Page:The Queens of England.djvu/386

 346 THE QUEENS OF ENGLAND. wards Scotland. His ascent in rank and power did not stop here. In early life he married Katharine Fitzalan, daughter of the Earl of Arundel; and she dying without issue, he again married, and this time to a near connection of the king, namely, Lady Frances Brandon, eldest daughter of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, by Mary, widow of Louis the Twelfth of France, second daughter ' of King Henry the Seventh, and youngest sister of King Henry the Eighth. It was impossible in a subject to mount nearer to the throne itself. His wife was daughter of a queen of France, granddaughter of Henry the Seventh, and niece of Henry the Eighth. In consequence of this alliance, he was created Duke of Suffolk, his wife's brothers and sisters having died without children. Of this nobleman, Lady Jane Grey was the eldest daughter. She was thus born in the highest possible rank of a subject, and, as it proved in those times, in a most giddy and danger- ous eminence. The reigning monarch, in his tenth year, was her first cousin, only once removed. He was surrounded by ambitious courtiers, amongst whom her father held a most conspicuous place ; and, as the king approached manhood, whether he lived or died, the desperate attempts at securing the chief influence in his court was pretty certain to place a young lady of Jane's beauty, talents, and position, in the very center of the perilous vortex of ambitious intrigue. As it happened, Lady Jane was held in readiness bv her relatives to become his queen, if he arrived at years of maturity, and on its becoming clear that the failing health of the young monarch rendered this impossible — equally ready to succeed him. From her verv birth, Lady Jane, formed by nature to adorn domestic life bv the exercise of the highest virtues and talents, was destined by her connections to become the victim of their ambition. Lady Jane Grey is supposed to have been born about the year 1537, at Bradgate Park, a seat of her father's, a few miles from Leicester. The estate still remains in the family, and the ruins of the house, still standing in the ancient park, are visited with deep reverence by thousands who have in their youth read with lively emotion the sad story of this extraordinary woman. The education of Lady Jane appears to have been commenced early, and carefully prose- cuted. Her principal preceptors are said to have been John Aylmer, afterwards Bishop of London, and the celebrated Roger Ascham. She is said to have made great progress in