Princess Elizabeth's letter to her stepfather Lord Admiral Thomas Seymour, year 1548

Source:

La vie d'Elizabeth, reine d'Angleterre, volume 1, Gergorio Leti, 1703

https://archive.org/details/dli.granth.71648/page/174/mode/2up

The girlhood of Queen Elizabeth, a narrative in letters, Frank Arthur Mumby, 1909

https://archive.org/details/girlhoodofqueene00mumb/page/38/mode/2up

Above: Elizabeth as princess, formerly attributed to William Scrots.

Above: Lord Admiral Thomas Seymour, painted by Nicolas Denisot.

The letter:

MYLORD,

J'ai regardé l'honneur que vous m'avez fait jusques ici, comme un effet de la civilité qui vous est naturelle, & comme une marque du elle que vous avez pour la mémoire du feu Roi mon pere. Mais je me suis pourtant apperçûë par les visites fréquentes que vous m'avez renduës, que vous aviez d'autres pensées, & quand je me m'en serois pas apperçûë, tant de gens m'en ont parlé de vôtre part, que je ne le puis ignorer, jusques-là que l'on m'a reproché, que je ne vous rebutois que parce que je pensois à quelqu'autre personne. Je vous prie donc, Mylord, de mettre vôtre esprit en repos là-dessus, & d'être persuadé de la déclaration que je vous fais, que jusques-ici, je n'ai pas eu la moindre pensée de me marier, & que s'il m'arrive d'y penser, ce que je ne crois pas, que vous serez le premier à qui je ferai sçavoir ma résolution.

English translation (from source 2):

1548.

My Lord, — I have regarded the honour which you have paid me up to the present as an evidence of your natural courtesy, and as a testimony of the loyalty which you have for the memory of the late King, my father. But I have been forced to perceive by the frequent visits which you have made me that you have other intentions, and if I had not made the discovery for myself so many persons have spoken to me of your attentions that I could not have remained ignorant. It has also been said that I have only refused you because I was thinking of someone else. I therefore entreat you, my lord, to set your mind at rest on this subject, and to be persuaded by this declaration that up to this time I have not the slightest intention of being married, and that if ever I should think of it (which I do not believe is possible) you would be the first to whom I should make known my resolution.