Katharine, The Virgin Widow - Plaidy Jean (книга регистрации .txt) 📗

“Is that so?” said Arthur wearily.

“Indeed it is so. Our father ordered the falconers to pluck off its head, and this was done.”

“I understand why,” said Arthur, “because I remember how he hanged the mastiffs.”

“Yes,” said Henry. “I remembered too. Our father said: ‘It is not meet for any subject to attack his superior.’”

“Ah,” mused Arthur, “our father is fond of these little parables, is he not?”

“But his best falcon! And all because the bird was game enough to show no fear of the mighty eagle. I should have treasured that falcon. I should have been proud of him. I should have used him continually. I should not have plucked off his head for bravery.”

“You are not King.”

“No—that is not for me.” Arthur noticed the sullen lines about the little mouth.

“It is unfortunate. You would have made a much better King than I, Henry.”

Henry did not deny this. “But you are the elder. It is the Church for me. And you already have a wife.”

Arthur flushed. He was a little ashamed of being a husband and yet no husband. It was embarrassing to know that there was a great deal of talk about whether or not the marriage should be consummated. It made him feel foolish.

Henry was thinking of that now. His face was as usual expressive, and Arthur could always guess at his thoughts.

Henry strutted about the apartment, imagining himself as the husband. There would be no question of the consummation then.

“You find her comely?” he asked slyly.

“She is very comely,” answered Arthur.

“And she brings you much enjoyment?”

Arthur flushed. “Indeed yes.”

Henry rocked on his heels and looked knowledgeable. “I have heard that the Spaniards are a passionate people, for all their solemn dignity.”

“Oh, it is true…it is true…” said Arthur.

Henry smiled. “It is said that you and she are not husband and wife in truth. I’ll warrant those who say that do not know the real truth.”

Arthur began to cough to hide his embarrassment; but he did not deny Henry’s suggestion.

Henry began to laugh; then suddenly he remembered the falcon. “If I were King,” he said, “I do not think I should have to hang my bravest dogs and destroy my most gallant falcon to warn my subjects that they must obey me.”

Henry was looking into the future, and once more Arthur guessed his thoughts. Do I look so ill then? he wondered. And he knew that he did, and that the chances were that he would not live, nor beget children, to keep Henry from the throne.

* * *

* * *

* * *

IT WAS TIME that Arthur returned to the Principality of Wales and the question had arisen as to whether Katharine should accompany him.

The King was undecided. Each day it seemed to him that Arthur looked weaker.

Puebla had been to him and, in an endeavor to assure Henry that he, Puebla, in reality served the King of England even though he was supposed to be the servant of the Spanish Sovereigns, he suggested that Henry should immediately take possession of Katharine’s plate and jewels.

“They will, of course, be Your Grace’s at the end of the year, but why should you not take them now?”

Henry considered the value of the plate and jewels—some thirty-five thousand crowns, according to the valuation made by the London goldsmiths—and when he contemplated such wealth his fingers itched to take possession of it. A year was a long time to wait. Anything could happen in a year, particularly as Arthur was not strong. But once the plate and jewels were in his possession there they should remain.

He sent therefore to Katharine’s treasurer, Don Juan de Cuero, and asked that the plate and jewels be handed to him.

This Don Juan de Cuero refused to do.

“Nay,” he told Henry’s messenger, “I am in charge of the Infanta’s revenues, and it was the express command of the Sovereigns of Spain that the plate and jewellery should remain the property of their daughter until the time was ripe for the payment of the second half of the dowry.”

Henry was irritated when he received this reply, but he had no intention of upsetting the Spanish Sovereigns at this stage and was ready to abandon the idea of laying his hands on the plate and jewels until the appointed time.

Puebla came to him with a suggestion. Puebla had made up his mind that it would be to Spain’s advantage if the marriage were consummated, and he was determined to do everything in his power to bring this about.

He had Henry’s confidence. More than once he had shown the King of England that he worked with an eye to England’s advantages, and now he had a suggestion to make.

“If the Infanta could be induced to wear her jewellery and use her plate it could then be called second-hand and you could decline to accept it as part payment of the dowry. Ferdinand and Isabella would then be bound to pay you thirty-five thousand crowns instead of the plate and jewels—which would remain in England so that you could always take them if you wished.”

This seemed a good idea to Henry’s crafty mind. But he pointed out: “Her treasurer keeps a firm hand on the plate and jewels which he knows are to come as part payment of the dowry. He would never consent to her using them.”

Puebla appeared to be thoughtful. He knew Isabella and Ferdinand well and he was convinced that the fact that the plate and jewels had been used by their daughter would have no effect whatsoever on the bargain they had made. They needed money too desperately to consider lightly parting with it. But Puebla’s desire was not to work against Spain for the sake of Henry but only to give Henry the impression that he was doing so.

Then Puebla said: “If the Infanta accompanied the Prince to Wales, they could set up a small court there, and the Infanta’s plate could be used by them both. She would want to wear her jewels in her own little court.”

The King nodded. “The Princess of Wales shall accompany her husband to Ludlow,” he said.

* * *

* * *

* * *

THE JOURNEY westwards was pleasant enough. Arthur seemed happy to escape from his father’s notice. He rode at the head of the cavalcade and Katharine was close to him, riding on a pillion behind her master of horse; and when this mode of travel tired her she took to her litter which was borne between two horses.

The people came out in the villages to welcome her and Arthur, and she was delighted that Arthur always considered the pleasure of the people and would stop and speak to them, always gentle, always with a smile, no matter how tired he was—and he was so often tired.

She was glad that his father had sent a council of men with him, headed by Sir Richard Pole, which meant that Arthur had no decisions to make which would have caused him anxiety; he travelled as the representative of the King, and could always call in his councillors if action was necessary, and should it not be carried out in accordance with the King’s pleasure, it would be Sir Richard and the council who would be blamed, not Arthur.

With Katharine rode her own household headed by Dona Elvira, whose son, Don Inigo Manrique, was among Katharine’s pages. Don Inigo strove to ride beside Maria de Rojas, who did her best to keep close to Katharine. Alessandro Geraldini was also a member of the party, and the strife between him and Dona Elvira increased as the days passed.

Many of Katharine’s entourage who had accompanied her from Spain had now been sent back to their own country; and as Katharine rode towards Wales she felt a sudden desolation because she had said goodbye to the Archbishop of Santiago and many others. She envied them their return to Spain and she let herself wonder what was happening in the Madrid Alcazar or the great Alhambra. How happy she would have been if she could have burst into her mother’s apartments and thrown herself into those loving arms!

I shall never cease to long for her, she thought sadly as she lay back in her litter.