Katharine, the Virgin Widow — Jean Plaidy

IN THE ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET
THE INFANTA OF SPAIN WAS A TRUE PRIZE.
In the eyes of the world, 17 years old Katharine of Aragon and Castile was a precious object to be disposed of for the glory of Spain. Her parents, Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand, send her to England to become the bride of Arthur, Prince of Wales. But soon her frail husband was dead. And the young pale widow of faces an uncertain future of poverty, humiliation, and exile during years. Meanwhile, waiting in the wings was her young handsome brother-in-law, Prince Henry, who alone had the power to restore Katharine's lost position.
Although she catches the eye of the new bold heir to the British throne, the willful and wayward prince who will become Henry VIII, ​a fateful question loomed: Was the marriage consummated, as Katharine's priest avowed, or was the young widow still a virgin? On that delicate point hinged Katharine's-and England's-future.