There was a movement in her room and she sat up in bed, whispering: ‘Who is there?’
‘It is I, Isabella.’
‘Alfonso!’
‘I came to you quietly. I did not want anyone to disturb us. Oh... Isabella, I am frightened.’
The bed curtains divided and there stood her brother. He looked such a child, she thought, and she forgot her own misery in her desire to comfort him.
‘What is it, Alfonso?’
‘There are plots and intrigues all about us, Isabella. And I... I am the centre of them. That is what I feel. They are going to send you away so that I shall not have the comfort of your presence and advice. Isabella... I am afraid.’
She held out her hand and he took it; then he threw himself into her arms and for a few seconds they clung together.
‘They are going to make me the heir to the throne,’ said Alfonso. ‘They are going to say the little Princess has no right to it. I wish they would leave me alone, Isabella. Why cannot they leave us in peace... myself to be as other boys, you to marry where you wish.’
‘They will never leave us in peace, Alfonso. We are not as other boys and girls. The reason is that our half-brother is the King of Castile and that many people believe the child, who is known as his daughter, is not a child of his at all. That means that we are in the direct line of succession. There are some to support Henry and his Queen... and there are others who will use us in their quarrel with the King and Queen.’
‘Isabella... let us run away. Let us go to Arevalo and join our mother there.’
‘It would be of no use. They would not let us remain there.’
‘Perhaps we could all escape into Aragon... to Ferdinand.’
Isabella considered this, imagined herself with her hysterical mother and her young brother arriving at the Court of Ferdinand’s father John. In Aragon there was a state of unrest. It might even be that John had decided to choose another bride for Ferdinand.
She shook her head slowly. ‘Our feelings, our loves and hates... they are not important, Alfonso. We must try to see ourselves... not as people... but as pieces in a game, to be moved this way and that... whichever is most beneficial to our country.’
‘If they would leave me alone and not try to force the King to make me his heir, surely that would be beneficial to the country.’
‘Terrible things are happening in Castile, Alfonso. The roads are unsafe; the people have no protection; there is much poverty. It may be that it would be beneficial if you were made King of Castile with a Regency to rule until you are of age.’
‘I do not want it, I do not want it,’ cried Alfonso. ‘I want us to be together... quietly and at peace. Oh, Isabella, what can we do? I am frightened, I tell you.’
‘We must not be frightened, Alfonso. Fear is unworthy of us.’
‘But we are no different from other people,’ cried Alfonso passionately.
‘We are. We are,’ insisted Isabella. ‘We make a mistake if we do not recognise this. It is not for us to harbour dreams of a quiet happiness. We have to face the fact that we are different.’
‘Isabella, people who are in the way of others with a wish to ascend the throne often die. Carlos, Prince of Viana, died. I have heard that was to make way for his young brother, Ferdinand.’
Isabella said slowly: ‘Ferdinand played no part in that murder... if murder there was.’
‘It was murder,’ said Alfonso. He crossed his hands on his chest. ‘Something within me tells me it was murder. Isabella, if they made me heir... if they made me King...’ He looked over his shoulder furtively; and Isabella thought of Carlos, the prisoner of his own father, feeling as Alfonso was now, looking over his shoulder as Alfonso looked, furtively, afraid of the greed and lust of men for power. ‘There was Queen Blanche too,’ went on Alfonso. ‘I wonder what she felt on her last day on Earth. I wonder what it felt like to be shut up in a castle, knowing that you have that which others want and only your death can give it to them.’
‘This is foolish talk,’ said Isabella.
‘But they are marrying you into Portugal. You will not be here to see what happens. I know they are making plans concerning me, Isabella. Oh... how I wish that I were not the son of a King. Have you ever thought, Isabella, how wonderful it must be to be the child of a simple peasant?’
‘To suffer hunger? To have to work hard for a cruel master?’
‘There is nothing so much to be feared in your life,’ said Alfonso, ‘as the knowledge that men are planning to take it from you. I think if you could ask poor Queen Blanche to confirm this, she would do so. I know, you see, Isabella. Because... I have read the thoughts in men’s eyes as they look at me. I know. They are sending you away because they fear you. I shall be left without a friend. For, Isabella, although the Archbishop tells me he loves me – and so does the Marquis of Villena – I do not trust them. You are the only one I can be sure of.’
Isabella was deeply moved.
‘Little brother,’ she said, and she seemed to draw strength and determination from Alfonso’s melancholy words. ‘I will not go to Portugal. I will find some means of avoiding this marriage.’
Alfonso, looking up at her and seeing the resolve in her face, began to believe that when Isabella made up her mind she could not be defeated.
* * *
It was when Alfonso had left her that inspiration came to Isabella.
She needed advice. She should discover whether she must inevitably accept this marriage with Portugal, or whether there was some way out of the situation.
She herself was a young girl, with little knowledge of the laws of the country, but she did suspect that the King and his adherents were endeavouring to rush her into this marriage and if this were so that they might have an ulterior reason for this haste.
