His guard had been doubled. I was searched before I was allowed to his door, and for the first time I was not left alone with him. My service to Elizabeth had tainted my reputation of loyalty to the queen.

When they swung open the door he was at his desk at the window, the evening sun was streaming hot in the window. He was reading, the pages of the little book tipped to the light. He turned in his seat as the door opened and looked to see who was coming in. When he saw me he smiled, a world-weary smile. I stepped into the room and took in the difference in him. He was heavier, his face puffed up with fatigue and boredom, his skin pale from his months of imprisonment, but his dark eyes were steady and his mouth twisted upward in what had once been his merry smile.

‘It is Mistress Boy,’ he said. ‘I sent you away for your own good, child. What are you doing disobeying me by coming back?’

‘I went away,’ I said, coming into the room, awkwardly conscious of the guard behind me. ‘But the queen commanded me to bear the Lady Elizabeth company, so I have been in the Tower with you all this time, but they did not allow me to come to you.’

His dark glance flared with interest. ‘And is she well?’ he asked, his voice deliberately neutral.

‘She has been ill and very anxious,’ I said. ‘I came to see you now because tomorrow we leave. She is to be released under house arrest to Sir Henry Bedingfield and we are to go to Woodstock Palace.’

Lord Robert rose from his seat and went to the window to look out. Only I could have guessed that his heart was hammering with hope. ‘Released,’ he said quietly. ‘Why would Mary be merciful?’

I shrugged my shoulders. It was against the queen’s interest, but it was typical of her nature. ‘She has a tenderness for Elizabeth even now,’ I volunteered. ‘She thinks of her still as her little sister. Not even to please her new husband can she send her sister to the scaffold.’

‘Elizabeth was always lucky,’ he said.

‘And you, my lord?’ I could not keep the love from my voice.

He turned and smiled at me. ‘I am more settled,’ he said. ‘Whether I live or die is beyond my command, and I understand that now. But I have been wondering about my future. You told me once that I should die in my bed. D’you still think so?’

I glanced awkwardly at the guard. ‘I do,’ I said. ‘I think that, and more. I think you will be the beloved of a queen.’

He tried to laugh but there was no joy in that little room. ‘Do you, Mistress Boy?’

I nodded. ‘And the making of a prince who will change the history of the world.’

He frowned. ‘Are you sure? What d’you mean?’