Elizabeth, his half sister, later Queen of England.
Catherine Parr, Queen of England; sixth wife of Henry VIII, later married to Thomas Seymour.
The Greys
Henry Grey, Marquis of Dorset, later Duke of Suffolk.
Frances Grey (née Brandon), wife of Henry Grey, Marchioness of Dorset, later Duchess of Suffolk; niece to Henry VIII.
Jane Grey, daughter of Henry and Frances Grey, later married to Guildford Dudley.
Katherine (“Kate”) Grey, daughter of Henry and Frances Grey.
Mary Grey, daughter of Henry and Frances Grey.
The Dudleys
John Dudley, Viscount Lisle, later Earl of Warwick, later Duke of Northumberland.
Jane Dudley (née Guildford), wife of John Dudley, Viscountess Lisle, later Countess of Warwick, later Duchess of Northumberland.
John (“Jack”) Dudley, son of John and Jane Dudley, later Earl of Warwick, later married to Anne Seymour.
Ambrose Dudley, son of John and Jane Dudley, later married first to Anne “Nan” Whorwood, then to Elizabeth Tailboys.
Robert Dudley, son of John and Jane Dudley, later married to Amy Robsart.
Guildford Dudley, son of John and Jane Dudley, later married to Jane Grey.
Henry (“Hal”) Dudley, son of John and Jane Dudley, later married to Margaret Audley.
Mary Dudley, daughter of John and Jane Dudley, later married to Henry Sidney.
Katheryn Dudley, daughter of John and Jane Dudley, later married to Henry, Lord Hastings.
Andrew Dudley, younger brother of John Dudley.
Jerome Dudley, younger brother of John Dudley.
The Seymours
Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, later Duke of Somerset (“the Protector”). Brother to Jane Seymour, third wife of Henry VIII.
Anne Seymour, wife to Edward Seymour, Countess of Hertford, later Duchess of Somerset.
Anne Seymour, daughter of Edward and Anne Seymour, later married to Jack Dudley, known as Countess of Warwick after October 1551.
Jane Seymour, daughter of Edward and Anne Seymour.
Edward Seymour, son of Edward and Anne Seymour, later Earl of Hertford.
Thomas Seymour, later Lord Sudeley (“the Admiral”), younger brother to Edward Seymour, later married to Catherine Parr.
Others
John Aylmer, tutor to Lady Jane Grey.
Katherine Brandon (née Willoughby), Duchess of Suffolk; widow of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk; stepmother of Frances Grey; later married to Richard Bertie.
Bess Cavendish, friend of Frances Grey, later known as Elizabeth Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury.
Susan Clarencius, lady-in-waiting to Mary.
Ursula Ellen, gentlewoman to Jane Grey.
George Ferrers, courtier and Lord of Misrule.
Henry Fitzalan, Earl of Arundel, nobleman.
Maudlyn Flower, gentlewoman to Jane Dudley.
Edward Guildford, father of Jane Dudley.
Joan Guildford, wife of Edward Guildford, stepmother to Jane Dudley.
Francis Hastings, Earl of Huntingdon, father-in-law of Katheryn Dudley.
Henry, Lord Hastings, son of Francis Hastings, husband to Katheryn Dudley.
George Medley, half brother to Henry Grey.
Elizabeth Page, mother of Anne, Duchess of Somerset.
William Paget, royal councilor.
Anne Paget, wife of William Paget.
Elizabeth Parr, Marchioness of Northampton.
William Paulet, Lord St. John, later Marquis of Winchester.
Adrian Stokes, master of the horse to Frances Grey, later her second husband.
Elizabeth Tilney, gentlewoman to Jane Grey.
Anne Throckmorton, friend of the Greys.
Anne Wharton, lady-in-waiting to Mary.
Part I
1
Jane Dudley
January 1555
If there is an advantage to dying, it is this: people humor one’s wishes. I could ask for all manner of ridiculous things, and I daresay someone would try to oblige me, but instead I simply call for pen and paper.
“Here follows my last will and testament, written with my own hands,” I begin, and then I stop, frowning. I am not learned in the law, and the thought occurs to me that perhaps I should give up my task and call in someone who is. But he would charge for it, and that fee would make my children, who have lost so much already, that much the poorer. So I press on. I can say what I need to say as well as any lawyer can, though I might not be as verbose about it. If these last few months have taught me anything, it is how to fend for myself, which is more than I can say for some women I know.
But there is a phrase I am searching for. What is it?
Being in perfect memory, of course. I smile to myself, for although I have forgotten that phrase, there is not much else I have forgotten.
January 1512 to January 1547
I was not born to high estate. My father, Edward Guildford, was only a knight—and he was not even that when I was born, but a mere squire, albeit one high in the young king’s favor. It was owing to this royal esteem that one chilly day in January 1512, my father strode into our hall at Halden in Kent with a black-haired boy in tow. “This is John Dudley, Mouse,” Father said, using the pet name