She still believed that happiness for her lay in a marriage which had caught her childhood’s imagination when she had made an ideal of Ferdinand; but common sense told her that a marriage between Castile and Aragon could bring the greatest good to Spain. During the revolt in Catalonia there had been strife between Castile and Aragon; and Isabella had begun to realise that one of the reasons why the Moors still governed a great part of Spain was because of the quarrels among Spaniards.
United they might defeat the Infidel. Warring among themselves they became weakened. How much more satisfactory it would be if Spaniards united and fought the Moors instead of each other.
A marriage between Castile and Aragon then must be of the greatest advantage to Spain; and Isabella believed that if she and Ferdinand were united that would be the first step towards driving the Moors from the country. Therefore their marriage must be the one to take place.
She was certain that the Prince of Viana had met his death by Divine interference. Perhaps that had come about by way of poisoned broth or wine. But who dared question the designs of Providence? God had decided that Aragon was for Ferdinand. Had He also decided that Isabella was for Ferdinand?
God was more inclined to consider those who sought to help themselves, they being more worthy of His support than those who idly accepted whatever fate was thrust upon them.
Isabella accordingly made up her mind that she would work with all her might to evade this marriage with Alfonso V of Portugal.
She had more than her own desires to consider. Her brother Alfonso needed her. To some he might appear as the heir to the throne; to Isabella he was her frightened little brother. His father was dead; his poor unbalanced mother was shut away from the world. Who was there to care for little Alfonso but his sister Isabella?
But they were children in a Court in which conflict raged. In such a Court, thought Isabella, the difficulty is to know who are your friends, who your enemies. Whom could she trust except Beatriz? It seemed that greater wisdom came to her and she understood that the only way to be sure whose side people were on was to consider their interests and motives.
She knew that the King and Queen wished to see her leave the country.
The reason was plain. They had realised that differences of opinion concerning the rights of the Queen’s baby daughter to the throne could bring the country to civil war. Therefore they wanted the little Princess’s rivals out of the way. They could not remove Alfonso yet; that would be too drastic a step. But how easy it was to marry off Isabella and so remove her in a seemly way from the sphere of action.
The Marquis of Villena was against Isabella’s marriage with Ferdinand for very strong personal reasons. A great deal of the property which he now held had once belonged to the House of Aragon, and he guessed that if Ferdinand attained influence in Castile, some means would be found of removing that property from the Marquisate of Villena and bringing it into the possession of its original owners.
There was, however, one person in Castile who Isabella believed would welcome the marriage between herself and Ferdinand. This was Don Frederick Henriquez, who was Admiral of Castile and father of the ambitious Joan Henriquez, Ferdinand’s own mother.
The Admiral would naturally support the marriage between his grandson and one who was only separated from the throne of Castile by a few short steps.
There could be no doubt then where the Admiral’s sympathies would lie; and, if anyone in Castile could help her now, this was the man.
Isabella had learned her first lesson in statecraft.
She would send for Frederick Henriquez, Admiral of Castile, a man of great experience; he would be able to tell her exactly how she stood in regard to the suggested marriage with Alfonso of Portugal.
* * *
In the great apartment lighted by a hundred torches which threw shadows on the tapestried walls, Isabella came to pay her respects to the visiting King of Portugal.
She held her head high as she walked towards the dais where the two Kings sat; and even though she felt that her wildly beating heart would leap into her throat and suffocate her, she yet managed to retain a certain serenity.
‘I am for Ferdinand and Ferdinand is for me,’ she told herself even at this moment, as she had been telling herself while her women had prepared her for the interview.
Henry took her into his arms and she was held against his scented and jewel-decorated robes of state. He called her ‘our dearest sister’; and he was smiling with what most people would believe to be real affection.
Queen Joanna looked glitteringly beautiful; and of course Beltran de la Cueva was in attendance behind the chairs of the King and Queen, darkly handsome, dazzlingly clad, and... triumphant.
Now she saw the man whom they were eager to make her husband, and she shivered.
He seemed very old and repulsively ugly to the thirteen-year-old girl.
I will not, I will not, she told herself. If they force me, I will take a knife and kill myself rather than submit.
In spite of these wild thoughts her hand did not tremble as it was taken by the King of Portugal.
His eyes were a little glazed as they rested on her – this young virgin, with innocence shining in her eyes. A delectable morsel, thought the King of Portugal, and one who could conceivably bring a crown with her.
There was trouble in Castile. Wicked Joanna! What had she been about? He could guess. And this Beltran de la Cueva was such a handsome fellow that one could hardly blame Joanna. She should have arranged it, though, so that there were no suspicions. Yet why should he regret that! It was very possible that this delicious young girl would one day be the heiress of Castile. There was a young brother, but he might be killed in battle; for there would certainly be battles in Castile before long. And the baby Joanna? Oh, Isabella’s chances were fair enough.
Isabella’s eyes met his and she flinched. His lips were a little wet as though his mouth was watering at the sight of her.
Isabella’s whole being called out in protest, but she respectfully returned the smiles of her brother, his Queen, and the Queen’s brother, who so clearly was not averse to taking her as wife.
Henry said: ‘Our Isabella is overcome with joy at the prospect which awaits her.’
