Arthur

Chapter 4

Arthur, Prince of Wales. Dogmersfield, Hampshire. November 1501

Catalina de Aragón was unlike any woman I had ever met.

I had exchanged letters with her for almost my entire life, as part of my works, and I knew she was a very well educated and bright lady. I had seen her portrait and I knew she was a fair princess. But I had never imagined she would be such a fascinating woman.

When she faced my father, instead of the flirtatious, vain and submissive smile that most girls showed him, she had a strong, furious and defying glare. Even so, her smile was calm and her manners indicated only perfect elegance and control. My bride was almost a head shorter than me, but she held herself so greatly as if she owned the whole palace. She did not show any signs of intimidation or fear, even though my father had invaded her room and imposed his presence in her palace. Unlike me, he found it all very entertaining.

She was the perfect hostess; not only had she made sure there would be a fine banquet, she also accomplished to show the elegance of the Spanish court. With a gracious move, she ordered her ladies-in-waiting to dance. Her whole court reflected her magnificence.

“Shall I serve you with more wine, milord?” She asked me, as she noticed my glass was almost empty. I found hard to look directly at her inquiring blue eyes; I nodded, and she made a sign to her pageboy to serve me. I could feel her eyes examining me.

“I understand that your father has sent half of your dowry with you.” My father said.

“I am afraid not, Your Grace. As you know, my father has sent the first part of the dowry through his Ambassador, Dr. De Puebla, before my arrival. ”

“Where is the second part, then?”

She shook her shoulders. “Why am I supposed to know, Your Grace? I am not his Ambassador. He has promised to send it after the marriage, as far as I am concerned. It is surely not in my hands.”

I felt embarrassed as my father discussed with Catalina about her dowry; it was not her task to worry about it. I looked at her apologetically, but she ignored me.

“If you have any doubts, Your Grace, I suggest you to speak with Dr. De Puebla. I am certain he will provide you with the facts.” She said.

My father seemed to realise it was not a good idea to trouble the Infanta with such matters. “I do not have doubts, Princess. After all, we are all friends and family now.”

“Yes. Friends and family.” Catalina took her glass of wine, in a brief toast; my father smiled bitterly.

“Why don’t you dance for us?” He said, out of sudden.

The maid waiting beside her looked outraged; Catalina was not supposed to be in the presence of men before her wedding day, according to the Spanish traditions. That was surely too much for the maid.

“Infanta…” she started to say, but Catalina silenced her with a gesture.

“Está bien, Doña Elvira.” She turned to one of her ladies-in-waiting, a girl who looked around her age, and spoke to her quickly in Spanish. All the ladies positioned themselves in the middle of the room, all of them excited to show themselves. My father had rudely requested the Spanish King, Ferdinand of Aragón, to send along with his daughter only the fairest ladies of the court to wait on the Infanta, and apparently, the King had reluctantly done his bidding.

But none of them compared to Catalina. They started to dance a slow Spanish dance, and all eyes were on the beautiful Infanta, who moved so graciously as she was floating. Her head was kept high, but her eyes were semi-closed, as if she was feeling a great pleasure in her movements. I found myself so hypnotized by her that I could barely notice when the dance was over.

“Bravo” my father said. “Very good. We must take our leave now.”

Clearly Catalina was confused by the change of events. But she managed to nod and smile as if it was natural for her that a man entered her court without announcement, dined with her, requested her to dance and now simply announced his leave.

“It was a pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty.” She curtsied. “Surely a fine unexpected pleasure.”

“We shall meet again soon.” He smiled. “You are going to London next week, and you will be escorted by my son Henry and the Duke of Buckingham.”

I had to contain my anger; Harry was going to escort her, and surely think high of himself for that, probably try to get all the attention he could.

“I shall be honored to meet your son and friend, Your Grace.” She replied in her perfect French.

“Farewell, daughter.” He smiled, and left, as she curtsied low.

For some reason I could not move; I kept on looking at her, as a fool, whilst the whole court was bowing, waiting for me to follow my dad so they could stand up. As soon as Catalina noticed I had not moved, she stood up, looking at me curiously.

“Is there anything wrong, milord?” She asked, softly.

“No.” I said, as I felt my face burning. “I merely would like to say… I am very glad you are finally here.”

My bride looked at me, as if I had just spoken Welsh; I noticed a slight blush on her fair cheeks, and that made me smile a bit more confident. She was, after all, a girl, only a few months older than me. It was a new situation for her, as it was for me.

“You will be very happy here, Catalina.” I promised, bowing to her and leaving.