Unfortunately we did not. The march to Caernarfon took two days and as we drew close to the first King Edward’s massive grey fortress, Exeter and I climbed to a highpoint to reconnoitre the surroundings, only to spy a large force approaching from the east with banners fluttering. High over them all flew the three white lions of ‘Black William’, the standard of the new Lord Herbert.

I was instantly seized with the desire to attack. Exeter however was not of the same mind. ‘They have numbers, Jasper,’ he said. He had taken to calling me by my given name, although I had not invited the intimacy. ‘We should retreat to Harlech and wait for your Welsh recruits to join us.’

On Exeter’s arrival I had sent out a new call to arms to the northern Welsh families who remained loyal to the Lancastrian cause but there had not yet been sufficient time for them to respond. ‘That will give Herbert the chance to acquire more men and artillery from Caernarfon,’ I protested. ‘Then we will be truly outnumbered. No – it is now or never.’

Exeter scowled, an expression with which I had become very familiar. ‘Queen Marguerite gave me the command here and I say we retreat to Harlech. If we keep our men to the west side of the hill the approaching army may not see us until we are well out of range.’

I had a sudden vision of the Earl of Wiltshire’s vanishing-acts, which I feared Exeter was highly likely to emulate; but in reality I had no choice. The Flemish mercenaries would only take orders from Exeter and when he announced the retreat he told their captains that the gold to pay them was at Harlech Castle. Then his elbow nudged my arm and in a low voice he added, ‘They will move at a good pace when they hear that, eh Jasper?’

‘And where actually is the gold, my lord?’ I muttered in reply.

He gave me a sideways glance. ‘It is safely lodged at Mostyn, of course. Edward of York has granted all my revenues to my witch of a wife and I need funds to live on. You will learn to milk the system too if he stays in power for long.’

Exeter had been married to Anne Plantagenet as a youth, one of the more toxic unions between Lancaster and York. She was the elder sister of the Yorkist usurper, who had much earlier managed to negotiate a deed of separation and when Edward took the throne she also persuaded him to grant the attainted Exeter estates to her, rather than taking them back to the crown. If the duke had hated the House of York before, this action had made him loathe it even more.