At first he could see only a silhouette of a slim solitary man, of about thirty. He was dark-haired and dark-eyed, dressed like a prince, laden with diamonds. He had a bright mobile face above the wide lace-trimmed ruff with eyes that were smiling and wicked, and a mouth as changeable and as provocative as any pretty woman’s. The pallor of his skin gleamed in the darkness as if he were lit from within, like a paper lantern, and his smile, when he saw John coming towards him, was as engaging as a child’s, with the confidence and innocence of a child who has never known anything but love. He wore a doublet and cape of dark green, as green as the yew, and for a moment John, looking from trees to man, thought he was in the presence of a dryad – some wild beautiful spirit of the wood – and that some miracle had been granted him, to see a tree dancing towards him and smiling.

‘Ah! my John Tradescant!’ exclaimed Buckingham, and at that moment John suffered a strange falling feeling which made him think that he had taken the sun, riding all day on the open wagon. The man smiled at him as if he were a brother, as if he were a living angel come to give him tidings of great joy. John did not smile in greeting – years later he would remember that he had not felt any sense of meeting a new master but rather a grave sense of deep familiarity. He did not feel that they were well-met, new-met. He felt as if they had been together for all their lives and just accidentally parted until now. If he had spoken the words in his heart he would have said: ‘Oh, it is you – at last.’

‘Are you my John Tradescant?’ the man asked.

John bowed low and when he looked up the sheer beauty of the young man made him catch his breath again. Even standing still, he was as graceful as a dancer.

‘I am,’ John said simply. ‘You sent for me and I have come to serve you.’

‘Forgive me!’ the duke said swiftly. ‘I don’t doubt you were snatched away from your work. But I need you, Mr Tradescant. I need you very badly.’

John found he was smiling into the quick bright face of the young man. ‘I’ll do what I can.’