‘The heir of Aragon!’ laughed the Queen. ‘There will be little left for the heir of Aragon if the unhappy state of that country continues.’

‘And, Isabella,’ said Henry, ‘we, here in Castile, are not too happy, not too secure. The Marquis of Villena and the Archbishop of Toledo will be our friends when you are affianced to the brother of one and the nephew of the other. You see, my dear, Princesses must always serve their countries.’

‘I do not think any happy purpose could be served by such a... such a cruel and preposterous union.’

‘You are too young, Isabella, to understand.’

‘I am not too young to know that I would prefer death to marriage with that man.’

‘I think,’ said the Queen, ‘that you forget the respect due to the King and myself. We give you leave to retire. But before you go, let me say this: Suitors have been suggested to you and you have refused them. You should know that the King and I will allow no more refusals. You will prepare yourself for marriage, for in a few short weeks you are to be the bride of Don Pedro Giron.’

Isabella curtsied and retired.

She still felt as though she were in a dream. That was her only comfort. This terrible suggestion could not be of this world.

It was too humiliating, too degrading, too heart-breaking to contemplate.


* * *

In her own apartment Isabella sat staring before her.

Beatriz, who drew authority from the fact that she was not only Isabella’s maid of honour but her friend, dismissed everyone except Mencia de la Torre whom, next to herself, Isabella loved better than anyone in her circle.

‘What can have happened?’ whispered Mencia.

Beatriz shook her head. ‘Something has shocked her deeply.’

‘I have never seen her like this before.’

‘She has never been like this before.’ Beatriz knelt and took Isabella’s hand. ‘Dearest mistress,’ she implored, ‘would it not be easier if you talked to those who are ready to share your sorrows?’

Isabella’s lips trembled, but still she did not speak.

Mencia also knelt; she buried her face in Isabella’s skirts, for she could not bear to see that look of despair on the face of her beloved mistress.

Beatriz rose and poured out a little wine. She held this to Isabella’s lips. ‘Please, dearest. It will revive you. It will bring back your power of speech. Let us share your trouble. Who knows, there may be something we can do to banish it.’

Isabella allowed the wine to moisten her lips; and as Beatriz put an arm about her, she turned and buried her face against her friend’s breast.

‘Death,’ she muttered, ‘would I believe, be preferable.’

Beatriz knew that what she had feared had now happened. The match with Ferdinand must have been broken off and a new suitor proposed.

‘There must be some way of preventing this,’ said Beatriz.

Mencia raised her face and said passionately: ‘We will do anything... anything... to help, will we not, Beatriz?’

‘Anything,’ Beatriz agreed.

Then Isabella spoke: ‘There is nothing you can do. This time they meant it. I saw it in the Queen’s face. This time there will be no escaping it. Moreover, it is the wish of Villena, and that will decide it.’

‘It is a match for you?’

‘Yes,’ said Isabella. ‘The most degrading match I could make. I think it has been chosen for me by the Queen as a deliberate revenge for having refused her brother and won the approval and sanction of the Cortes to do so. But this time...’

‘Highness,’ whispered Mencia, ‘who?’

Isabella shuddered. ‘You will scarcely be able to believe it when I tell you. I cannot bear to say his name. I hate him. I despise him. I would rather be dead.’ She looked desperately from one to the other. ‘You see, I was trying to avoid saying his name, for even to speak of him fills me with such dread and disgust that I truly believe I shall die before the marriage ceremony can take place. But you will hear... if I do not tell you. The whole Court may be talking of it now. It is the brother of the Marquis of Villena – Don Pedro Giron.’

Neither of her women could speak. Beatriz had turned pale with horror; Mencia rocked on her heels, forgetful of everything but this overwhelmingly distasteful news. The thought of her mistress, in the coarse hands of the man whose reputation was one of the most unsavoury in Castile, made Mencia put her hands over her face to prevent herself betraying the full force of her horror.

‘I know what you are thinking,’ said Isabella. ‘Oh, Beatriz... Mencia... what shall I do? What can I do?’

‘There must be some way out of this,’ Beatriz tried to soothe.

