They came back once more after that and found her guilty.

Then Judge Jeffreys sentenced her to burn.

The room was not large, but it was clean and light. The bars on the window were not too noticeable. It was still morning. They could be grateful for these small mercies at least.

Dame Alice was not to be burned. The bishop and clergy of Winchester had appealed at once to the king. They did not want such a thing done in their cathedral city. Quite apart from anything, as news of the outrageous trial spread through the city and across the Forest, they were afraid of a riot. Today, then, in the afternoon, Dame Alice Lisle was to have her head struck off.

There were only Betty and Tryphena with her now. The others had all gone: children and grandchildren, she had said goodbye to them all. The room was quiet.

Peter was in London. Betty had not spoken of him to her mother and, strangely, she had not thought of him so much. Perhaps, if they had known each other longer, she might have wanted him there to support her. But instead, she had been so drawn into her own family and into the terrible business in hand that he had seemed to drift away in her mind, like a visitor after whose departure the door has been closed.

'Peter Albion.' It was her mother who said the words and Betty looked at her in surprise. Dame Alice smiled. 'I did not want to speak of him with the others present.' She looked at Betty thoughtfully. 'Do you still want to marry him?'

She had never actually confessed that she did, but there was no time for such prevarications now. 'I don't know,' she replied honestly.

Her mother nodded slowly. Tryphena, her narrow face looking up suddenly, seemed about to say something but Alice cut in ahead. 'I think better of him than I did,' she said firmly. 'This trial has been very good for him.'

'But it was a mockery. An outrage. It wasn't justice at all,' Tryphena interjected.

'That's why it was so good for him,' said Alice evenly. 'I thought him rather arrogant. Now he has seen that even the law may be bent to necessity. He is humbler.'

'There is' - Betty hesitated, glanced at her mother and her sister and gave a small shrug - 'something else.'

'Tell me.'

So Betty explained about the moment during the trial when Jeffreys had so flagrantly misled the jury, and how Peter had told her the judge had lied. 'It wasn't the law. And I whispered that he should say something.'

'You wanted him to stand up and contradict the judge?'

'Well ...' It was hard to say quite, but she knew that she had thought about it afterwards and somehow his conduct had seemed ... unsatisfactory.