, blinking not at all behind their hawk’s hoods. “I shall keep that in mind, sir,” she said with a smile. Then she turned back to her quill and parchment.
Lord Thomas grinned and moved away, but I had the feeling that he did not like being dismissed; rather, he preferred to decide when to draw a conversation to a close. Shortly thereafter, he went to find Kate and once he did, put his hands on her hips in full view of the others in the room. I turned away lest I grow red myself.
One day, the Lady Elizabeth’s governess, Kat Ashley, found me as I was making an inventory of the queen dowager’s gowns as well as her few remaining pieces of jewelry afore she pressed her case to Lady Seymour, to speak with her husband to have Kate’s jewelry returned. Although the queen had them placed in the tower, and the lord protector himself had read the king’s will that gave them to her, Edward Seymour had not allowed any to be taken: not gifts from Kate’s mother, nor her wedding ring from His Majesty, nor any other of her personal possessions.
“Excuse me, Mistress St. John.” Kat Ashley spoke up. “Do you by chance know what Lord Thomas’s marriage plans are?”
I set the gowns down. What an odd question. Had word leaked back to court already that Thomas was pressing Kate to make a quick marriage? Or had Kat seen one of Thomas’s early morning visits?
“I’m sure I don’t know,” I said. She nodded and we made small talk and soon after, she took her leave. I thought it unusual, but perhaps she was concerned for the Lady Elizabeth’s reputation should the household fall under scrutiny. I dismissed the concern.
The next week we all dined at Baynard’s Castle, which Kate had given to her sister, Lady Herbert, and her sister’s husband, Lord Herbert. It was to be a celebratory event, a way to honor the Lady Elizabeth, daughter to one king and now sister of another. She was given precedence after the queen dowager and afterward there was a small musical reception with players Lady Herbert had hired.
“I hear you’ve bought the wardship of Lady Jane Grey,” Herbert boomed out toward Lord Thomas from across the room.
“I have indeed, and it was no small purchase,” Seymour answered.
“Two thousand pounds is what I heard,” Herbert said.
At that, Kate gasped. I suspected Thomas had not discussed this with her.
“A bold man takes risks where the dividends will pay handsomely,” Lord Thomas said.
“Do you mean to marry her to the king, then?” Herbert spoke up.
It was exactly what Thomas intended. All knew that whilst he could not control the king directly, he sought to curry favor with all others who had a claim to the throne. He intended to marry Lady Jane Grey to the king; if he succeeded, he, Thomas Seymour, would have great power as her ward. “My brother may have tied the council’s hands,” he had told Kate, “but I shall hold the children’s hearts.”
“’Tis entirely possible the council will tie your hands when they find out,” Kate had replied, and he dismissed it with a wave of his hand, a merry dance, and a kiss on her lips.
I turned back to look at Herbert, who had handily discerned Thomas’s plan. He was waiting for an answer.
“The king’s daughters marry only upon the approval of the counsel,” Thomas said. “But the king himself only needs rely upon their advice.”
For some reason, the talk of Lady Jane Grey clearly upset Kate’s sister, and I was nearby when she pulled Lord Thomas aside and spoke. “A better question of marriage may be, are you about to marry my sister?”
“Nothing could be more satisfactory to me. Alas, she keeps me at a distance,” Thomas answered.
“Nay, ’tis not the truth. I hear that there be many midnight visits to Chelsea and some lasting hours.”
At this, Thomas blushed like a maiden and owned up that yes, he did visit her but ’twas nothing improper. Lady Herbert raised her eyebrow, after which I kept my eyes fixed to the ground.
In mid-May, Kate and Thomas were secretly wed at Baynard’s Castle, with her sister and brother as witnesses and a priest with reformist beliefs marrying them. They stayed there, as guests, on a honeymoon of sorts whilst the rest of us remained at Chelsea, and Lady Jane Grey and her household at Seymour Place, so it would seem all was normal. They could not tell anyone, of course, till they had the favor of the lord protector and the king on this matter, which they set about to quickly secure.
Kate radiated bliss, and I was delighted for her because this was the first time she’d promised to be bonny at bed and at board where she meant it of her own free will and not as a duty. I could not but be a bit envious of her radiating happiness, wishing I had a wedding day of my own to look forward to. I had some reservations about Sir Thomas, though. Kate looked as though she had just conquered an army, but as I had now seen Thomas’s recklessness regularly and in increasing strength, I feared that she would soon be undone.
There was a night whilst Kate was still at Baynard’s that I awoke to find Kat Ashley standing over me, her hair in her sleeping cap and a candle in her hand.
“Mistress St. John, are you all right?”
I sat up in bed and gathered my senses as I took in my surroundings. It had been a long while since I’d had my prophetic dream, and this strongly, and it had taken me by surprise.
“Yes, I’m all right. ’Twas merely a night terror,” I said, and she returned to her chamber.
It was the dream of Lord Thomas with the dagger that I already knew. And the Lady Elizabeth under duress. Now, dishearteningly, I saw that it was Kate who held Elizabeth firm.
What shall You require me to do?
FOURTEEN
Summer and Autumn: Year of Our Lord 1547
Chelsea
Syon House
One evening in June I was in my lady’s dressing chamber sorting through some gowns and slippers, determining which would be stored for the summer and which were still appropriate for wear, when I heard a knock at the door. Kate opened it. I could not see who it was, but by her words I knew it to be Thomas. She was still dressed for the day so merely asked him, “Could you come back in thirty minutes, husband? I must finish dressing for bed.”