The Sixth Wife_ The Story of Katherine P - By Jean Plaidy Page 0,114
she could be…if she had eluded her attendants.”
“You presume too much, sir.”
“I would I might presume more.”
Her defenses dropped suddenly; he had that effect upon her. She said in a pathetic voice: “You asked my hand in marriage, and then you must have gone straight to my stepmother and made similar protestations of love.”
“You refused me,” he reminded her.
“I could not marry without the consent of the Council.”
“Nor could the Queen… but she did.”
“You did not seek to marry for love, My Lord Admiral.”
“That is just what I did.”
“When you asked me, or my stepmother?”
“When I asked you both.”
“You thought I should be the better prize. Was that why I had the honor of the first proposal?”
“Why do you ask? I see in your eyes that you believe yourself to be the greatest prize in the world. You respect me for my wit; therefore you must know that I could not fail to recognize that prize.”
“You are a bold man, Admiral.”
“You are a bold Princess. Is that why we like each other, do you think?”
“Have a care, my bold Admiral.”
“I will, my bold Princess. You must have a care. Even more than I perhaps, you must take care.”
She stepped away from him. “I beg of you to cease this unmannerly conduct toward me.”
He smiled ironically. “My lady Princess, you may be sure that I will follow your wishes in that respect, whatever they may be.”
She walked away from him, back through the meadows to the Palace. Her cheeks were flushed and her spirits high.
She was pleased, for she was now rid of the tiresome problem of considering a marriage which would be far beneath her; and at the same time she need not dispense with the handsome gentleman’s wooing.
KATHARINE PARR WAS ANGRY with her brother-in-law and his wife.
Anne, Duchess of Somerset, had refused pointblank to carry her train. She had said insulting things about her sister-in-law, pointing out that it was unseemly for the wife of the Protector to pay homage to his younger brother’s wife.
Lady Herbert called at Seymour Place to see the Queen; she was vaguely worried about the attitude of the haughty Duchess.
Katharine embraced her sister warmly. Anne Herbert studied Katharine and found it difficult to believe that this happy woman was the same one who had almost died of terror less than a year ago.
“There is no need to ask how you are,” said Lady Herbert. “It is writ on your face.”
“I am well, sister. And you? And my Lord Herbert?”
“Both well, Kate. It is wonderful to see you thus.”
“Oh, Anne, I never thought to come to such happiness. It seems now that everything I suffered has been worth while, since I could never have appreciated this to the full had I not known great misery.”
“You deserve all the happiness in the world. And my lord, your husband?”
“He is well and as happy as I am.”
“May God preserve your happiness,” said Anne Herbert; and she said it fervently, for she was not so inclined to believe in the fine qualities of Thomas Seymour as was Katharine. There were too many well-authenticated stories concerning his light behavior, his ambitions, and the schemes he had once laid to bring about a union with the Princess Elizabeth. She wondered whether she should warn her sister, but when she remembered that terrible melancholy which she had previously witnessed, she could not spoil, by one word of warning, this unsullied happiness which her sister was now enjoying.
“I think,” said Lady Herbert, “you are so happy that you do not care that there is all this pother about the royal jewels.”
“I do not care for the jewels,” said Katharine. “Marry, I am happier without them than I ever was with them. But I am angry that my sister-in-law should give herself such airs. I believe she would like to wear the jewels herself.”
“Indeed she would. She fancies herself a Queen, I doubt not.”
Katharine laughed. “Thomas cares not a jot for my Lord Protector.”
“He should, Kate. The Protector and his wife are very powerful now. Dearest sister, you have come through great dangers. For the love of God, do not court more.”
“I court danger! Never, Anne. I do not care for these jewels. Do I need jewels to make me happy? When I was the King’s wife, those precious gems were mine. But was I happy then? Oh, Anne, you know the answer to that.”
“Then, Kate, why is there so much noisy talk about them?”
“Thomas thinks that his brother and his wife humiliate