The King's wife, Queen Elizabeth, has given Catherine some money. It's not a lot, Catherine confided as we sat stitching by the open window this afternoon, but at least she can pay her servants something of what they are owed. She glanced round to make sure the door was shut, then leaned towards me and said, "Do you know how she got it? She pawned some of the gold plate! Just fancy!" I'm sure the King does not know. He lives with penny-pinching meanness, counting each candle and refusing to have a fire in his room even though he suffers from asthma and coughs constantly. How many candles will he have to save to pay for sending his daughter in splendour to marry the Scottish king? But as my uncle points out, Henry's concerns about Scotland come first at the moment. "I will keep trying, my dear," he said. "After all, I am a Spaniard. All my sympathies are with Catherine. But I have to be careful." No wonder he looks so tired sometimes.
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