With a flourish, their host removed his golden mask to thunderous applause. Then the rest of the guests followed suit, casting aside their disguises. There was much laughter and many shrieks of surprise. Ignoring Yori’s insistent tug on his sleeve, Jack removed his black Harlequin mask to have a better look for Sir Toby … at the same time as Zeus took off his porcelain-white face …

Their eyes locked upon one another.

‘YOU!’ cried Zeus, his jaw dropping in outraged disbelief. ‘But I thought you’d drowned!’

36: First Blood

Jack was standing toe to toe with Sir Toby Nashe – the belligerent dueller who’d almost run him through in Moorfields … the liar who’d got him arrested and almost hanged in London … the mystery suitor who’d taken his sister! Jack felt his fury rise up inside him like a furnace fire.

But Sir Toby appeared equally outraged. His preened moustache quivering and his face as thunderous as Zeus himself, Sir Toby grabbed Jack by the lapels of his chequered Harlequin suit. ‘You won’t escape this time, you slippery fish!’ he spat. ‘Sir Edmund! Sir Francis! Come, quickly!’

At once, the sultan and the knight beside the banqueting table dropped their wine goblets and surrounded Jack, cutting off any way of retreat. But Jack, for his part, was also swiftly backed up by reinforcements: Akiko, Yori, Rose and Signor Horatio all rushed to his aid. With a sharp upward thrust of his forearms, Jack broke Sir Toby’s grip on his costume and pushed the self-righteous bully away. Sir Toby stumbled and fell on to his backside, much to the amusement of the other guests.

‘How dare you!’ he cried, his face flushing as red as his hair in mortified fury. ‘I’ll have you thrown into the Tower of London for that! Put in irons and hung by your hands! Stretched on the rack until your arms pop out of their sockets! Tossed into the pit!’

The guests sniggered at his outrageous threats. But Jack wasn’t laughing.

‘It’s you who’ll be put in the Tower,’ said Jack. ‘Now, tell me, where’s my sister?’

‘Your sister?’ sneered Sir Toby, a dark gleam entering his eyes. ‘I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.’

‘Of course you do. You’ve abducted her!’

‘That’s slander!’ snarled Sir Toby, scrambling to his feet with the help of his stooge Sir Edmund. ‘I’ll not have my reputation besmirched like this. Seize the rascal!’

Sir Francis was the first to advance on Jack, but Signor Horatio blocked his path and a tussle broke out between them. No one else stepped forward to apprehend Jack, so Sir Toby took it upon himself. As Jack prepared to fend off his foe, Akiko and Rose squared up to Sir Edmund. The portly sultan, nostrils flaring and belly wobbling, blurted, ‘I don’t fight women.’