She turned her attention to her drawing. ‘Something has to happen,’ she said quietly. ‘I cannot travel around with my uncle forever, and I want a home of my own and a husband to settle down with. I should like children, and a good little business to run.’

‘My son is grieving for his wife,’ John warned her. ‘There may be no room in his heart for another woman at all. You might marry him and live with him all your life and never hear a word of love from him.’

Hester nodded, her hand steady and skilful as she turned the charcoal on its side and rubbed it gently against the grain of the paper to show the delicate veining on the tulip leaf. ‘It is an understanding. An agreement; not a love affair.’

‘Will that be enough for you?’ John asked curiously. ‘A young woman of your age?’

‘I’m not a young maid,’ she said steadily. ‘I am a spinster of the parish of St Bride’s. A maid is a girl with a life of promise before her. I am a spinster of twenty-five in need of a husband. If your son will have me, and treat me kindly, I will have him. I don’t care that he has loved another woman, even if he loves her still. What I care about is getting a home of my own and children to care for. Somewhere I can hold up my head. And you and he are well-known; he works for the king direct and he has the ear of the queen. With Parliament dissolved and London trade doing badly, there is no other route of advancement other than the court. This would be a very good match for me. It’s nothing more than adequate for him, but I will make it worth his while. I will guard his business and his children.’

John had the delightful sensation that he should not be having this conversation at all, that J was not a lad to have these things arranged for him, he was a man who should make his own choices. But it was a great pleasure to organise things as he wished, and he was afraid for his grandchildren.

‘Frances is nine and her brother is four years old. A girl needs a mother, and Johnny is not out of his short coats. You would care for them and give them the love they need?’

Still Hester did not take her eyes from the tulip. ‘I would. And I would give you more grandchildren, if God is merciful.’

‘I won’t be with you for long,’ John predicted. ‘I’m an old man. That’s why I’m in a hurry to see my grandchildren safe and my son married. I want to know that I leave it all in safe hands.’