I've just woken at dawn, drenched in sweat.  I was walking through th

e palace gardens, here at Whitehall. It had just stopped raining and the birds were singing. I was on my way to help Katherine do the Queen's hair, when, suddenly, this cold, deathly ha

nd - a child's hand, sprang up through the grass and clutched my ankle and tried to pull me down, down into the damp earth.

I woke up screaming, with Miggy shaking me roughly awake.

So round and round we went till we got to The Queen’s Rooms. There were dozens of terrifying older ladies-in-waiting, all dressed in extraordinary, fashionable clothes. We sat in a dark, fusty, panelled room, which showed off their rainbow-coloured silken dresses. Then the Queen came in with her Ladies. And they weren’t at all fashionable and nor was the Queen.  And they seemed to all be dressed in brown or claret.

Court is really confusing. It really is all about these hidden codes and what you look like and how you do your hair and whether you’re fashionable and popular and pretty and not actually about how ‘in’ you are with the Queen.  Or not this Queen anyway.  Which is why my uncle wants me to secretly help my cousin Katherine become the new queen. Or something.

Anyway, just as I was getting really nervous about what I was supposed to do, I saw this amazing girl. She was dressed in pale green silk, with shiny dark gold hair and, almost at once, she rescued me when I dropped my sewing and blushed and didn’t even know how to curtsey properly.

She covered up my stammering apology and whisked me out of the room. And this was her.….my cousin Katherine. This was Katherine Howard, who I’d thought about for SO long.  She is so funny and sharp and completely knows her way round court. She saved me –from wetting myself for one thing, and fainting from hunger for another. I think she may just save my life here.

So I’m feeling a lot better, my friends xxxMatilda

So,  I'm feeling more homesick than ever, for my higgledy piggledy home and my annoying brother and my sisters, but I manage to survive getting dressed in my awful burgundy frock and following the Merrys. I was starving hungry and holding in my pee while I followed them down endless corridors in the palace.

blog 3Whitehall Palace is dark and has chains of courtyards and spiralling staircases and endless passageways.  Every time the Merrys get near a group of boys they start simpering and giggling and putting on fake voices. But there’s this one girl – she’s called Cecily, who isn’t part of their set, who I think might be cleverer. She gave me a sympathetic smile and she's got awful clothes and hair, like me. So I think she might be alright.

Ugh they’re blowing all our candles out.  More tomorrow, dear secret friends  xxxMatilda

I’m writing this really really quietly, sitting up in bed at dawn, trying not to scratch my nib too loudly because I don’t want to wake up the horrible Merrys. They’re still being disgusting to me, but I think the more they see me with Katherine, the more their attitude might change.

So let me tell you about my cousin Katherine. She is the MOST AMAZING PERSON I HAVE EVER MET! Anyway, what happened was... the Merrys had made me feel like a complete bumpkin and freak in my thick-soled brown shoes and my vile burgundy dress and filled me with panic about how on earth I was going to manage in front of the queen.

I was also starving, as I didn’t know where to go for breakfast and they all seemed to have brought food down from the banquet last night and were bringing out all these delicious rolls and marchpane hearts and chicken wings from under their beds.  And I was absolutely dying to pee and I certainly wasn’t going to use the chamber pot in front of them and anyway it was overflowing with sick.  Oh no, I need to stop now... this old woman – she’s about thirty - I call her The Hawk - who’s in charge of all we junior maids-in-waiting, is coming down the corridor and we have to clear up our room. More later, my secret friends.  xxxMatilda

My name is Matilda Marchmont. Two days ago I would have said that I had the most boring life in the world, but ALL THAT HAS CHANGED. The day after my thirteenth birthday, I left my family and sleepy country home to travel for three freezing cold days on horseback to London to join the glamour and madness of Henry VIII’s court.

I’m going to have to lock my journal away and keep the key on a chain round my neck.  Don’t tell anyone... I’ve been warned that this place is teeming with dangerous enemies and spies.

I’ve just been shown into the bedchamber I’ll be sharing with four other Maids-of-Honour. I don’t even know where I’m supposed to pee... ugh - I’ve just found the chamber pot... and its full. Grotesque!

I wonder what the other girls will be like. It’s past three in the morning and they’re still dancing and partying upstairs. I can hear the dance music pounding thrillingly through the ceiling. The room is strewn with incredible underwear and clothes.

So, I just met the four girls I have to share with.  They’re called Merry, Milly, Miggy and Melly - I think - all stupid nick names beginning with 'M', anyway. They’re all so nasty and spiteful. I’ve decided to just call them The Merrys. The leader of the pack is called Melly Buxton...she’s fifteen and she is a snake. They laughed at my nightdress, my shift, my hair... my ugly shoes. Well of course all their clothes are much nicer than mine! I’ve only just arrived from the country, with no money, and I don’t know anything about fashion. But here at court it’s all about who you know and what you’re wearing and how famous you are, or how rich and powerful your family is.

I can’t wait to meet my cousin, Katherine Howard. Apparently, she’s beautiful and stylish and funny and popular. I hope she’s going to show me what to do and how to act and what to wear and how to dance and how to behave in front of the queen, and what I have to do and how to eat... It’s all terrifying, basically.

So... this morning I MET KATHERINE! Too tired to tell you about it now, it was such an incredible day.  I have to sleep... goodnight, secret friends... sweet dreams. More tomorrow.

Love, Matilda xxx