I did not want to go down the street where my husband and I once lived, I was afraid of what I might find. If our house was still standing, and his mother and sisters were still there, I did not know how to reconcile with them. If I met his mother and she was angry with me and wanted to take Danny away from me I did not know what I would do or say. But if she was dead, and his house destroyed, it would be even worse.

Instead I went with the captain and the armed guard up to the castle under our white pennant of truce. We were expected; the commander came out civilly enough and spoke to the captain in rapid French. The captain bridled, understanding perhaps one word in three, and then leaned forward and said very loudly and slowly: ‘I have come for the English men, as has been agreed, as per the terms, and I expect them forthwith.’

When he had no response, he said it again, pitched a little higher.

‘Captain, would you like me to speak for you, I can speak French?’ I offered.

He turned to me with relief. ‘Can you? That might help. Why doesn’t the fool answer me?’

I stepped forward a little and said to the commander in French: ‘Captain Gatting offers his apologies but he cannot speak French. I can translate for you. I am Madame Carpenter. I have come for my husband who has been ransomed and the captain has come for the other men. We have a ship waiting in the harbour.’

He bowed slightly. ‘Madam, I am obliged to you. The men are mustered and ready. The civilians are to be released first and then the soldiers will march down to the harbour. Their weapons will not be returned. It is agreed?’

I translated for the captain and he scowled at me. ‘We ought to get the weapons back,’ he said.

I shrugged. All I could think of was Daniel, waiting somewhere inside the castle for his release. ‘We can’t.’

‘Tell him very well; but tell him that I’m not best pleased,’ the captain said sourly.

‘Captain Gatting agrees,’ I said smoothly in French.

‘Please come inside.’ The commander led us over the drawbridge and into the inner courtyard. Another thick curtain wall with a portcullis doorway led to the central courtyard where about two hundred men were mustered, the soldiers in one block, the civilians in another. I raked the ranks for Daniel but I could not see him.

‘Commandant, I am seeking my husband, Daniel Carpenter, a civilian,’ I said. ‘I cannot see him, and I am afraid of missing him in the crowd.’

‘Daniel Carpenter?’ he asked. He turned and snapped an order at the man guarding the civilians.

‘Daniel Carpenter!’ the man bawled out.

In the middle of one of the ranks a man came forward. ‘Who asks for him?’ said Daniel, my husband.

I closed my eyes for a moment as the world seemed to shift all around me.