 The letter to Æthelburg makes it clear that she was already married at the time the news of Eadbald 's conversion reached Rome . This is quite inconsistent with the earlier date Bede gives for Eadbald 's acceptance of Christianity , and it has been suggested in Bede 's defence that Æthelburg married Edwin substantially earlier and stayed in Kent until 625 before travelling to Rome , and that the letter was written while she was in Kent . However , it would appear from Boniface 's letter that Boniface thought of Æthelburg as being at her husband 's side . It also appears that the letter to Justus was written after the letters to Edwin and Æthelburg , rather than before , as Bede has it ; Boniface 's letter to Edwin and Æthelburg indicates he had the news from messengers , but when he wrote to Justus he had heard from the king himself . 