‘She has scarcely slept for excitement since we made her aware of her great good fortune,’ put in the Queen.
‘She is conscious of the great honour done to her,’ went on Henry, ‘and now that she has seen you I know she will be doubly eager for the match. That is so, is it not, sister?’
‘Highness,’ said Isabella earnestly, ‘would you not consider it indecorous of a young woman to discuss her marriage before she was betrothed?’
Henry laughed. ‘Isabella has been very carefully nurtured. She lived the life of a nun before she joined us here at Court.’
‘I know of no better upbringing,’ said Alfonso V of Portugal. His eyes continued to wander over Isabella, so that she felt he was already picturing her in many different situations of intimacy which she could only vaguely imagine.
‘My dear Isabella,’ said the Queen, ‘your brother and I will not be as strict with you as your mother was at Arevalo. We shall allow you to dance with the King of Portugal. You shall become friends before he takes you back with him to Lisbon.’
Isabella forced herself to speak then. She said in a loud, clear voice, which could be heard by those courtiers who were in the room but some little distance from the royal group: ‘We cannot be sure yet that the betrothal will be agreed upon.’
Henry looked surprised, the Queen angry, and the King of Portugal nonplussed.
But Isabella boldly resumed: ‘I know you have not forgotten that, as a Princess of Castile, my betrothal could not take place without the consent of the Cortes.’
‘The King gives his consent,’ said Joanna quickly.
‘That is true,’ said Isabella, ‘but, as you are aware, it is essential that the Cortes also give consent.’
‘The King of Portugal is my brother,’ retorted Joanna haughtily. ‘Therefore we can dispense with the usual formality.’
‘I could not allow myself to be betrothed without the consent of the Cortes,’ Isabella affirmed.
It was the weariness in Henry’s face, rather than the anger and astonishment in those of the Queen and the King of Portugal, which told Isabella how right the old Admiral had been when he assured her that the only way in which the King and Queen dare marry her off would be to do so at great speed, before the Cortes had time to remind them that they must have a say in the matter.
And, the Admiral had added, it was hardly likely that the Cortes would give their consent to Isabella’s marriage with the Queen’s brother. The people had little love for the Queen; they had always considered her levity most unbecoming, and now with the scandal concerning the parentage of her little daughter about to break, they would blame her more than ever.
The Cortes would never consent to a marriage repugnant to their Princess Isabella, and so desired by their weak and lascivious King and his less weak but hardly less lascivious wife.
When Isabella left the audience chamber she knew that she had planted dismay in the hearts of two Kings and a Queen.
How right the Admiral of Castile had been! She had learned a valuable lesson, and once again she thanked God for saving her for Ferdinand.
CHAPTER VIII
OUTSIDE THE WALLS OF AVILA
A brilliant cavalcade was riding northwards to the shores of the River Bidassoa, the boundary between Castile and France, and a meeting-place close to the town of Bayonne.
In the centre of this procession rode Henry, King of Castile, his person glittering with jewels, and his Moorish Guard dazzling in their colourful uniforms.
His courtiers had done their utmost to rival the splendour of their King, although none, with the exception of Beltran de la Cueva, had been able to do so. Still, it was a splendid concourse that gathered to meet King Louis XI of France, his courtiers and his ministers.
This meeting had been arranged by the Marquis of Villena and the Archbishop of Toledo, the purpose of it being to settle the differences between the Kings of Castile and Aragon.
When John of Aragon had come i
nto conflict with Catalonia over his treatment of his eldest son Carlos, Prince of Viana, Henry of Castile had thrown in certain men and arms to help the Catalans. Now, Villena had decided that there should be peace and that the King of France should be the mediator in a reconciliation.
Villena and the Archbishop had their own reasons for arranging this meeting between the Kings. Louis wished it and the two statesmen, having a profound respect for Louis’ talents, had accepted certain favours from him in return for which they must not be unmindful of his wishes when at their master’s Court.
Louis was a man who was eager to have a say in the affairs of Europe. He was determined to make France the centre of Continental politics, the most powerful of countries, and he deemed it necessary therefore to lose no opportunity of meddling in his neighbours’ affairs if he could do so to the advantage of France.
He was interested in the affairs of Aragon, for he had lent the King of that Province three hundred and fifty thousand crowns, takng as security for the loan the provinces of Roussillon and Cerdagne. If there were to be peace between Castile and Aragon he was anxious that it should be brought about with no disadvantage to France. It was for this reason that he had his ‘pensioners’ – such as Villena and the Archbishop of Toledo – in every country in which he could place them.
Louis was in his prime, for it was but some three years since he had ascended the throne at the age of thirty-eight, and he was already making good the ravages of the Hundred Years War. He knew Henry for a weak King growing more and more foolish as the years passed, and he could not but believe that, in conference, he would get the better of him, particularly as this King of Castile’s two chief advisers were ready to accept bribes from himself, the King of France.
When Louis and Henry met there arose an immediate hostility between their followers.
Henry, magnificently attired, his company glittering in gold brocade and with the dazzle of their jewels, made a strange contrast to the sombrely clad French King.
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