‘The secrets of Elizabeth’s heart!’ he exclaimed, laughing. ‘What can the queen be thinking of? Elizabeth allows no-one near the secrets of her heart. Even when she was a child in the nursery she would barely whisper them to herself.’

‘Well, she said she would give out in public that she is convinced of the merits of the old religion,’ I said. ‘But she doesn’t do so. And she goes to Mass only when she has to. And everyone says . . .’

‘What do they say, my little spy?’

‘That she is sending out letters to true Protestants, that she has a network of supporters. That the French will pay for an uprising against the queen. And that, at the very least, she only has to wait until the queen dies and then the throne is all hers anyway, and she can throw off all disguise and be a Protestant queen as she is now a Protestant princess.’

‘Oho.’ He paused, taking all this in. ‘And the queen believes all this slander?’

I looked up at him, hoping that he would understand. ‘She thought that Elizabeth would be a sister to her,’ I said. ‘She went with her into London at the very moment of her greatest triumph. She took Elizabeth at her side then, and again at the day of her coronation. What more could she do to show that she loved her and trusted her and saw her as the next heir? And since then, every day, she hears that Elizabeth has done this, or said that, and she sees Elizabeth avoiding Mass, and pretending that she will go, and sliding in her conscience forward and back as she wishes. And Elizabeth . . .’ I broke off.

‘Elizabeth what?’

‘She was there at the coronation, she was placed second only to the queen at the queen’s own request. She rode in a chariot behind the queen’s,’ I said in a fierce whisper. ‘She carried her train at the coronation, she was first to kneel before the new queen and put her hands in hers and swear to be a true and faithful subject. She swore fidelity before God. How can she now plot against her?’

He sat back in his chair and observed my heat with interest. ‘Is the queen angry with Elizabeth?’

I shook my head. ‘No. It’s worse than anger. She is disappointed in her. She is lonely, Lord Robert. She wanted her little sister at her side. She singled her out for love and respect. She can hardly believe now that Elizabeth does not love her; to find that Elizabeth would plot against her is very painful. And she is assured that she is plotting. Someone comes with a new story every day.’

‘Do they bring any evidence?’

‘Enough to have her arrested a dozen times over, I think. There are too many rumours for her to be as innocent as she looks.’

‘And still the queen does nothing against her?’

‘She wants to bring peace,’ I said. ‘She won’t act against Elizabeth unless she has to. She says that she won’t execute Lady Jane, or your brother . . .’ I did not say ‘or you’ but we were both thinking of the sentence of death hanging over him. ‘She wants to bring peace to this country.’