the fidelity of the child to her mother was the assertion of a right to be
next in succession to the crown. There was no longer a doubt that a
dangerous movement was on foot for an insurrection, supported from abroad.
If Catherine escaped with Mary to the Continent, war would instantly
follow. If there was a rebellion at home, their friends intended to
release them, and to use their names in the field. It was found necessary
again to part them. The danger would be diminished if they were separated;
together they confirmed each other's resolution. Catherine was sent to
Kimbolton with a reduced household--her confessor, her doctor, her own
personal servants and attendants--who had orders to call her Princess, but
obeyed as little as they pleased. Mary was attached to the establishment
of her baby sister Elizabeth under charge of Anne Boleyn's aunt, Mrs.
Shelton.

History with a universal voice condemns the King's conduct as cruel and
unnatural. It was not cruel in the sense of being wanton; it was not
unnatural in the sense that he had no feeling. He was in a dilemma,
through his own actions, from which he could not otherwise extricate
himself. Catherine was not his wife, and he knew it; he had been misled by
Wolsey into the expectation that the Pope would relieve him; he had been
trifled with and played upon; he was now threatened with excommunication
and deposition. Half his subjects, and those the boldest and most
determined, had rallied to his side; his cause had become the occasion of
a great and beneficent revolution, and incidental difficulties had to be
dealt with as they rose. Catherine he had long ceased to love, if love had
ever existed between them, but he respected her character and admired her
indomitable courage. For his daughter he had a real affection, as appeared
in a slight incident which occurred shortly after her removal. Elizabeth
was at Hatfield, and Mary, whose pride Anne had threatened to humble, was
with her. Mrs. Shelton's orders were to box Mary's ears if she presumed to
call herself Princess. The King knew nothing of these instructions. He had
found his daughter always dutiful except when under her mother's
influence, and one day he rode down to Hatfield to see her. The Lady Anne,
finding that he had gone without her knowledge, "considering the King's
easiness and lightness, if anyone dared to call it so," and afraid of the
effect which a meeting with his daughter might have upon him, sent som