was endemic at the time and Lake's position with the King made him a target for many bribes (the Bishop of Llandaff offered Lake £80 for his help in securing a position) but he was not averse to bribery on his own behalf. When Lord Salisbury, Walsingham's successor as Secretary of State, died in 1612, Lake desperately wanted the job and tried to bribe his way into it but James would not appoint Lake immediately and filled the post himself for a time. It was also in 1612 that Lake came to regret not having boarded at his school, which would have enabled him to profit from the headmaster's tutorials in French. The King's daughter, Princess Elizabeth was betrothed to a German prince, Frederick V of the Palatinate, and Lake was chosen to read the marriage contract aloud. It was written in French and his accent was so bad and his translation into English so inept that he made a fool of himself. It did not do lasting harm to his career, however. On 29 March 1615, Lake was taken into the Privy Council and, on 3 January 1615/16, James swore him in as one of the two principal royal secretaries so that both he and Sir Ralph Winwood were Secretary of State. Scandal and the Secretary of State Lake's discretion was not always to be relied on. In 1619 he relayed to the Earl of Suffolk remarks that the King had made to him privately about Suffolk's wife, Katherine Knyvet. The King was gravely displeased, and Lake offered the Marquess of Buckingham, the King's favourite £15,000 to help him regain the King's friendship. Buckingham refused but later yielded to Lake's pleas. The Roos affair Ultimately, Lake's career was nearly ruined by his involvement in a bitter family quarrel. On 12 February 1616/17, Lake's eldest child, Anne, was married to William Cecil, 16th Baron de Ros, but the marriage did not last. During the marriage, Cecil had mortgaged some of his land to Lake and following the divorce Lake claimed this for his daughter. Cecil's grandfather, Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, contested the request and a vicious dispute ensued. Lake's eldest son, Sir Arthur Lake, violently attacked Cecil. Lake's wife and daughter then threatened to accuse Cecil of having an affair with his grandfather's young second wife. This charge was entirely false but when Cecil fled to Rome, Anne