"He's burning up with fever!" Katherine exclaimed.

Henry lightly touched his small son's head and then quickly jerked his hand away. "The court physician must be called for immediately!" he exclaimed.

The physician came and examined the baby, then shook his head solemnly. "There's nothing I can do except to keep him as comfortable as possible. The rest is in God's hands."

Katherine immediately went to the chapel, where she prostrated herself before the statue of the Virgin and began to plead for her infant son's life. For many long hours she wept and prayed. Late that evening she felt a soft hand touch her cheek and turned to look into Henry's mournful eyes.

"Does our son yet live?" she asked him.

Henry nodded. "He's holding his own, but the physician says it's still too soon to tell whether or not he'll make it."

"Oh, Henry!" Katherine sobbed. Henry put his arms around her and comforted her.

Together they quietly walked back to the nursery, where baby Henry still slept fitfully. Katherine looked at his tiny face and felt an overwhelming love. She didn't think that she could bear it if anything happened to him.

Baby Henry's condition remained virtually unchanged for several days. During that time, Katherine ate very little and spent many hours in prayer. On the third day she noticed that the baby was sleeping more soundly than he had in days. She touched him, and his skin felt cool to the touch.

"His fever has broken," the physician announced the next time he examined the baby. "He's going to be fine."

Henry and Katherine gave thanks to God.

After Henry, Katherine gave birth to four more children: Edward was born in October of 1513, Charles was born in December of 1514, Mary was born February 18, 1516, and Isabella was born November 10, 1518.

Henry and Katherine loved and doted on all their children. Young King Arthur sometimes became very bossy with his younger siblings but was never cruel to them. The younger boys were envious of him, and the girls all adored him.

"He's going to be very popular with the women when he's older," his Uncle Henry predicted. Katherine smiled. She'd always been very proud of her firstborn son.

Little Mary especially turned out to be a very precocious child, fluent at playing the virginals by the age of four. Although Henry claimed not to have any favorites among his children, he called Mary his 'Pearl' and always seemed to have a special smile just for her. If Joanna and Isabella noticed at all, they didn't seem to mind. Katherine, however, did notice, and tried to compensate by lavishing extra attention on her oldest and youngest daughters herself.