‘What’s the message?’

‘I shall tell it to no-one but herself.’

There was a rustle of silken skirts and Lady Mary came down the stairs. ‘And you are?’ she asked.

It was his response to the sight of her that convinced me that he was on our side, and that the world had changed for us, overnight. Fast as a stooping falcon, he dropped down to one knee, pulled his hat from his head, and bowed to her, as to a queen.

God save her, she did not turn a hair. She extended her hand as if she had been Queen of England for all her life. He kissed it reverently, and then looked up into her face.

‘I am Robert Raynes, a goldsmith of London, sent by Sir Nicholas Throckmorton to bring you the news that your brother Edward is dead, Your Grace. You are Queen of England.’

‘God bless him,’ she said softly. ‘God save Edward’s precious soul.’

There was a short silence.

‘Did he die in faith?’ she asked.

He shook his head. ‘He died as a Protestant.’

She nodded. ‘And I am proclaimed queen?’ she demanded in a much sharper tone.

He shook his head. ‘Can I speak freely?’

‘You have ridden a long way to tell a riddle if you do not,’ she observed drily.

‘The king died in much pain on the night of the sixth,’ he said quietly.

‘The sixth?’ she interrupted.

‘Yes. Before his death he changed his father’s will.’

‘He had no legal right to do so. He cannot have changed the settlement.’

‘Nonetheless he did. You are denied the succession, the Lady Elizabeth also. Lady Jane Grey is named as his heir.’

‘He never did this willingly,’ she said, her face blanched.

The man shrugged. ‘It was done in his hand, and the council and the justices all agreed and signed to it.’

‘All the council?’ she asked.

‘To a man.’

‘And what about me?’

‘I am to warn you that you are named as a traitor to the throne. Lord Robert Dudley is on his way now to arrest you and take you to the Tower.’

‘Lord Robert is coming?’ I asked.

‘He will go to Hunsdon first,’ Lady Mary reassured me. ‘I wrote to his father that I was staying there. He won’t know where we are.’

I did not contradict her, but I knew that John Dee would send my note on to him this very day, and that thanks to me, he would know exactly where to look for us.

Her concern was all for her sister. ‘And Lady Elizabeth?’

He shrugged. ‘I don’t know. She may be arrested already. They were going to her home too.’

‘Where is Robert Dudley now?’

‘I don’t know that either. It has taken me the whole day to find you myself. I traced you from Sawston Hall because I heard of the fire and guessed you had been there. I am sorry, my l . . . Your Grace.’