Page:The Queens of England.djvu/362

 322 THE QUEENS OF ENGLAND. the occasion of the coronation of Anne Boleyn, Katharine's cousin, and the christening of the infant Princess Elizabeth, which took place A. D. 1533. There Katharine commenced another acquaintance equally derogatory to her high birth and dignity, with Francis Derham, a gentleman employed in the service of her uncle the Duke of Norfolk. Derham, being a favorite with the aged duchess, aspired to the hand of the lovely girl thus unhappily thrown in his way, and to whose society he found no difficulty in gaining access, surrounded, as she still was, by her grandmother's household. The artful Derham contrived to insinuate himself so far into Katharine's regard as to obtain an exchange of love- tokens. He effected this by aiding her in her necessity for money to purchase various articles of female finery, which, though coveted by the young and rising beauty, were beyond her reach. So grateful was Katharine for his attention, that she actually yielded her consent to become his affianced wife. Such an acknowledgment was then considered binding, and even now would in Scotland be esteemed a lawful marriage. Katharine consented that Derham should address her as his "wife," and agreed to give to him the name of "husband." After this Derham was privately admitted into the society of his betrothed ; his presents to her continued to be received, and, on his departure on a distant expedition, all his money was entrusted to her care ! Alas ! how tangled a web was fast weaving round the footsteps of England's future queen ! When the aged grandmother of Katharine, who had blindly been the cause of all this injury to her young relative by her own utter neglect, was made at last acquainted with what had been going on under her roof, such was her indignation that she is said to have vented it in "blows" on Katharine, but Derham was beyond her power. The matter was concealed from scrutiny for the sake of the illustrious house, on which a member had brought shame and sorrow. The wretches who had led their young charge into so perilous a path were discharged from the service of the old duchess, and Katharine herself was placed under a severe personal restraint. The salutary effect of this change of treatment soon became obvious by an alteration in her own conduct ; for from that time, in her progress toward maturity, she improved in every feminine grace, accompanied by that modest reserve which should be woman's natural inheritance.