"Queen," said she, "you have so long been a kind and faithful mother to me, that I may well once more claim the right of being your daughter.

Let me, therefore, as your daughter, be present at the solemn transaction in which you are about to engage; and allow me to stand at your side and pray for you, whilst the archbishop performs the sacred service, and transforms the queen into the Countess of Sudley.

May God bless you, Catharine, and give you all the happiness that you deserve!" And Princess Elizabeth knelt at Catharine's side, as the archbishop blest this new marriage tie.

And while she prayed her eye again glided over toward Thomas Seymour, who was standing there by his young wife.
Catharine's countenance beamed with beauty and happiness, but upon Thomas Seymour's brow still lay the cloud that had settled there on that day when the king's will was opened--that will which did not make Queen Catharine regent, and which thereby destroyed Thomas Seymour's proud and ambitious schemes.
And that cloud remained on Thomas Seymour's brow.

It sank down lower and still lower.