Cranmer shook his head. ‘No, Master Shardlake, Rich and Wriothesley saw the chance to rise in Bishop Gardiner’s wake, and that of the Duke of Norfolk, who is hand in glove with Gardiner, and they both took it. As the senior peer of the realm, the Duke would like to be Regent for Prince Edward, should anything happen to the King. Though I pray daily for Our Lord to preserve him many years.’ I remembered what I had seen from the window and saw from his face that Cranmer, man of faith as he was, had little hope those prayers would be answered.

Lord Parr took up the story again. ‘You see, if Gardiner and his people could bring down the Queen and those of her ladies associated with radicalism, that would mean the end for their husbands, too: Lord Lisle, Sir Anthony Denny, the Earl of Hertford – whose wife made that unpleasant remark about you outside—’

The Queen looked up angrily. ‘What has Anne Stanhope said now?’

I murmured, ‘It was nothing, your majesty.’

Lord Parr said, ‘She was discontented you sent the ladies out.’

‘She may talk like a good Christian, but she has no charity. I will not have it!’ For a moment the Queen sounded regal again, and I could not help but feel a little glow that it was mistreatment of me that had stirred her anger.

Lord Parr went on, ‘So you see, Gardiner and his people sought to attack the reformers on the council through their wives. But when the investigations in the Queen’s household found nothing, the King became angry; he divined that this was a deceitful plot to get him to change policy. And the rumours that Anne Askew had been tortured seemed to anger him, too.’

‘No rumours,’ I said. ‘I was at the burning. She could not stand, she was put to death sitting in a chair.’

‘We fear the torture was used to try and extract damaging information about the Queen. Though her majesty had never met the woman, Lady Hertford and Lady Denny had sent her money while she was in prison—’

‘Lest she starve!’ the Queen burst out. ‘It was charity, charity. Mistress Askew—’

‘Mistress Kyme,’ Cranmer corrected gently.

‘Mistress Kyme, then! That I may have been the cause of her torture . . .’ Tears had appeared at the corners of the Queen’s eyes again she who had always been so self-controlled. I thought, what must it have been like for her these last months, knowing she was under investigation, but unable to say anything; all the time trying to behave normally with the King. I saw she was at the end of her tether, in no condition even to tell her story without help.