Sir Robert nodded. ‘A rich reward for a hard task …’ He hesitated. ‘Sometimes I felt disloyal. I wrote him letter after letter, teaching him the way of our country, preparing him to rule. And she never knew. She’d have had me beheaded if she had known! She’d have called it treason – towards the end she called it treason even to mention his name. But he had to be prepared …’

Sir Robert broke off, and John Tradescant watched him with silent sympathy. His master often strolled into the garden to find him. Sometimes they spoke of the grounds, the formal garden, the orchards, the park, of seasonal plantings, or new plans; sometimes Sir Robert spoke at length, indiscreetly, knowing that Tradescant could keep a secret, that he was a man without guile, with solid loyalty. Sir Robert had made Tradescant his own, as effectually as if the gardener had gone down on the loam and sworn an oath of fealty, on the day that he had trusted him with the garden of Theobalds Palace. It had been a massive task for a twenty-four-year-old but Sir Robert had taken the gamble that Tradescant could do it. He was a young man himself, desperate to inherit his father’s position at court, desperate for older and more powerful men to recognise his merit and his skill. He took a risk with Tradescant and then the queen took a risk with him. Now, six years later, both of them had learned their craft – statesmanship and gardening – and Tradescant was Sir Robert’s man through and through.

‘She wanted him left ignorant,’ Sir Robert said. ‘She knew what would happen to her court if she named him as heir; they’d have all slipped away from her, slipped away up the Great North Road to Edinburgh, and she’d have died alone, knowing herself to be an old woman, an ugly old woman with no kin, no lovers, no friends. I owed it to her to keep them at her beck and call to the very end. But I owed it to him to teach him as best I could … even at a distance. It was to be his kingdom, he had to learn how to govern it, and there was no-one but me to teach him.’

‘And he knows now?’ John asked, going to the very heart of it.

Sir Robert was alert. ‘Why d’you ask? Is there gossip that he does not?’

John shook his head. ‘I’ve heard none,’ he said. ‘But he’s not a lad who has sprung up from nowhere. He must have his own way of doing things. He’s a man grown; and he has his own kingdom. I was wondering if he would take your teaching, especially now that he will have his pick of advice. And it matters …’

He broke off and his master waited for him to finish.