"Ah, poor soul," said Henry, "thou little knowest, Kate, how evil he deserveth this grace at thy hands!" and then he lavished a profusion of caresses on her, when she at last dared to draw a long breath, knowing only too well from what she had been delivered. This was only one of the experiences which Lady Jane, still a mere child, saw and lived through with her beloved Queen Katherine. On the 27th of January, 1547, Lady Jane's life completely changed. King Henry the Eighth died, and his will made Jane heir to the throne after his daughters Mary and Elizabeth, and from having been before merely the attractive great-niece of the King and eldest daughter of the Marquis of Dorset, she suddenly became a prominent factor in the political intrigues of the day, almost as important in the matter of succession as either Mary or Elizabeth, for Mary, on account of her religion, could easily be set aside by a faction with a powerful leader, and Elizabeth also, because of the question as to whether she was the legitimate daughter of the King. This being so, almost before the King was buried, poor little Lady Jane became a puppet in the hands of unscrupulous statesmen, whose only thought was their own advancement, and so began the series of events which was to end in that hideous tragedy of which one of the noblest girls of history was the victim. Soon after the death of King Henry, it occurred to Sir Thomas Seymour, the Lord Admiral, that it would be a wise move to obtain the guardianship of so valuable a personage as Lady Jane Grey, and he at once sent a messenger to ask the Marquis of Dorset for the transfer of the girl to his care, sending word that this would be a great chance for Lady Jane, who being, so said Seymour, "the handsomest lady in England," could then doubtless be married to the young King Edward Sixth, through the Admiral's influence. This suggestion naturally pleased the ambitious parents of Lady Jane, and she was sent to Seymour Place--Thomas Seymour's London residence, which was presided over by his mother, the Dowager Lady Seymour, and we cannot doubt that Lady Jane enjoyed leaving quiet Bradgate, where she had been since the death of her uncle, King Henry, and where she was a victim of extraordinary severity from her parents, even in that age when children were often so severely disciplined.