The noblewomen in the royal palace quickly noticed Queen Isabella's favor toward Maria. Although Maria had not been invited to live in the palace after their first meeting, she began visiting the palace daily. Each time, Isabella received her alone, and the other ladies had no opportunity to meet this mysterious foreign noblewoman. They only knew that she spent long hours in the queen's chambers each day.

If they hadn't known that the king had been occupied elsewhere and hadn’t visited the queen's chambers during this time, they might have suspected that Maria had been handpicked by the queen to become the king's mistress. After all, such things were not...