Our little procession turned off the main thoroughfare and entered the long tree-lined double row of houses that formed the enclave of Stepney Green. In the shortening October days tall trees were turning russet and yellow above the high garden walls and elders and hawthorns made red and copper splashes around the green. Fallen leaves swirled around our horses’ feet causing them to prance and shy. Le Garlek’s studded wooden gates were set in a sturdy stone arch and Davy trotted forward, keen to pull the handle he saw in a niche in the wall. A bell rang somewhere inside and a face appeared at the grille set in one of the gates. Almost immediately they began to open.

‘Well, you said it was secure,’ observed Jane, her smile wider and more confident. ‘At least you were recognized.’

‘And Master Pole’s arrangements appear to be working since the servants are expecting us.’ I felt a surge of relief as we all rode under the archway. ‘You will be safe and happy here, I promise.’

Early the following day I left Jane in her element, organizing servants, arranging furniture and unpacking the chests, which had come direct from Tenby and arrived before us. We had all slept well in clean linen and she had declared her intention of inspecting the cellars for supplies of ale and wine and walking out to the local market on the green for fresh bread, meat and fish. I smiled as I imagined her loading Elin’s basket down with purchases in order to stop her wandering off to explore on her own and looked forward to returning in the evening to a fine dinner. For my own part I dressed in court apparel and took Evan and Davy with me back to the city to mind the horses while I paid my first visit to the newly restored King Henry VI of England.

It did me good just to hear my brother’s title spoken aloud once more in his own realm as I stated my request for an audience to his Chamberlain. Sir Richard Tunstall was a Lancastrian knight well known to me, since we had been dubbed at the same time and served the Lancastrian cause together in battle and siege. Yet Sir Richard, being gentry rather than nobility, had somehow negotiated the dangerous shores of Yorkism, served at King Edward’s court and, at Warwick’s behest had pledged allegiance once more to his true king. He was a skilled and adaptable courtier.