‘I see from your expression that it is. I know you have ever had an immoderate affection for her. I have seen your troubled looks these last months, worrying about her travails. But you should not let it place you in danger – and still less those who work for you.’

‘Why?’ I answered sharply. ‘Because you think her a heretic?’

‘No,’ he snapped back. ‘Because she is the Queen, and because, as you yourself said, thunder circles around thrones. Certainly this King’s throne,’ he added bitterly. I did not answer. ‘Is this man Bertano you asked me about part of it?’ he asked.

I remembered Daniels and Cardmaker mentioning his name back at the inn. I said seriously, ‘Keep that name close, Guy, as you value your safety.’

He smiled wryly. ‘See, you have even involved me in a small way. Think on my words, Matthew. I do not want to have to treat Barak or Nicholas again, and for something worse. Nor you,’ he added in a gentler tone.

I HURRIED TO THE TOWER, my mind full of conflict. Guy was right: it was my own feelings for the Queen that had set me on this path, trailing danger in my wake like the bad humours of an illness. But I could not just step aside now, even if I wanted to. Those two men at the inn had known my name.

Tower Hill rose ahead of me, where Lord Cromwell and so many others had died; and beyond, the Tower of London: the moat, the high white walls and there, the huge square bulk of the White Tower, where the conspiracy between Rich and Bealknap five years before had resulted in my briefly being held prisoner in its terrible dungeons.

I saw Lord Parr was already waiting outside the Middle Tower gate, on horseback. To my surprise young William Cecil sat on another horse beside him, two servants in Queen’s livery holding the reins. Cecil was dressed in his lawyer’s robe, and Lord Parr wore a light doublet, green and slashed at the shoulder to show the crimson silk lining. He sniffed at a pomander that hung by a gold chain from his neck, to ward off the stink from the moat.

‘Matthew!’ It was the first time he had greeted me by my Christian name, his tone much more civil than when we had last met. ‘I brought Master Cecil with me, so that we might exchange news.’

‘My Lord, I am sorry I am late, but I have just had an encounter with the men who killed Greening – ’

He leaned forward in his saddle. ‘Are they caught?’ he asked eagerly.

‘No, but Barak and my pupil were injured in the attempt. I had to get them medical attention.’

‘Tell me what happened.’