I looked at the King’s eldest child. I knew Catherine of Aragon’s daughter was much older than the Lady Elizabeth and Prince Edward; well into her twenties and, with her thin, narrow features, looking older still. She had auburn hair under a round French hood studded with diamonds, and a green gown decorated with pomegranates; a popular design but also the emblem of her long-dead, rejected mother. Small, shapely hands played with a golden pomander which she wore at her waist.

‘Forgive me, my Lady,’ I said. ‘I did not know – ’

She nodded and smiled pleasantly, though her dark eyes were coldly watchful. She struck me as someone who had been watchful all her life, despite her poised manner. She waved a hand. ‘You were expecting the Queen, I know. But my father called on her to sit with him a little. Jane was with me when Mary Odell came to fetch her, and I said I would accompany her instead.’ She looked at me quizzically. ‘I believe you have been asked to investigate the Queen’s stolen ring.’

‘That is correct, my lady. By Lord Parr.’

Mary made a movement of her thin shoulders, a hint of a shrug. ‘I had heard vaguely of it. But I have been much engaged these last few days observing the building of my new lodgings.’ A touch of pride entered her voice. ‘I have brought two of my ladies along, as you see, for propriety’s sake.’ She did not introduce them, but continued to address me. ‘I am surprised poor Jane is to be questioned.’

She looked fondly at the little woman, who stared back at her appealingly and spoke, in a high voice. ‘I haven’t done aught amiss, my lady.’

I wondered, was Jane genuinely slow-witted and anxious, or was she acting? I could not tell; there was something oddly inscrutable about her moon face, either because her mind worked strangely or because she was a skilled actress. Perhaps it was both.

I said, ‘The Queen wished it, because Jane – ’ it seemed the custom to refer to her by her Christian name – ‘was one of only four people who entered her majesty’s bedchamber on the evening the ring was stolen.’ I turned to Jane. ‘You are not suspected of anything. It is rather a matter of whether you might have seen or noticed anything amiss—’

The Lady Mary’s voice, suddenly sharp, interrupted me. ‘I require that you address any questions to Jane through me, sir, as I am sure the Queen herself would wish, were she able to attend. I will not have her frightened.’ She gave a slight frown, which the two ladies-in-waiting instantly copied. The duck pulled at its leash, keen to investigate a scattering of herbs lying in a corner of the prayer closet.