king appeared to have forgotten her and left her unprovided with many things that a child needs. Her governess, not daring to address the king, who was absorbed then in the pursuit of a new wife, wrote to a gentleman of the court, begging him to intercede and cause the child to be furnished with suitable clothing and other articles necessary to her comfort. Lady Bryan wrote:
"She hath neither gown nor kirtle, nor peticoat nor no manner of linen, nor forsmocks (aprons), nor kerchiefs, nor rails, nor body stichets, nor handkerchiefs, nor sleeves, nor mufflers, nor biggens" (hoods).
She entreats her correspondent to use all his influence to get the king to supply these articles, and to soften his heart toward the family of Anne Boleyn, suddenly reduced from royal state to poverty and disgrace. The governess added that her "Lady Elizabeth" had much pain in getting her large teeth.
"They come very slowly forth," she wrote, "which causeth me to suffer Her Grace to have her will more than I would."
Mothers who have teething children can understand this passage perfectly well. The governess goes on to say that when the little lady had got all her teeth well cut, she hoped to make her better behaved, so that "the King's Grace shall have great comfort in Her Grace."
She described her as a promising and gentle child, and one that would do great honor to the King by and by.
The biggins, the kerchiefs, and the body stichets arrived before long, and the child appears to have enjoyed some of the comfort and dignity appertaining to her rank. Meanwhile, Henry VIII married his third wife, Jane Seymour, who gave him the long desired heir, the prince who afterwards reigned as Edward VI. The Princess Elizabeth's first appearance in public was at the baptism of this child, born little more than a year after her own
