As Robert was sadly leaving, the great man did say one other thing.

“Perhaps you should try to get to know the king. I don’t control him.”

It had taken time. Robert had got to work on people that he knew. And finally he had been presented to the monarch. Here his name and his family’s centuries of loyal service had earned him a cordial enough reception. And the king was a very genial monarch. When he had finally plucked up the courage to ask if he might present his younger brother when he came to Paris, the king had told him that he expected it.

This was their mission today. Would the king do anything for Alain if he liked him? Who knew?

He’d discussed the meeting carefully with Alain. For once, his younger brother was nervous. “What shall I do? What shall I say?” he’d asked.

“Just be yourself, my dear brother. People always like you exactly as you are. And even if you tried to pretend to be something else, the king would see through you at once. Remember, there isn’t much in life he hasn’t seen. There are just four things you need to know.”

“What are those?”

“First, wherever he goes, there will be women. Be polite to them all. Any one of them may be a mistress; perhaps several of them. One of them may even be his wife.

“Second, you love his new bridge. The one that’s nearly finished. I showed it to you the other day. Do you remember what I told you?”

“The Pont Neuf. Built in stone. Goes right across the whole river, just touches the tip of the central island on the way.”

“And? You’ve forgotten something.”

“Ah. It will have no houses on it. Just a bridge. Pure and simple. First one in Paris without houses. Why does it matter?”

“Because one will have an unobstructed view along the river to the Louvre, which will look more gracious. The king is obsessed with this idea. On no account forget it.”

“I won’t.”

“Third, if he asks you to gamble, accept at once, even if you haven’t any money.”

“But if I lose?”

“Very unlikely. The king nearly always loses. He loves to lose. He loves giving money to people. Sully has to find the money to settle all his gambling debts. It drives the old man mad. I suspect the king finds that amusing.”

“You said there were four things. What’s the fourth?”

“Ah. Yes. That’s a bit special.” Robert grimaced. And then he told his brother what it was.

“Oh my God,” said Alain.

King Henry IV of France. King of Navarre. Born Catholic. Made a Protestant by his mother. Remained so until, on that fateful Saint Bartholomew’s Day, Catherine de Médicis threatened him with death if he didn’t become a Catholic.