‘I’m no better than the rest of them,’ John replied. ‘I’ve learned to be a courtier. Maybe it’s late in life, but I’ve learned it now. I told the truth as I saw it to all the lords I ever served and I never flattered one of them with lies. But this king is a man who doesn’t invite the truth. I tell you, J, I cannot speak the truth to him. He is surrounded by fancy. I would not dare to be the one to tell him that he and the queen are not adored everywhere they go, I couldn’t tell him that the men he has thrown into prison are not wild men, madmen, hotheads, but men more sane and careful and honourable than the rest of us. I cannot be the one to tell him that he is in the wrong and the country is slowly coming to know it. He has made sure that the world appears as best pleases him. It would take more than me to turn it upside down.’

The king kept his promise to visit the Ark, though Tradescant had thought it was a royal promise – one thrown off in the moment with no thought other than to please by the graciousness of the intention. But early in January a Gentleman Usher of the court came to the Ark and was shown into the rarities room.

He looked around, concealing his surprise. ‘It’s an imposing room,’ he remarked to J, who had shown him in. ‘I had not thought you had built such a grand room.’

J inwardly congratulated his father for overweening ambition. ‘We need a lot of accommodation,’ he said modestly. ‘Every day we get something new for the collection, and the things need to be shown in the best light.’

The usher nodded. ‘The king and queen will visit you tomorrow at noon,’ he said. ‘They want to see this famous collection.’

J bowed. ‘We will be honoured.’

‘They will not dine here, but you may offer them biscuits and wine and fruit,’ the usher said. ‘I assume you will have no difficulty with that?’

J nodded. ‘Of course.’

‘And there is no need for any loyal address, or anything of that sort,’ the usher said. ‘No poem of greeting or anything like that. This is just an informal visit.’

J thought that the king and queen were very unlikely to get a poem of greeting from his staunchly independent wife but he merely nodded his assent. ‘I understand.’

‘And if there are any in your household who suffer from strong and misguided views –’ the usher paused to make sure that J was following him ‘– it is your responsibility to make sure that they do not appear before Their Majesties. The king and queen do not want to see long Puritanical faces on their visit, they do not want anyone reflecting on them. Make sure that only your well-dressed and joyful neighbours are on the road.’