had seen her ride across the park earlier. We are allowed out into the park, now that the rebellion has been put down, but I dare say Katherine would have gone anyway. She does just what she likes! I am pleased that the country is at peace again, but for how long? The Earl of Warwick put down the rebellion in Norfolk with great cruelty. Thousands of peasants were slaughtered. The Earl will not dare show his face there again I think. I wish he would not show it here, or at Court. He frightens me. I heard Father say once that he was ambitious but he seems to like him now – even though my uncle died fighting at his side.
12 September 1549
Bradgate Park
I am glad I do not share a chamber! It is bad enough that the children run in and out. They have run away now but I can still hear them, galloping up and down the Long Gallery pretending they are fighting the rebels. If only the rain would stop then they could go outside to play. Thomas wants to show Katherine how well he shoots with the bow. He and Katherine have made great friends. It is hard to believe that my Willoughby cousins have only been here a week. When they first arrived they looked so forlorn, and Katherine said she heard them crying at night. I wish they had not come. Thomas wriggles and fidgets and can barely sit still. Nurse says that all boys are boisterous. But I cannot imagine that Edward was ever as fidgety as Thomas!
1 October 1549
Bradgate Park
My two youngest Willoughby cousins left today. Margaret and baby Francis are to live with my father’s half-brother, George Medley, and this morning he rode up to collect them. He dined with us first and I heard him say he was mightily impressed by my learning and piety. Of course my parents professed themselves delighted. I wish they would say as much to me. Thomas is to stay. If only he was leaving too. He drives me distracted and Katherine copies him in everything, which makes it worse. Today I tripped over the skittles he had left out. If I were to behave so, I would be punished for my untidiness, but I have not once heard Mother chastise Thomas. It hurts me to see how she looks at him, as if he were the son she longs for. All her baby boys died young. Would she love me more, if I were a boy?
9 October 1549
Bradgate Park
I have a bad cold and do not feel like writing, but I simply had to write this. The Lord Protector has been arrested! Our neighbour, the Earl of Huntingdon, brought the news. Father barely waited for him to finish before ordering his horse to be brought round. He and the Earl have ridden off now to Hampton Court.
I was sitting in the winter parlour with Mother and Father when the Earl was shown in.
“He removed the King from Hampton Court and took him with him to Windsor, claiming it was for the King’s safety!” Huntington snorted to our astonished ears. “But the King is safe now,” he reassured us. “Warwick has taken him back to Hampton Court. The Protector will regret his actions,” he said and smiled – but it was not a very nice smile. The Earl is no friend of the Protector’s. And to my mind Edward is no safer now than he was.
16 October 1549
Bradgate Park
The Countess of Huntington has called. I can scarce believe what she told us, but I am writing it all down anyway. The Protector claimed there was a plot against the King. He even got his son, Lord Hertford – who is only ten years old – to ride all the way to the West Country where the army is stationed under Lord Herbert’s command, to beg him for men and arms. Herbert refused. He is no fool, put in my mother. It was then that the Protector fled with the King to Windsor, after first emptying the armoury at Hampton Court and calling on all men to protect the King. Some answered his call, but then the lords told them the truth of the matter. By that I am sure the Countess means what certain lords say is the truth. “The Protector will soon face his judges,” the Countess said. Humph. She will mean Warwick and
12 September 1549
Bradgate Park
I am glad I do not share a chamber! It is bad enough that the children run in and out. They have run away now but I can still hear them, galloping up and down the Long Gallery pretending they are fighting the rebels. If only the rain would stop then they could go outside to play. Thomas wants to show Katherine how well he shoots with the bow. He and Katherine have made great friends. It is hard to believe that my Willoughby cousins have only been here a week. When they first arrived they looked so forlorn, and Katherine said she heard them crying at night. I wish they had not come. Thomas wriggles and fidgets and can barely sit still. Nurse says that all boys are boisterous. But I cannot imagine that Edward was ever as fidgety as Thomas!
1 October 1549
Bradgate Park
My two youngest Willoughby cousins left today. Margaret and baby Francis are to live with my father’s half-brother, George Medley, and this morning he rode up to collect them. He dined with us first and I heard him say he was mightily impressed by my learning and piety. Of course my parents professed themselves delighted. I wish they would say as much to me. Thomas is to stay. If only he was leaving too. He drives me distracted and Katherine copies him in everything, which makes it worse. Today I tripped over the skittles he had left out. If I were to behave so, I would be punished for my untidiness, but I have not once heard Mother chastise Thomas. It hurts me to see how she looks at him, as if he were the son she longs for. All her baby boys died young. Would she love me more, if I were a boy?
9 October 1549
Bradgate Park
I have a bad cold and do not feel like writing, but I simply had to write this. The Lord Protector has been arrested! Our neighbour, the Earl of Huntingdon, brought the news. Father barely waited for him to finish before ordering his horse to be brought round. He and the Earl have ridden off now to Hampton Court.
I was sitting in the winter parlour with Mother and Father when the Earl was shown in.
“He removed the King from Hampton Court and took him with him to Windsor, claiming it was for the King’s safety!” Huntington snorted to our astonished ears. “But the King is safe now,” he reassured us. “Warwick has taken him back to Hampton Court. The Protector will regret his actions,” he said and smiled – but it was not a very nice smile. The Earl is no friend of the Protector’s. And to my mind Edward is no safer now than he was.
16 October 1549
Bradgate Park
The Countess of Huntington has called. I can scarce believe what she told us, but I am writing it all down anyway. The Protector claimed there was a plot against the King. He even got his son, Lord Hertford – who is only ten years old – to ride all the way to the West Country where the army is stationed under Lord Herbert’s command, to beg him for men and arms. Herbert refused. He is no fool, put in my mother. It was then that the Protector fled with the King to Windsor, after first emptying the armoury at Hampton Court and calling on all men to protect the King. Some answered his call, but then the lords told them the truth of the matter. By that I am sure the Countess means what certain lords say is the truth. “The Protector will soon face his judges,” the Countess said. Humph. She will mean Warwick and
Similar Books
