The king smiled at him, a flash of the old merriment in his eyes. ‘I shall send the P … Prince James in to Hull on a visit,’ he said. ‘They cannot refuse a visit from the prince. He shall g … go with his cousin, the Elector Palatine. And then I shall f … follow him. They cannot separate father and son. And once he is inside he will open the gates to me. And once I am there –’ he snapped his fingers ‘– it is mine! As easily and peacefully as that.’

‘But what if …’

The king shook his head. ‘No. N … No carping, Tradescant,’ he said. ‘The city of Hull is all for me, they will throw open the gates at the sight of Prince James, and then when we are installed we can make what terms we wish with Parliament.’

‘But Your Majesty …’

‘You may go now,’ the king said pleasantly. ‘Ride with me at n … noon tomorrow to Hull.’

They left late, of course, and idled along the road. By the time they finally arrived on a little rise before the town it was getting cold with the sharp coldness of a northern spring afternoon, and growing dark, getting on for dinner time. The king had brought thirty cavalrymen, carrying his standards and pennants, and there were ten young gentlemen riding with him as well as Tradescant and a dozen servants.

As they came towards the city Tradescant saw the great gates swing closed, and his heart sank.

‘What’s this?’ the king demanded.

‘A damned insult!’ one of the young men cried out. ‘Let’s ride at the gates and order them open.’

‘Your Majesty …’ Tradescant said, bringing his horse a little closer. The young courtiers scowled at the gardener riding among them. Tradescant pressed on. ‘Perhaps we should ride by, as if we never intended coming in at all.’

‘What use would that be?’ the king demanded.

‘That way, no-one could ever say that an English town closed its gates to you. It did not close its gates because we were not trying to enter.’

‘Nonsense!’ the king said easily. One or two of the young men laughed aloud. ‘That’s the way to teach them b … boldness. Prince James’s party will open the gates to us if the governor of Hull does not.’

The king took off his hat and rode down towards the town. The sentries on the wall looked down on him and John saw, with a sense of leaden nausea, that they were casually pointing their crossbows towards him, their monarch, as if he were an ordinary highwayman coming towards the city walls.

‘Please God no fool fires by accident,’ John said as he followed.

‘Open the gates to the king of England!’ one of the courtiers shouted up at the sentries.

There was a short undignified scuffle and the governor of Hull, Sir John Hotham himself, appeared on the walls.