“You have already lent me five hundred pounds. I like not to trespass further on your good nature.”
“Nay, you confer a favor upon me by enabling me to prove the sincerity of my regard for you, marquis. How much do you need?”
“If I might venture to ask for other five hundred pounds?”
“How venture? Have I not said that I shall be the person obliged? Are you quite sure that five hundred pounds will suffice?”
“Quite sure. They will amply suffice—for the present,” he added to himself.
“Ugo Harrington shall cause the sum to be conveyed to Dorset House,” said the admiral. “I count upon your support to-morrow.”
“Not merely to-morrow, but at all other times, my dear lord,” rejoined Dorset, bowing and departing. When he was left alone, Seymour thus gave utterance to his sentiments: “He estimates the disposal of his daughter’s hand at a thousand pounds. He knows not its value. ‘T is worth all Somerset’s titles and revenues, and shall make me ruler in his stead.”
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Chapter X
HOW QUEEN CATHERINE PARR PASSED HER TIME AT CHELSEA MANOR-HOUSE
Absenting herself entirely from court so long as her marriage with the lord admiral continued unavowed, the queen-dowager dwelt in perfect retirement at her manor-house at Chelsea—a delightful residence, forming part of the rich jointure settled upon her by her late royal husband.
Built by Henry VIII. on the site of an ancient edifice bestowed upon him by Lord Sandys, Chelsea Manor-House was originally designed by the monarch as a nursery for his younger children, and to that end he provided the place with extensive and beautiful gardens, abounding with smooth green lawns, trim gravel walks and terraces, knots, parterres, alleys, fountains, mounts, labyrinths, and summer-houses. These fair gardens were surrounded by high walls, except on the side facing the river, where a broad terrace, protected by a marble balustrade, offered a delightful promenade, and commanded a wide reach of the Thames, with a distant view of Westminster Abbey, Whitehall, the Gothic cathedral of Saint Paul’s, with its lofty spire, Baynard’s Castle, old London Bridge, and the Tower. The grounds were well-timbered, and park-like in appearance, and the house was large and commodious, and possessed many noble apartments. Quadrangular in shape, it possessed a spacious court, and, with the outbuildings, covered a vast area. Such was Chelsea Manor-House when inhabited by Queen Catherine Parr.
A few years later, this delightful mansion fell into the hands of the all-grasping Duke of Northumberland, who had coveted it even while it was in Catherine’s possession, but he did not enjoy it long. His widow, however, died here. Its next important occupant was the famous Charles Howard, Earl of Nottingham, lord high admiral in Elizabeth’s time, by whom the redoubtable Spanish Armada was dispersed and destroyed. Here Nottingham was often visited by his royal mistress, who loved the place from old, and perhaps tender, recollections, for in its bowers and shady walks she had listened to much amorous converse—as we shall learn presently—from the impassioned and irresistible Seymour.
After the lapse of nearly a century and a half, during which the old manor-house underwent many changes, it came into the occupation of Sir Hans Sloane, who formed within it that noble library and large collection of objects connected with natural history which led to the foundation of the British Museum. On Sir Hans Sloane’s death, in 1753, and the removal of his library and museum to Montague House, the ancient structure was pulled down, and a row of houses, now forming part of Cheyne Walk, erected in its stead.
The neighborhood is still pleasant, and seems to wear a bright, sunshiny aspect, but it had a brighter and sunnier look in days long gone by, when the picturesque old edifice, with its pointed roofs, carved gables, large bay-windows, and great porch, could be seen from some gilded barge, propelled by oarsmen in rich liveries through the then pellucid waters of the Thames; when august personages and high-born dames could be seen pacing its terraces, or issuing from its quaintly-clipped alleys, while royal children disported upon its lawns. It may be mentioned that in the vicinity of Chelsea Manor-House stood the residence of one of Henry’s noblest victims—the wise and good Sir Thomas More.
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