Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabella of Spain Consummate Their Relationship

1. Columbus needed to make connections in order to make his voyages and in April 1492 King Ferdinand V and Queen Isabella I agreed to sponsor his expedition, which marked the  the first step in the creation of the Spanish overseas colonial empire.  But why does Rushdie just focus on Queen Isabella? How are the relationships between Isabella and Columbus described?  What are the reasons Rushdie gives and suggests for Columbus' pursuit of Isabella?
2. How does Columbus and Isabella "consumate" their relationship?
3. Who are the listeners of the story (see the italicized part)?  Are they British?  Spanish or Indian?
4. What is the tone of the narration?

Christopher Columbus, the one who is known to have discovered "the New World," was born in Genoa, Italy and died in in Volladiod, Spain.  Two relevant pieces of information:
• "The widely published report of his voyage of 1492 made Columbus famous throughout Europe and secured for him the title of Admiral of the Ocean Sea and further royal patronage. Columbus, who never abandoned the belief that he had reached Asia, led three more expeditions to the Caribbean. But intrigue and his own administrative failings brought disappointment and political obscurity to his final years" [From Christopher Columbus: Man and Myth].
• "Columbus' mode of operation in Spain, . . . , was to find influential men to act as his sponsors, and persuade them to introduce him to even more influential men" [Excerpts from UNCOVERING THE REAL COLUMBUS].