cannot!”
TO SOME IT MIGHT have seemed difficult to concentrate on lessons; this was not the case with the young Elizabeth. Hurt and humiliated she had been, but there were times when she could completely banish that humiliation from her mind. She could welcome what had happened with Seymour as an experience from which she could learn much; and one thing she had learned was that no amount of study could give a Princess that knowledge of human nature which was perhaps more desirable than any other. A good understanding of the people would be the first requirement of one who planned to rule them.
So, even while she wept, while she gave herself up to silent rages, she could not be altogether angry with the newly married pair.
She was determined to face the truth. Katharine was in love with Thomas Seymour, and she did not see him as the avaricious philanderer; therefore it would be folly to feel anger against the Queen. As for Thomas, he was still Thomas; and she had never believed him to be a saint.
She must be calm; she must try to understand the motives behind people’s actions, she must therefore welcome all experience, however bitter.
Her servants were her friends; she had never to ask them in vain for any special service. Her appealing youthfulness, her dangerous position, that troublous childhood through which she had passed, touched them deeply and bound them to her. Moreover, although she could at times be more imperious than any, she could also show the utmost familiarity. She was loyal to them and defended them always if they were in any trouble. These qualities bound them to her, and if she knew the secret of the bonds, that did not make them less secure.
Her cofferer, Thomas Parry, had not hesitated to betray the Admiral to her. When the news of Thomas’s marriage to the Queen was bruited abroad, Parry had looked sly, and Elizabeth, sensing this, demanded to know why.
“My lady Princess,” said Parry, “he has married the Queen, but to my mind he was hoping for the Princess.”
She could not hide her satisfied smile. “Master Parry, why do you say that?”
“It is because of what happened the day after the King’s burial.”
“And what was that?”
“My Lord Admiral sought me out and put to me many questions concerning your ladyship.”
“Questions! And how dared you discuss me with the Admiral!”
“’ Twas not your ladyship so much as your possessions, and doubtless he thought I would be the person most fitted to inform him in such matters.”
“My possessions!”
“Yes, he would know what lands and estates were yours, and methinks he was well pleased with what was coming to you.”
The Princess’s eyes narrowed and she laughed immoderately.
“The Admiral is a very cautious man, Tom Parry.”
“Indeed, yes, my lady. But methinks he has a fondness for your person which equals that for your lands.”
“My stepmother’s possessions were greater than mine, and her person more charming?”
She waited, and Parry, being so fond of her, could not disappoint her.
“The possessions, yes, my lady; but how could the charms of a middleaged lady compare with those of a young girl… and a young girl who …” He paused.
“Who…? What were you about to say, Master Parry?”
“A young girl who is acknowledged to be a beautiful Princess.”
She held her head very high. “But you flatter me,” she said. “I did not come to you for flattery.”
Then she left him, and Parry looked after her, smiling. She could not deceive him. He had seen the heightened color, the flash of her eyes. He judged that if she had refused my Lord Admiral—as Kat Ashley had told him she had—she had been in two minds about him. Seymour was a man who knew how to charm the women.
Parry would lose no time in telling Mistress Ashley of their Princess’s words. They were a pair of gossips; and since their little Princess’s welfare was so near their hearts, they enjoyed, more than anything, discussing her actions.
“God bless her!” said Parry aloud. “The sly, conceited little Princess. God bless her! May she come to greatness, and I doubt not that she will, with her pretty, cunning ways.”
Elizabeth went on, feeling just a little piqued that Seymour had asked such questions concerning her property. She could understand his asking those questions; they were such as she herself would have put; and she, like Seymour, would have been influenced by the answers. Such a Princess, determined on practical behavior, could not, therefore, entirely blame Thomas Seymour for making such inquiries.
She remembered now those occasions when they had met since his marriage. He had kissed her with lingering tenderness and his eyes had shown traces of passion when they rested upon her.
We understand each other, they seemed to imply. We are of a kind, made for each other. What a little fool you were to refuse me! Are you realizing that now?
She did understand him. He was a man who could love two women at the same time, for there was no mistaking his tenderness when his eyes rested on his wife. At the same time he could desire Elizabeth.
She also was capable of two loves. One for Seymour and one for power.
They were alone together, a few weeks after the marriage had been announced. She had been walking near the Dormer Palace, and he came upon her when she had eluded her attendants and had walked near Blandels Bridge.
She believed he had seen her and followed her; it was because of this that she had slipped away from her
