nce with the treaty, since the
succession to the Crown depends on the undoubted legitimacy of the
marriage."[10] No sooner was the ratification of the betrothal conveyed to
Ferdinand than he demanded the aid of Henry against France, and Estrada
was instructed to "make use of" Katharine to obtain the favour demanded.
If Henry hesitated to provide the money for raising the 2000 English
troops required, Katharine herself was to be asked by her kind father to
pawn her plate and jewels for the purpose. Henry, however, had no
intention to be hurried now that the betrothal had been signed. There were
several things he wanted on his side first. The Earl of Suffolk and his
brother Richard Pole were still in Flanders; and the greatest wish of
Henry's life was that they should be handed over to his tender mercies.
So the armed coalition against France still hung fire, whilst a French
ambassador was as busy courting the King of England as Ferdinand himself.
In the meanwhile Katharine for a time lived in apparent amity with Henry
and his family, especially with the young Princess Mary, who was her
constant companion. In the autumn of 1504 she passed a fortnight with them
at Windsor and Richmond, hunting every day; but just as the King was
leaving Greenwich for a progress through Kent the Princess fell seriously
ill, and the letters written by Henry during his absence to his
daughter-in-law are worded as if he were the most affectionate of fathers.
On this progress the Prince of Wales accompanied his father for the first
time, as the King had previously been loath to disturb his studies. "It is
quite wonderful," wrote an observer, "how much the King loves the Prince.
He has good reason to do so, for he deserves all his love." Already the
crafty and politic King was indoctrinating his son in the system he had
made his own: that the command of ready money, gained no matter how, meant
power, and that to hold the balance between two greater rivals was to have
them both at his bidding. And young Henry, though of different nature from
his father, made good use of his lesson.

Katharine's greatest trouble at this time (the autumn of 1504) was the
bickering, and worse, of her Spanish household. We have already seen how
Puebla had set them by the ears with his jealousy of his colleagues and
his dodging diplomacy. Katharine appealed to Henry to bring her servants
to order, but he refused to interfere, as they were not his subjects.
Dona Elvira