On the upper floor, occupying premises commodious enough for two or three to stand in, I entered the Blue Lion. The owner, an Ottoman of about my age, did not object as I ran my fingers over bolts of silks, damasks and velvets, imported from Italy, India and China. He brought me a stool and sweet wine in a glass of deep blue and green that nestled in my hand like a great jewel.

Frankie arrived late, accompanied by two attendants who remained outside as she squeezed her skirts into the shop. When finally we pulled apart from our long embrace, we searched each other for signs of change, hoping for none. Frankie looked a little tired and the skin on her face was closer to the bones beneath. She kissed me on the cheeks and kept hold of my hands.

“There is no way to express how happy I am to see you,” she said. We sat close together and the merchant bowing, deep and low, as if enjoying stretching out the muscles in his back, brought Frankie a glass like mine.

“From Murano?” she asked him.

“Yes, my lady.”

“I am learning, am I not?” said Frankie to me. “Not from my husband, of course. If it were up to him, we would eat and drink from clay and wear nothing but chain mail.” I experienced a rare stab of jealousy. I envied her sophistication and was perhaps resentful of her efforts to impress Robert Carr, even as she suffered in the hostile palaces of Essex and his relations.

She pulled a parcel from her purse and gave it to me. Inside was an emerald set in gold. “My great-uncle sent the ring to me at Chartley. As he is doing nothing to rescue me from my marriage, I am delighted to give it to you. Your letters kept me alive and what little hope I had came from them. I was certain I would lose Robin to Overbury’s spite or to a younger countess, but your letters told me he has remained loyal to me these long months.”

And yet I wished Robert Carr had married one of the fresh arrivals at Court. Frankie needed to find someone less precarious upon whom to pour her love.

“How can I thank you?” I said.

“There are no bills of credit between us. You do more than enough for me.” She was correct in that.

“I did not expect your return until autumn.”