I pointed behind me. Danny was labouring along under an extra-thick jerkin of wool, carrying a shawl that I had insisted he bring. He peeped at me from under a heavy woollen cap. ‘The poor boy is half-drowned in clothes,’ I said. ‘He will sweat rather than freeze.’

Robert nodded. ‘The men are to be released from Calais within a week,’ he said. ‘They will be collected by a ship which will bring them into Gravesend.’

I felt my heart beat a little faster.

‘You are blushing like a girl,’ Lord Robert said, gently mocking.

‘Do you think he will have had my letter, that I sent when I first came home?’ I asked.

Lord Robert shrugged. ‘He may have done. But you can tell him yourself, soon enough.’

I drew a little closer to him. ‘You see, if he did not receive it then he will not know that I escaped out of Calais. He might think I am dead. He might not come to England, he might go to Italy or somewhere.’

‘On the off-chance that you are dead?’ Lord Robert asked critically. ‘With no-one ever mentioning it to him? With no proof? And his son?’

‘In the confusion of the battle,’ I said weakly.

‘Someone would have looked for you,’ he said. ‘If you had been killed they would have found your body.’

I shifted awkwardly. Daniel came to me and stretched out his arms. ‘Dan’l up!’ he commanded.

‘Wait a moment,’ I said absently. I turned back to Lord Robert. ‘You see, if someone told him that I left with you . . .’

‘Then he would know that you are alive, and where to find you,’ he said logically. Then he checked and slapped his forehead. ‘Mistress Boy, you have played me for an idiot all along. You are estranged from him, aren’t you? And you fear that he will think you ran away with me? And he won’t come for you because he has cast you off? And now you don’t want me; but you’ve lost him, and all you’ve got is his son . . .’ He broke off, struck with sudden doubt. ‘He is your husband’s son, isn’t he?’

‘Yes,’ I said staunchly.

‘Is he yours?’ he said, some sense warning him that there was a lie hidden away somewhere near.

‘Yes,’ I said without wavering.

Lord Robert laughed aloud. ‘My God, girl, you are a fool indeed. You did not love him till you lost him.’

‘Yes,’ I admitted through gritted teeth.

‘Well, more a woman than a fool,’ he said fairly. ‘I would say women love men most when they have lost them, or cannot get them. Well-a-day, my pretty fool. You had best get a ship and set sail for your Daniel as soon as you can. Otherwise he will be out of prison and free as a bird flying away, and you will never find him at all.’

‘Can I get a ship to Calais?’ I asked blankly.