As June approached, it was normally the time when both Maria and Simon would personally oversee the wheat harvest. But this year, they left their estate. This was because Eleanor Gonzalez, the eldest daughter of the Gonzalez family, was about to marry the lord of Murcia.

Eleanor’s birthday was in mid-June, and this year, on her sixteenth birthday, it also marked her wedding day.

In the middle of June, Alfonso arrived in Seville, partly to celebrate his fiancée’s birthday, but also to escort his new bride. The Murcia family was very fond of Eleanor, and to show how much they valued her, Alfonso brought a dowry so lavish it made...