The queen had, moreover, to contend with the heirs of the Plantagenets, the members of the royal house of Pole, who, in the person of the Earl of Huntingdon, hoped, at one time, to dethrone the queen, and, with the assistance of the ultra-Protestant party, reign in her stead.

Table showing the heirs female, in remainder to the Crown, named in the Will of Henry VIII and the “Devise” of Edward VI:—

CONTENTS

CHAP. PAGE
PREFACE[vii]
THE ORIGIN OF THE HOUSE OF TUDOR[xxiii]
CHARLES BRANDON, DUKE OF SUFFOLK
ICLOTH OF FRIEZE[3]
IITHE FRENCH MARRIAGE[23]
IIICLOTH OF FRIEZE WEDS CLOTH OF GOLD[49]
IVTHE LAST DAYS OF SUFFOLK AND OF THE QUEEN-DUCHESS[67]
LADY KATHERINE GREY
IBIRTH AND CHILDHOOD[83]
IILADY KATHERINE GREY AT THE COURT OF QUEEN MARY[107]
IIITHE PROGRESS OF LADY KATHERINE’S LOVE AFFAIRS[128]
IVQUEEN ELIZABETH AND HER SUCCESSION[146]
VTHE CLANDESTINE MARRIAGE[165]
VILADY KATHERINE AND HER HUSBAND IN THE TOWER[181]
VIILADY KATHERINE AT PIRGO[199]
VIIILADY KATHERINE AGAIN THE CENTRE OF INTRIGUES[212]
IXLADY KATHERINE’S LAST ILLNESS AND DEATH[231]
LADY MARY GREY
IEARLY YEARS[255]
IIA STRANGE WEDDING[262]
IIITHE LAST YEARS OF LADY MARY[282]
LADY ELEANOR BRANDON AND HER HEIRS[293]
INDEX[305]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Lady Katherine Grey[Frontispiece]
From the original painting, by an unknown artist, in thepossession of Mrs. Wright-Biddulph, bearing the followinginscription—
“Now thus but like to change
And fade as dothe the flowre
Which springe and bloom full gay,
And wythrethe in one hour.”
Facing page
Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond[xxviii]
From the original portrait in the National Portrait Gallery.
Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk[4]
From an engraving, after the original in the collection of HisGrace the Duke of Bedford.
Henry VIII (at the age of fifty-three)[20]
From the original portrait in the National Portrait Gallery.
Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, and MaryTudor Taken Together[50]
From an engraving, by Vertue, of the original portrait byMabuse.
Lady Monteagle (younger daughter of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk)[62]
From an engraving after Holbein.
Katherine Willoughby, Duchess of Suffolk[74]
From an engraving by Bartolozzi, of the original drawing,attributed to Holbein, in the King’s collection.
Frances Brandon, Duchess of Suffolk, and HerSecond Husband, Adrian Stokes[104]
From an engraving by Vertue, after the original portrait byLucas de Heere.
Mary Tudor, Queen of England[110]
From a little-known portrait by Antonio Moro, in the Escurial.
Philip II, King of Spain[122]
From a contemporary Spanish print.
Queen Elizabeth[134]
From the original portrait, by F. Zucchero, at Hatfield.
Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester[156]
From the original portrait, by Zuccaro, in the National PortraitGallery.
William Cecil, Lord Burleigh[214]
Sir Thomas Gresham[278]
From a contemporary engraving.