Katharine had removed to Buckden, where she passed her time in praying and deeds of charity, or embroidering for the churches. After a while she regained her peace of mind, and made herself greatly beloved by the country people, who visited her frequently, and showed her the deepest respect. Other messengers were sent to her from Henry, requesting her to call herself Prince Arthur's widow, and to resign the title of queen. This made her very angry, and she declared that she was the king's wife, not his subject, and would be called queen until she died. She was the only person in the realm who dared to defy the king; she had lost his love, but not his esteem. Anybody at court who was known to speak in Katharine's favor was either locked up in the Tower or executed, and a perfect reign of terror was the result. When she heard {376}how her friends had suffered on her account her health grew worse, and as she was anxious to live for the sake of her daughter she sent a request to the king to appoint her a residence nearer London. He named Fotheringay Castle, a place that was notoriously unhealthy. But Katharine absolutely refused to go there, and after a great deal of opposition on the part of the king's agents she was removed to Kimbolton Castle, deprived of many comforts that her ill-health made necessary for her. One serious cause of distress to Katharine was the imprisonment of her two confessors, who, simply because they took sides with her, were subjected to the most cruel torments. [[A.D. 1536.]] By the end of the year the queen was on her death-bed. When she knew her end was approaching she sent an entreaty to Henry that she might be permitted to see her child and give her a blessing. It was refused. A few days before she expired Katharine called one of her maids to her bedside and, dictated a farewell letter to the king, in which she pardons him for all the misery he has caused her, and prays that God may also pardon him. She commends their daughter Mary to his care, and begs him to be a good father to her. And in conclusion she requests marriage portions for her three maids, and a year's extra pay for all her other servants lest they should be unprovided for. Henry shed tears on reading the letter, and sent Eustachio, the Spanish ambassador, to attend Katharine's death-bed. He and Lady Willoughby, the friend and countrywoman of the queen, who hastened to her at the last, were the only persons present when she passed away. In her will she left a few legacies, but her income had been so cut down during the last few years of her existence that she had not much to dispose of. She mentions her dresses that Henry kept when she was so brutally turned away from his palace, and begs that they be used for church {377}ornaments. She was buried at Peterborough Abbey, and for several years a canopy covered with a black velvet cloth, on which was embroidered a large silver cross and the Spanish coat-of-arms, stood over the grave.