The Merry Monarch's Wife Read Online Free PDF Page A

longer, Catherine.”
    â€œI am eighteen years old.”
    â€œIt is an age of maturity. Do you regret that no marriage has been arranged for you?”
    â€œNo…I believe…”
    â€œI know. You share your mother’s belief. She has always wanted you to marry into England.”
    â€œIt was talked of once.”
    â€œThat was long ago. It must have been more than ten years ago. Of a surety that was no time for the King to think of the marriage of his son.”
    â€œNo. It was a tragic time.”
    â€œWith an even more tragic end. There have been approaches, you know, but your mother has rejected them all. She cannot rid herself of the belief that you are going to England…and for that reason she has rejected all offers for your hand. I cannot understand her. It is a kind of dream of hers. It is so unlike her to cling to fancies.”
    â€œI think I understand,” I said.
    â€œI have been the most fortunate of men in my marriage, and I trust when the time is ripe you will find a partner who is as good to you as she has been to me. My greatest regret has been that I have had to be away from you for so long. I have had too little of my family and too much of war.”
    â€œIt has been a sadness for us all, dear father. But you are here now.”
    â€œFor a short time. I confess to you, daughter, while we are alone, that I should have been a happier man if I had not been a king. Now let us talk of other matters. You are eighteen years old—as I said, an age of maturity and wisdom.”
    â€œI feel sure I fall short of the last.”
    â€œYou are as I would have you, my daughter, and to show my love for you, I have gifts for you. I propose to put certain lands into your possession. First, there is the island of Madeira. It is a beautiful spot, fertile and temperate. The city of Lanego is also to be yours, with the town of Moura. There will be tributes from these which will come to you.”
    â€œBut, father, it is too generous…I do not need…”
    â€œMy dear daughter, you are a child no longer. You need independence and security. So…they will be yours. But we must remember that they belong to Portugal and if you should marry out of the kingdom you would perforce relinquish these. On the other hand, if you married some Portuguese nobleman they would remain in your possession.”
    I saw that my father thought this would be my eventual fate…if I married at all; and he wanted to assure himself that I was in the possession of independent wealth.
    It was good of him, but I, with my mother, shared the feeling that one day I should go to England. I was, though, deeply touched by his generosity and care for me.
    I told him this.
    â€œI want you to be happy,” he said, “whatever may befall you.”
    It was only a few months after that when he died.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 
    IT WAS MORE THAN the loss of a beloved parent. The court was thrown into turmoil. My brother, Alfonso, at thirteen, had few of the qualities necessary to a ruler. There was rejoicing in Spain, where they must have been assuring themselves that it would not be long before Portugal was once more their vassal.
    They had reckoned without my mother.
    She said firmly: “I shall complete the work my husband has begun.”
    Our people had always been aware of her strength and many of them knew of the part she had played in my father’s successful campaigns. She was without hesitation proclaimed Regent and the Spaniards’ jubilation was short-lived. Very soon they began to realize that they had little cause for rejoicing. Donna Luiza, Queen Regent, was not only a leader of resolution and dedication, she was a shrewd and skillful politician. My father had been right when he had said she should. And now she was the ruler.
    She was more decisive than my father had been, less sentimental, more ruthless. Our armies were more successful under her direction