At twelve she married a boy of ten who was not even in the room. On the same day, his sister married her brother. Each family would gain a daughter-in-law. Each would send a daughter away.
She had lost every child born to her before him. As a little boy, her son was painted by Velázquez on a rearing horse, a command baton in his hand, to hang between the portraits of his parents. The family's future had been given a place on the wall.