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“Thank you. It was a pleasure meeting you and talking with you, senhorita,” said Afonso with a friendly bow.

It was also a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness,” Isabel curtsied.

“In that case, I will leave you with Fernando. I’m sorry, but I still have much work to do before tonight.”

Isabel curtseyed silently with a welcoming smile as the prince hurried away.

After meeting Isabelle, Afonso was in a good mood for the rest of the day. Later in the evening, he decided to visit his brother.

“Good evening, Fernando,” Afonso said as he entered his brother’s chambers. He noticed from Fernando’s face that he wasn’t happy with his visit.

“Oh, I’m sorry I interrupted you,” Afonso said. He noticed the papers on the table and the quill in Fernando’s hand. “I didn’t realize you were doing your homework so late.”

Afonso came closer to the table, looked at the papers, and exclaimed, “Oh, this again! More poems? Are you so enamored by Isabel that you write poetry at night?

“I can understand you, though,” Afonso continued. A person like you admires beauty and all sorts of art and cannot stay indifferent toward such an attractive and skillful dancer. I admit I was wrong when I doubted her indescribable angelic beauty. You were entirely correct. I even felt a bit inspired talking to her.

“You are not jealous of that, are you?”

“Isabelle is so beautiful that any admirer of beauty would experience what you felt when talking with her,” answered Fernando. “I have nothing to be jealous of, Afonso, because she treats you as respectfully as she treats me.

“I must tell you, though,” he continued, “that Isabel ended up in the palace because of me. It was I who first noticed her on stage. And it was I who told Duchess Isabella who my choice was. Therefore, although you are older than me and will be higher in title when you are king, I have the right of superiority to close relations with Isabel.”

Afonso answered: “No one disputes that, Fernando. I only asked her to teach me a few lessons so I could get to know her. I am not interested in having a relationship with her like what you wrote about in your poetry.”

Afonso noticed the embarrassment on Fernando’s face and said: “I wish you success both in poetry and in love.”

At noon, Duke Pedro went to the royal residence immediately after a meeting on important matters of state, intending to find the duchess in the audience chamber. At the door of the meeting hall, Pedro ran into Afonso. He looked unusually happy and cheerful. Afonso greeted his uncle in a pleasant singsongy voice and respectfully stood aside to let him enter. The duchess was sitting on her throne. Seeing Pedro enter, she stood up and approached him.

“You don’t have any more appointments?” Pedro asked.

“No, dear.”

“Then would you release the servants so you and I can discuss something privately?”

Isabella waved her fan to her ladies-in-waiting, and after bowing, they left.

“My dear, I have good news,” Pedro said. “The council has discussed your proposal for a marriage alliance between Prince Afonso and infanta Isabella. And all members unanimously approved the enterprise. There was one condition, however. They would like the engagement to be announced before the coronation and the wedding to be after the coronation.

“So, my dear, since you want to play Cupid, nothing is preventing you from thinking about ways to make our daughter and our nephew fall in love,” the duke continued, laughing.

“Oh, Pedro, you are so witty,” Isabella answered with a smile. “However, I have some unpleasant news that concerns this conversation. And it could complicate our plans.”

“What is this unpleasant news?” Pedro asked.

“Afonso had come to see me before you came in. Guess what he asked me? He said he wanted to continue his dance training with Isabel Zarco. He said he thought her teaching methods were more progressive than that of our chief royal dance master.”

“Oh!” exclaimed Pedro. “Perhaps Afonso is right. I also noticed the head dance master is a great dancer and skilled teacher, but he is very conservative and doesn’t know any of the modern dances or movements.”

“Perhaps you are right, Pedro, but I’m not talking about that,” Isabella said. “It seems to me your nephew is very interested in this dancer.”

Pedro said, “It looks like you might be right, my dear. I just ran into him at the door. I have never seen him so excited before. It was like he was falling in love.

“And I agree with you that this may complicate the situation,” he said. “As long as Isabel Zarco is here, he will not pay attention to our Isabella.

“What should we do?” he asked Isabella.

“We have some options,” Isabella said. “We could grant Senhorita Zarco’s request to teach only at the art school because of her workload. But this may make Afonso suspicious. We can try this scenario later if needed.”

She continued: “We need to come up with a scenario that will have our daughter going to another city or country for some reason. We could ask Afonso to do us a favor and accompany her. We could also ask him to stay with her to ensure she is safe. After all, he always dreams of doing something chivalrous. So let him prove himself by doing this for us.”

“It’s a good idea,” Pedro said. “I even know the right place to send them: To my sister, Isabella, 32 Duchess of Burgundy. 33 I received an invitation from her yesterday. She has invited our family to her son’s fifth wedding anniversary.

“I am sure you have not forgotten that five years ago, at the age of 7, Charles married Catherine, daughter of Charles VII, King of France,” he said. “My sister would like our children and my late brother’s children to participate in this celebration.

“I can say you and I are currently very busy with important government affairs. However, we have decided to send Isabella and Afonso. She is their aunt and was always kind to Edward and me. I’m sure she will happily receive her niece and nephew and host them with love.

“We should inform her immediately so she can prepare for their arrival. And, we will have to reveal our secret to her so she can create the conditions for the youth to help them get closer to each other,” the duke continued. “Burgundy has many beautiful and romantic places where young people can spend time together. And by the will of heaven, the role of Cupid will pass to my sister. That way, Afonso won’t be suspicious.