Sir Henry stopped at the foot of a main staircase: a square spiral set of wooden steps, each flight leading to one of the four floors of the house. Ascending the staircase a little, he lifted the wood on the fifth step to reveal a hidden cavity beneath. ‘It’s where traitors such as Humphrey Pakington hid Catholic priests from the authorities,’ he explained darkly. ‘You see, Pakington was a Catholic who refused to give up his religion and become a Protestant. When Queen Elizabeth passed a law banning Catholic priests, he had his friend Owen build secret hiding places for them in his house. This manor has as many holes as a Dutch cheese! I doubt I’ve managed to find them all.’ He lowered the wooden step back into place. ‘The story goes that a servant girl hid in one of these priest holes; she became trapped and was never found again, and her restless spirit haunts the house still.’ Sir Henry raised an ominous eyebrow at Jack. ‘That’s who you may have seen in the attic. But enough of the ghost stories! Sir Toby will be here this evening. You can ask him yourself about your sister, but I daresay he’ll be perplexed by what you tell him. As far as I’m aware, he hasn’t been in Stratford this past week – he’s still travelling up from London.’

Jack frowned. He was certain that it had been Sir Toby with his sister. Could I have been mistaken? he thought.

‘In the meantime,’ continued Sir Henry, ‘I’ve something that may be of interest to you and your warrior friends.’ He waved them through to the next room: a Gallery of Arms. Lining the wood-panelled walls were racks of iron-tipped pikes, a dozen longbows each with a sheaf of arrows, twenty or so arquebuses and flintlock pistols, several broadswords and a variety of rapiers. Shining sets of armour were mounted beside a collection of crested steel helmets. And above this impressive array of weapons hung a coat of arms – a white stag and a red wolf rampant either side of a black-and-white shield.

‘There’s enough for an entire army here!’ said Signor Horatio, his eyes widening.

‘Probably not an army,’ Sir Henry conceded, ‘but certainly enough to fulfil my duty of supplying the local militia.’ He patted an arquebus rifle. ‘All the weapons are loaded and sharpened so they’re ready at a moment’s notice.’

Jack examined one of the broadswords. He weighed it in his hand. It felt like a sledgehammer compared with the finesse of a rapier and the elegance of his katana. Akiko seemed even more taken by the display. She immediately went over to the longbows, comparing their D-shaped curves to the serpentine shape of her yumi.

‘By all means, try one out,’ offered Sir Henry.