From his pocket he drew a small knife which folded cunningly, like a barber’s razor, so the sharp blade was hidden and safe. ‘Do you permit, Mrs Tradescant?’ Alexander asked. ‘If he promises he will take care of his fingers?’

Hester smiled. ‘I should like to have the courage to say no,’ she said. ‘You may have it, Johnnie, but Cousin Norman must show you how to handle it and see that you are safe with it before he leaves us today.’

‘Can I carve things with it?’

Alexander nodded. ‘We’ll set to work as soon as I have drunk my ale and told your mother the news from town.’

‘Wooden whistles? And toys?’

‘We’ll start with something easier. Go and ask them in the kitchen for a cake of soap. We’ll work our way up to wood.’ The boy nodded, put the cork carefully back in his pot of ink and carried the tray of labels out of the way, and then went from the room. Frances came in and set down a cup of ale before her uncle and then took up some sewing and sat in the windowseat. Hester, glancing across the room, thought that her stepdaughter could have been sitting for a portrait entitled ‘Beauty and the Domestic Arts’ as she bent her brown head over her work. A swift glance from Frances’s bright eyes warned her that the girl was perfectly aware of the enchanting picture she made.

‘Any news?’ Hester asked.

Alexander Norman nodded. ‘You’ve heard the news of Birmingham?’

Hester glanced towards Frances. ‘We won’t speak of it now. I heard enough.’

Alexander shook his head. ‘Dreadful doings. Prince Rupert lost control of his men altogether.’

Hester nodded. ‘And I heard that the king holds the whole of the west country.’

Alexander Norman nodded. ‘He’s lost the navy but he holds many of the ports. And they face France, so he can land a French army if the queen’s promises are fulfilled.’

Hester nodded. ‘And no-one is marching on London?’

Alexander Norman gave a small shrug. ‘Not that I’ve heard, but this month alone there have been skirmishes all over the country.’

‘Nothing close?’

Alexander Norman leaned forwards and put his hand over Hester’s tightly gripping fingers. ‘Peace, cousin,’ he said gently. ‘Nothing close. You know I would warn you the moment I heard of any danger to your little Ark. You and your precious cargo will come safe through this storm.’

He glanced over to the windowseat. ‘Frances, would you fetch me another glass of ale?’ he asked.

She rose at once and went to the door. ‘And give me a moment alone with your stepmother,’ he said smoothly. ‘I want her advice on a private matter.’

Frances glanced at Hester to see if she demurred, and when Hester gave the smallest of nods Frances slightly raised her eyebrows in a tiny expression of sheer impudent speculation and left the room, closing the door behind her.