omas Seymour returned her love,
and whether the oath he had taken to her, the queen, was really nothing
more than a fancy of the brain, or a falsehood. No, she did not believe
it; she did not believe that Thomas Seymour was capable of treachery,
of double-dealing. But Elizabeth loved him; and she was young and
beautiful, and a great future lay before her. Catharine loved Thomas
Seymour strongly enough not to want to deprive him of this future, but
gladly to present herself a sacrifice to the happiness of her lover.
What was she--the woman matured in grief and suffering--in comparison
with this youthful and fresh blossom, Elizabeth? What had she to offer
her beloved further than a life of retirement, of love, and of quiet
happiness? When once the king is dead and sets her free, Edward the
Sixth ascends the throne; and Catharine then is nothing more than the
forgotten and disregarded widow of a king; while Elizabeth, the king's
sister, may perhaps bring a crown as her dower to him whom she loves.

Thomas Seymour was ambitious. Catharine knew that. A day might come
when he would repent of having chosen the widow of a king instead of the
heiress to a throne.

Catharine would anticipate that day. She would of her own free-will
resign her lover to Princess Elizabeth. She had by a struggle brought
her mind to this sacrifice; she had pressed her hands firmly on her
heart, so as not to hear how it wailed and wept.

She went to Elizabeth, and said to her with a sweet smile: "To-day
I will bring your lover to you, princess. The king has fulfilled his
promise. He has to-day with his last dying strength signed this act,
which gives you liberty to choose your husband, not from the ranks of
princes alone, but to follow your own heart in your choice. I will give
this act to your lover, and assure him of my assistance and aid. The
king is suffering very much to-day, and his consciousness fails more and
more. But be certain, if he is in a condition to hear me, I will spend
all my powers of persuasion in inclining him to your wish, and in moving
him to give his consent to your marriage with Earl Sudley. I now go to
receive the earl. So tarry in your room, princess, for Seymour will soon
come to bring you the act."

Whilst she thus spoke, it seemed to her as though her heart were pierced
by red-hot daggers; as though a two-edged sword were cleaving her
breast. But Catharine had a strong and courageous soul. She had sworn
to herself to