I laughed and squeezed his shoulder. ‘And I hope I will see you do even more, young man. But come, I want to bring Mistress Jane to see this picture before the light fades.’

* * *

Seeing it, and justifiably overawed, Jane said, ‘No wonder my mother adored her.’

‘No wonder my father adored her,’ I echoed. ‘How can I possibly have forgotten that exquisite face? It should surely have engraved itself on my infant mind.’ I crossed myself as if saluting a saint. ‘May God forgive me.’

I heard rather than saw Jane swirl round to confront me. ‘You have nothing to beg forgiveness for, Jasper,’ she said indignantly. ‘You were a child when she left you. You must have felt abandoned. No wonder you thrust her image from your thoughts. But now you must realize that you see her every time you look in a mirror. If Edmund was your father’s son, you are your mother’s.’

‘But she defied all opposition to marry her love and bring happiness to them both. I have not done that, have I, Jane?’

At first she was silent, her gaze lowered, then out of the blue she said, ‘I hear the old queen has had a son in sanctuary.’

My eyes widened in surprise. ‘Where did you hear that? I thought it had not been made public.’

She gave a dry little laugh. ‘I heard it in Windsor High Street. So do not tell me you have failed, Jasper, not when we, too, have a new life of our own just beginning.’

I stared at her intently. ‘Are you telling me you are with child, Jane?’

She met my gaze proudly and nodded. ‘Perhaps this time we will also have a boy, to celebrate a fresh start – and a happy life to come, like your mother wanted.’

We shared a kiss then under the intense gaze of the forgotten queen and I felt as if the past with its failures and regrets was a foreign country and the future full of promise …

GLOSSARY

Abermaw: the original Welsh name for a seaside town that the Victorians renamed Barmouth, at the mouth of the River Mawddach.

almoner: official in charge of dispensing alms and supervising charitable works.

arrivistes: ‘new arrivals’ – recently ennobled commoners.

ashlar: squared-off stones worked smooth by masons, used as facing on buildings.

attire: a knight’s suit of armour, later used generally for an outfit of clothing.

baldric: shoulder strap to carry a bag or sword sheath. Also a strip of embroidered fabric worn across the body as a male fashion item, sometimes hung with little bells.

banneret: a senior grade of knighthood, having power to command a troop in battle.

barbe: a linen collar covering a woman’s chin and neck (Fr. barbe = beard) worn with a *wimple as a sign of widowhood.

bard: a poet

barded: heraldic term for decorative horse-trappings (bardings).

bass: a slow processive dance.