"What did Catherine think, trapped in yet another prison, knowing she would never see her husband again? She did not speak of Edward; rather, she took comfort in prayer even as Jane (her executed sister) had done fourteen years before. On the 27th of Jan, Hopton's wife tried to raise her spirits; Catherine replied, 'No, no my lady, my time is come and it is not God's will that I should live any longer, and his will be done, not mine. As I am, so shall you be; behold the picture of yourselves.' Around seven o'clock, she asked to see Hopton. She asked him to take a message to the Queen; 'I must needs confess I have greatly offended her in that I made my choice without her knowledge, otherwise I take God to witness I had never the heart to think any evil against her majesty.' She asked Elizabeth to be good to her sons, to not blame them for their parents' crimes. She also asked her cousin to forgive Edward for 'I know my death will be heavy news unto him.' She sent their wedding ring back to him, as well as the few gifts she possessed. Among them was a ring engraved with a death's head and a motto, 'While I live yours.' This was 'the last token unto my lord that ever I shall send him; it is the picture of myself.' And at nine o'clock, having made some small peace with the world, Catherine Grey died. She had spent nearly seven years in various prisons and was twenty-seven when she died. Edward, upon hearing the news, was heartbroken. But he also hoped for release. Perhaps Catherine's death would end the queen's anger. Two years later, he was rewarded; he was released and pardoned. In 1586, he married again to Frances Howard. They had no children and Edward never stopped petitioning the courts to legitimize his sons with Catherine. (In 1606, three years after Elizabeth's death, the clergyman was found - fifty years after the fact! - and a common law court legitimized the marriage and their sons." Their son, Edward Seymour, continued the family line treated here via "The Hastings Legacy". (Click on the image or use your Browser's Back button) The following letter was written by Lady Jane Grey - the luckless "nine-days-queen" - to her sister Catherine. It was the last message between them before Jane's execution - Jane, seventeen years old and Catherine just fourteen; both of them married the previous year to men of their parents' choosing.
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