Elizabeth had prevented John uprooting the whole family and setting off for Virginia, but when he had an invitation to go venturing to Russia – of all places – and it came with the blessing of his master and a recommendation that he should go, there was little she could do to stop him. It was the king’s business at the top of it, so no man in the country could refuse. The king wanted a new trade route to China and thought that Sir Dudley Digges might find one by making an agreement with the Russians. A loan of English gold coaxed from the coffers of the Muscovy and East India Companies was supposed to help.

Sir Dudley was a firm friend of Lord Wootton who wanted new plants for his garden. Sir Dudley said he needed a useful man and a seasoned traveller, not a gentleman who would be too proud to work, and not some dolt of a working man who would be of no use in an emergency. Lord Wootton said he could have Tradescant, and Tradescant was as ready to leave as a bagged hare when the hounds are giving tongue.

All she could do was to help him pack his travelling bag, see that his travelling cloak was free of moth holes and tears, and go down to the dockside at Gravesend with J – now a tall boy of ten years, and a King’s Scholar at Canterbury – at her side to wave farewell.

‘And beware of the cold!’ Elizabeth cautioned again.

‘It may be Russia, but it is midsummer,’ John replied. ‘Do you keep yourselves well, and J, mind your studies and care for your mother.’

The dockers scurried about, pushing past Elizabeth and her son. With a moment’s regret John saw that there were tears in her eyes. ‘I shall be back within three months,’ he called over the widening gulf of water. ‘Perhaps earlier. Elizabeth! Please don’t fret!’

‘Take care!’ she called again but he could hardly hear her as the rowing barges took hold of the lines and the sailors cursed as they caught the ropes flung from the shore. Elizabeth and her son watched the boat move slowly downriver.

‘I still don’t understand why he has to go,’ J said, with the discontent of the schoolboy.

Elizabeth looked down at him. ‘Because he does his duty,’ she said, with her natural loyalty to her husband. ‘Lord Wootton ordered him to go. It is unknown country, your father might find all sorts of treasures.’

‘I think he just loves to travel,’ J said resentfully. ‘And he doesn’t care that he leaves me behind.’

Elizabeth put her arm around her son’s unyielding shoulders. ‘When you are older you shall travel too. He will take you with him. Perhaps you will grow to be a great man like your father and be sent by lords on travels overseas.’