This meant that he did not have the level of French language tuition accorded to boarders by his Belgian schoolmaster Adrian Saravia, which was a source of regret to him in later life.
At the adjoining manor of Little Stanmore he built a grand brick mansion called Cannons to a design ascribed to John Thorpe (the house was rebuilt in the 18th century by the Duke of Chandos).
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.
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.
King James chose to judge the case in person, adjudicating the trial in the Star Chamber in two morning sessions on 3 and 5 February 1619/20.
Huge fines exceeding £10,000 were imposed upon the family and two days later Lake, his wife, and Lady Roos his daughter were consigned to the Tower.
But the misbehaviour was not confined to the Lakes: Parker, Clerk of the Star Chamber, was also incarcerated on 3 June for acting in bad faith in examining Lady Roos.
The King considered this to be the height of contempt against his Royal Majesty but a month later he agreed to free Lake from prison and put him in the custody of his brother Arthur, Bishop of Bath and Wells.
In this, for the defence and support of Lady Roos his daughter, he acknowledged that the sentence handed down against him on the preceding 13 February, was just, because his fault was disgraceful, hateful, and scandalous to the said Countess.
Furthermore he acknowledged that he had erred in incarcerating Luke Hutton on 22 February 1618 and George Williams out of self-interest, and professed that it grieved him to his heart to have defended such a disgraceful, hateful, and scandalous case.
[3] Begging the Countess' forgiveness, he sincerely petitioned the Lords to intercede with the King for favour and mercy.Intriguingly, on 22 February, William Camden notes in his diary that: "Peacock of Cambridge, who had claimed he had employed magical tricks to sway the King's mind from sound judgement in the case of Thomas Lake, is put to torture in the Tower of London.
On 10 March, Lake's wife was temporarily freed from the Tower "because of her ill health, under the condition that at the beginning of term she be returned unless she has made her submission".
Lake finally kissed the royal hand on 15 May but his wife stubbornly refused to make her submission and remained in the Tower after his release.