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motherly and warm towards him. Then his cousin, Jane Grey, with whom he had grown up at court and of whom he had become very fond, was made a ward of his other uncle, Thomas Seymour, Earl of Sudeley, and his new wife – none other than Katherine, Henry’s widow.  So Edward lost Jane’s company too.
          Everyone the young King had loved had been taken away from him by the scheming adults at his court.  Finally his uncle Thomas Sudeley was executed for treason, followed not long afterwards by his uncle Edward, Duke of Somerset.  Now the only one of his former friends left at court is Henry Sidney, his comforter as he lies dying.  It’s cause for reflection.  Who would be a king?
          “Poor boy!” I say and Ambrose nods but then he says,
          “What I am to tell you now is a matter for our kin and for no other ears.  As far as I am concerned you are our kin too, Kate.”  He gives both Amy and me a serious, direct look.
          “Edward has made Lady Jane Grey his heir.  Not her male descendants, as he originally wanted, but Lady Jane herself.  He has stated specifically that he does not want either Mary or Elizabeth, as Mary will restore Catholicism and the ties to the Pope in Rome and Elizabeth was the whore Anne Boleyn’s daughter.  Both of them, he says, may marry a foreign prince and England may lose its sovereignty if either one is Queen.”
          “Robert told me of Edward’s ‘device’ for the succession,” says Amy, “So where does the problem lie?   It’s what the King wanted.”
          “The problem,” says Ambrose, “Is that some members of the Privy Council say that Edward’s device was not ratified by Parliament and is therefore illegal.  The only legal document was King Henry’s Succession which stated that first Mary and then Elizabeth were to be his heirs should Edward die childless.  They say it would be an act of treason to declare Jane to be Queen.”
          “So what will happen next?”
          “We can do nothing before Edward dies, which, pray God, will be mercifully soon.  He suffers so.  Father believes it will be a simple matter to win over the dissenters on the Privy Council.  He has many allies for Jane already.  But first he has plans to arrest the Lady Mary and prevent her from causing trouble.  He informed her that Edward is very ill and wishes to see her.  He had hoped to detain her when she came to court.  Unfortunately Mary seems to have smelled the plot and remains at her home, twenty miles away, at Hunsdon.”
          “And Robert?  Where does he fit into your father’s plotting?”
          “Please show more respect towards the Duke, your father-in-law,” Ambrose speaks severely to Amy. “Robert has been dispatched to Hunsdon with a small army of horsemen to arrest the Lady Mary there.”
          “WHAT?” shrieks Amy , just about as disrespectfully as she can.  “The Duke has sent Robert to do his dirty work for him.  Why could he not go himself?  Why not John?  Why not you, Ambrose?  You are both his older brothers.  It’s not fair to send Robert.  If it all goes badly, it’s Robert who will suffer a traitor’s death.  How can the Duke do this to his own son?”  Amy’s voice tails off into a wail of despair.
          “Take heart, Amy,” says Ambrose, “You know that I am fond of Robert too.  We are very close and father has said that there is nothing to fear from Mary.  She will either be arrested at Hunsdon or she will flee and escape to the continent and the protection of the Emperor, Charles, her kinsman.  The French have promised help for our cause .  They do not wish to see Mary made Queen and will do anything against the Hapsburg Empire.  They fear Mary’s Spanish blood will give the Emperor a foothold in England.”
          Amy looks doubtful and a tear rolls down her cheek .  What Ambrose says is reassuring and yet ……  Can the French be