Chapter 11
After spending some months in seclusion firstly within the walls of the monastery of San Jéronimo and then at Escorial, the king had given in to demands to take a wife to ensure succession to the throne. The choice had fallen on his niece Ana, daughter of his sister Maria and the Habsburg Emperor Maximiliano II.
The court was pervaded by an atmosphere of disbandment. Almost all the ladies-in-waiting had left Madrid. The Duchess of Alba had agreed to stay to help Princess Joana and myself with the infantas, but only until the arrival of the new queen. Shortly, I too would have to make a decision about my future.
A few months earlier I had received a visit from Diego de Cordoba, who was charged with a delicate mission. The king wished me to take a husband. Obviously his wish wa
