She thought his head drooped a little at the thought of the duke in trouble or danger, and not thinking to get help from Tradescant. ‘I have to wait,’ John said.

One of the duke’s servants brought the news from Oxford to New Hall. The steward saw John in the stable yard and sent down a message for him to come into the house, to the central household office.

‘I knew you would want to know that the duke will not face his accusers!’ William Ward beamed. ‘I knew you would have been worried.’

John snatched off his hat and threw it in the air like a boy. ‘Thank God for it! Thank God!’ he exclaimed. ‘I have been sick with worry these ten days. I thank God that they have seen sense. They threw out the charges, did they? Dismissed them? Who can stand against him, eh? Mr Ward? Who could think wrong of him when they see him and hear him speak?’

Mr Ward shook his head. ‘They did not dismiss the charges.’

‘How so? They must have done! You said …’

‘I said he would not face his accusers …’

‘So?’

‘They had him impeached on eight counts,’ the steward said, his voice low and shocked. ‘They charged him with everything from the ruination of the Navy, to stealing from the king. They even accused him … they said he was implicated … they called him to account for the murder of King James.’

John went pale. ‘Murder?’

The steward nodded, his face as horrified as John’s. ‘They named it. They called it murder. And they named him as the regicide.’

‘My God,’ John said softly. ‘What did he answer?’

‘He gave no answer. The king had his accusers arrested and dissolved the parliament. He sent the members back to their homes. He will not hear them.’

For a moment John was relieved. ‘The king stands his friend, then. And his enemies are the king’s enemies.’

William Ward nodded. Then John saw the disadvantage. ‘And since the accusers were imprisoned, are the accusations withdrawn?’

Slowly, the steward shook his head. ‘No. That’s the rub. His accusers are imprisoned without trial in the Tower, but they do not retract.’

‘Who are they? The damned liars. Who?’

‘Sir Dudley Digges and Sir John Eliot.’

Tradescant went white to his collar. ‘But Sir John is my lord’s closest friend,’ he said quietly. ‘They have been like brothers together since they were children.’

William Ward nodded.