Signor Horatio snorted. ‘Peace is but a fragile gift, and with this country no longer helmed by your dear departed Queen Elizabeth, it will surely run into a storm sooner or later.’ He nodded in the direction of Yori, who was picking leaves from a primrose bush. ‘As I tell my students, it is better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war.’

‘You sound like my old Zen master, Sensei Yamada,’ said Jack, smiling at the memory of his wise mentor.

‘Why didn’t you set up your school in London?’ Akiko asked. ‘Everyone there seems very eager to duel.’

A dark cloud passed across Signor Horatio’s face. ‘I did, signorina. And my school was full, my skills were respected, my reputation was untarnished.’

‘What happened?’ asked Jack.

Signor Horatio stared at the straw dummy in the corner, as if weighing up an old enemy. ‘I was challenged to a duel by none other than Sir Toby Nashe! He considered that, as a foreigner in England, I’d got above my status. He insulted me and my students. So I had no choice but to accept the challenge, for the honour of my school.’ Signor Horatio’s eyes narrowed. ‘To give him his due, he was an accomplished swordsman – talented yet arrogant. Still, I bested him. He was furious at losing, couldn’t accept that I’d beaten him fair and square. So he took a pistol from one of his fawning followers and shot me … in the back!’

Rose gasped, putting a hand to her heart.

‘That sounds like Sir Toby to me,’ said Jack. ‘No sense of bushido at all.’

Signor Horatio scowled. ‘He has no grace, no valour, no honour. Such men aren’t worthy of the title Sir. And, although I survived, I discovered he’d blackened my name – he claimed that it was I who’d lost and that I’d tried to shoot him! My school was forcibly closed by the Defence Guild and I was hounded out of the city.’ He looked Jack square in the eye. ‘That’s another reason I want to train you, Jack. I have a score of my own to settle with Sir Toby.’

After a light breakfast of buttered bread, sage and fresh blackberries picked from the garden, Jack and his friends returned to the courtyard for the first lesson of the day. Yori and Rose elected to watch from the sidelines, but Akiko was keen to learn this Western style of sword-fighting, especially in view of her painful encounter with Sir Francis. She took up a position next to Jack as Signor Horatio emerged from his lodgings, now attired in black breeches, a fine white shirt and a tight leather jerkin, his slender rapier slung on his hip. Upon seeing Akiko, he stopped and blinked in surprise. He offered her an awkward smile, before saying, ‘I must confess, I’ve never instructed a woman before.’