Spain had two infantas, but one was wedded to the King of France,
and the other betrothed to the heir of the royal house of
Austria. Germany, of course, had princesses in vast numbers, who
awaited disposal; but when they were proposed to King Charles,
"he put off the discourse with raillery," as Lord Halifax
narrates. "Odd's fish," he would say, shrugging his shoulders
and making a grimace, "I could not marry one of them: they are
all dull and foggy!"

Catherine of Braganza, daughter of Don Juan IV. of Portugal, was
unwedded, and to her Charles ultimately addressed himself.
Alliance with her commended itself to the nation from the fact
that the late king, before the troubled times began, had entered
into a negotiation with Portugal concerning the marriage of this
same infanta and his present majesty; and such was the esteem in
which the memory of Charles I. was now held, that compliance with
his desires was regarded as a sacred obligation. The Portuguese
ambassador assured the merry monarch that the princess, by reason
of her beauty, person, and age, was most suited to him. To
convince him of this, he showed his majesty a portrait of the
lady, which the king examining, declared "that person could not
be unhandsome." The ambassador, who was of a certainty most
anxious for this union, then said it was true the princess was a
catholic, and would never change her faith; but she was free from
"meddling activity;" that she had been reared by a wise mother,
and would only look to the freedom of practising her own religion
without interfering with that of others. Finally, he added that
the princess would have a dowry befitting her high station, of no
less a sum than five hundred thousand pounds sterling in ready
money.