If I could find a wife, he thought, I should be rejuvenated. It was amazing that with all he had to offer—a crown no less—it should be so difficult to find anyone who wanted it.

Why? Was this an indication of what people were thinking about his hold on that glittering and most desired object?

His friends and ministers implied that he was not his usual wise self in allowing this obsession with holding the crown to play such a big part in his life. They had implied that he had it firmly in his grasp. He had brought much good to England. He had taxed the rich until they groaned and complained bitterly; but he had a strong economy; he had a prosperous country; and if he demanded taxes from all those who could afford to pay them—as well as from those who could not—he had never lived extravagantly. None could say that the money squeezed from his long-suffering subjects was spent on his own amusements. He was never extravagant unless deep consideration told him that it was wise to be so. Money was only spent if it could bring back gains which exceeded the expense.

And then suddenly he had the idea. Juana! She was a widow now. She was very attractive—quite a beauty in fact. She was Queen of Castile. Why should she not come back to England as his bride?

He sent for Dr. de Puebla and sounded him.

De Puebla had aged considerably and the damp climate of England had not been good for his health. Yet he stayed on knowing that his position as the go-between and friend of the King of England, though he served a Spanish master, was more interesting and remunerative than anything he could have attained in Castile.

De Puebla was a little taken aback at the King’s suggestion.

“My lord . . . she is but recently widowed. She is not quite balanced as you saw for yourself. Moreover she remains so enamored of her late husband that she has had him embalmed and carries his coffin about with her wherever she goes. She has just given birth to a daughter. . . . It seems hardly the time. . . .”

Hardly the time! Time was a sore point with the King. He could feel it slipping away from him. He must get a wife quickly.

“She has shown that she is fertile,” said the King. “She is beacutiful. She pleases me very much.”

“My lord, you know of her mental instability.”

“Mental instability does not prevent the bearing of children. I want sons, and I want a wife quickly to bear them for me.”

“I will acquaint King Ferdinand with your wishes,” said de Puebla.

“And you will tell him what an excellent prospect this is for his daughter. She will be Queen of England.”

“A title he hoped for another of his daughters,” said de Puebla. He had long deplored his inability to bring about that marriage. He knew that Ferdinand relied on him to do so; but all he had been able to report was the continual bickering about the dowry.

“That is another matter,” went on the King. “If Ferdinand will not pay the remainder of that long-overdue dowry I shall have to consider the match between his daughter Katharine and my son at an end.”

Ah, thought de Puebla. He desperately wants marriage with Juana. Can this be used as a bait to bring about the marriage between Katharine and the Prince of Wales?

Katharine was cheered a little during those months. The King had written to her saying that he loved her and could not endure to think of her worried about money; he enclosed two hundred pounds, which he trusted would be of some help to her.