‘They are determined. The Marquis naturally will do everything in his power to bring about the marriage. The Archbishop of Toledo will do the same. After all, this... this monster is his nephew. You see, my dear friends, they have taken Alfonso; they have forced him to call himself King of Castile while the King still lives. How do we know what that will cost him? And for myself I am to be the victim of the Queen’s revenge, of Villena’s and the Archbishop’s ambition, and... the lust of this man.’

Beatriz stood up; her face was hard and she, who Isabella had always known was possessed of a strong character, had never before looked so determined.

‘There must be a way,’ she said, ‘and we will find it.’ Then suddenly her expression lightened. ‘But how can this marriage take place?’ she demanded. ‘This man is a Grand Master of a religious Order and sworn to celibacy. Marriage is not for him.’

Mencia clasped her hands together and looked eagerly at Isabella. ‘It’s true, Highness, it’s true,’ she cried.

‘But of course it’s true,’ insisted Beatriz. ‘He cannot marry. So that’s an end to it. Depend upon it, this is merely a spiteful gesture of the Queen’s. Nothing will come of it. And when you consider, how could it? It is too fantastic... too preposterous.’

Isabella smiled at them wanly. She found a faint pleasure in the fact that they could comfort themselves thus, for they were two dear good friends who would suffer with her. She even allowed herself to be cheered a little. She must do something to lift herself from the blank despair into which she had fallen.


* * *

All through the night she had scarcely slept. She would awake from a doze, and the terrible knowledge would be there like a jailer sitting by her bed.

She dreamed of him; she saw him laying hands on her mother, making his obscene suggestions; and in her dream she ceased to be a looker-on, but the central figure in the repulsive scene.

She was pale when her women came to her. She asked that only Beatriz and Mencia should wait upon her. It would be unbearable to face any others, to see their pitying glances, for surely everyone would pity her.

Beatriz and Mencia were anxious. They talked together in her presence, because often when they addressed her she did not answer, for she did not hear.

‘We shall hear no more of this,’ said Beatriz. ‘Of course Pedro Giron cannot marry.’

‘Of course he cannot!’

They did not tell Isabella that the news was spreading through the Court that the marriage was not to be long delayed, because it was going to be the means of luring Villena and the Archbishop from the side of the rebels. ‘Once the marriage is announced, the rebels will become of less importance. Once it is fact, Villena and the Archbishop will stand firmly with the King, who will be their kinsman.’

They were glad that Isabella remained in her apartments; they did not wish her to hear what was being said.

The Queen came to see Isabella, and she was looking well pleased.

Isabella was lying on her bed when she entered. Beatriz and Mencia curtsied to the floor.

‘What is wrong with the Infanta?’ asked Joanna.

‘She has been a little indisposed this day,’ Beatriz told her. ‘I fear she is too sick to receive Your Highness.’

‘That is sad,’ said Joanna. ‘She should be rejoicing at the prospect before her.’

Beatriz and Mencia lowered their eyes; and the Queen went past them to the bed.

‘Why, Isabella,’ she said, ‘I am sorry to see you sick. What is wrong? Is it something you have eaten?’

‘It is nothing I have eaten,’ said Isabella.

‘Well, I have good news for you. Perhaps you were a little anxious, eh? My dear sister, there is no need for further anxiety. I have come to tell you that a dispensation has arrived from Rome. Don Pedro is released from his vows. There is now no impediment to the marriage.’

Isabella said nothing. She had known that there would be no difficulty in Don Pedro’s obtaining his dispensation, because his powerful brother desired it.

‘Well,’ coaxed Joanna, ‘does that not make you feel ready to leave your bed and dance with joy?’

Isabella raised herself on her elbow and looked stonily at Joanna.

‘I shall not marry Don Pedro,’ she said. ‘I shall do everything in my power to prevent such an unworthy marriage for a Princess of Castile.’

‘Stubborn little virgin,’ said the Queen lightly. She put her face close to Isabella’s and whispered: ‘There is nothing to fear, my dear, in marriage. Believe me, like so many of us, you will find much to delight you. Now, leave your bed and come down to the banquet which your brother is giving to celebrate this event.’

‘As I have nothing to celebrate, I shall stay here,’ Isabella replied.

‘Oh come... come, you are being somewhat foolish.’

‘If my brother wishes me to come to his banquet, he will have to take me there by force. I warn you that should he do so, I shall then announce that this marriage is not only against my wishes but that the very thought of it fills me with dismay.’