The musicians played a dance from Spain and Queen Elizabeth, at a nod from her mother-in-law, leaned over and said quietly to Catalina, ‘It would be a great pleasure for us all if you would dance.’
Catalina, quite composed, rose from her chair and went to the centre of the great hall as her ladies gathered around her, formed a circle and held hands. They danced the pavane, the same dance that Henry had seen at Dogmersfield, and he watched his daughter-in-law through narrowed eyes. Undoubtedly, she was the most beddable young woman in the room. A pity that a cold fish like Arthur would be certain to fail to teach her the pleasures that could be had between sheets. If he let them both go to Ludlow Castle she would either die of boredom or slip into complete frigidity. On the other hand, if he kept her at his side she would delight his eyes, he could watch her dance, he could watch her brighten the court. He sighed. He thought he did not dare.
‘She is delightful,’ the queen remarked.
‘Let’s hope so,’ he said sourly.
‘My lord?’
He smiled at her look of surprised inquiry. ‘No, nothing. You are right, delightful indeed. And she looks healthy, doesn’t she? As far as you can tell?’
‘I am sure she is, and her mother assured me that she is most regular in her habits.’
He nodded. ‘That woman would say anything.’
‘But surely not; nothing that would mislead us? Not on a matter of such importance?’ she suggested.
He nodded and let it go. The sweetness of his wife’s nature and her faith in others was not something he could change. Since she had no influence on policy, her opinions did not matter. ‘And Arthur?’ he said. ‘He seems to be growing and strong? I would to God he had the spirits of his brother.’
They both looked at young Harry who was standing, watching the dancers, his face flushed with excitement, his eyes bright.
‘Oh, Harry,’ his mother said indulgently. ‘But there has never been a prince more handsome and more full of fun than Harry.’
The Spanish dance ended and the king clapped his hands. ‘Now Harry and his sister,’ he commanded. He did not want to force Arthur to dance in front of his new bride. The boy danced like a clerk, all gangling legs and concentration. But Harry was raring to go and was on the floor with his sister Princess Margaret in a moment. The musicians knew the young royals’ taste in music and struck up a lively galliard. Harry tossed his jacket to one side and threw himself into the dance, stripped down to his shirtsleeves like a peasant.
There was a gasp from the Spanish grandees at the young prince’s shocking behaviour, but the English court smiled with his parents at his energy and enthusiasm. When the two had romped their way through the final turns and gallop, everyone applauded, laughing. Everyone but Prince Arthur, who was staring into the middle distance, determined not to watch his brother dance. He came to with a start only when his mother put her hand on his arm.
‘Please God he’s daydreaming of his wedding night,’ his father remarked to Lady Margaret his mother. ‘Though I doubt it.’
She gave a sharp laugh. ‘I can’t say I think much of the bride,’ she said critically.
‘You don’t?’ he asked. ‘You saw the treaty yourself.’
‘I like the price but the goods are not to my taste,’ she said with her usual sharp wit. ‘She is a slight, pretty thing, isn’t she?’
‘Would you rather a strapping milkmaid?’
‘I’d like a girl with the hips to give us sons,’ she said bluntly. ‘A nursery-full of sons.’
‘She looks well enough to me,’ he ruled. He knew that he would never be able to say how well she looked to him. Even to himself he should never even think it.
Catalina was put into her wedding bed by her ladies, Maria de Salinas kissed her goodnight, and Dona Elvira gave her a mother’s blessing; but Arthur had to undergo a further round of backslapping ribaldry, before his friends and companions escorted him to her door. They put him into bed beside the princess, who lay still and silent as the strange men laughed and bade them goodnight, and then the archbishop came to sprinkle the sheets with holy water and pray over the young couple. It could not have been a more public bedding unless they had opened the doors for the citizens of London to see the young people side by side, awkward as bolsters, in their marital bed. It seemed like hours to both of them until the doors were finally closed on the smiling, curious faces and the two of them were quite alone, seated upright against the pillows, frozen like a pair of shy dolls.
There was silence.
‘Would you like a glass of ale?’ Arthur suggested in a voice thin with nerves.
‘I don’t like ale very much,’ Catalina said.
‘This is different. They call it wedding ale, it’s sweetened with mead and spices. It’s for courage.’
‘Do we need courage?’
He was emboldened by her smile and got out of bed to fetch her a cup. ‘I should think we do,’ he said. ‘You are a stranger in a new land, and I have never known any girls but my sisters. We both have much to learn.’
She took the cup of hot ale from him and sipped the heady drink. ‘Oh, that is nice.’
Arthur gulped down a cup and took another. Then he came back to the bed. Raising the cover and getting in beside her seemed an imposition; the idea of pulling up her night shift and mounting her was utterly beyond him.
‘I shall blow out the candle,’ he announced.
The sudden dark engulfed them, only the embers of the fire glowed red.
‘Are you very tired?’ he asked, longing for her to say that she was too tired to do her duty.
‘Not at all,’ she said politely, her disembodied voice coming out of the darkness. ‘Are you?’
‘No.’
‘Do you want to sleep now?’ he asked.
‘I know what we have to do,’ she said abruptly. ‘All my sisters have been married. I know all about it.’
‘I know as well,’ he said, stung.
‘I didn’t mean that you don’t know, I meant that you need not be afraid to start. I know what we have to do.’
‘I am not afraid, it is just that I…’
To his absolute horror he felt her hand pull his nightshirt upwards, and touch the bare skin of his belly.
‘I did not want to frighten you,’ he said, his voice unsteady, desire rising up even though he was sick with fear that he would be incompetent.
‘I am not afraid,’ said Isabella’s daughter. ‘I have never been afraid of anything.’
In the silence and the darkness he felt her take hold of him and grasp firmly. At her touch he felt his desire well up so sharply that he was afraid he would come in her hand. With a low groan he rolled over on top of her and found she had stripped