‘I’ve been thinking the same,’ Alexander said. ‘I wondered if you would consider me … I wondered if you would let me offer her – and yourself of course – a safe haven. I wondered if you would leave here, shut the Ark up until the end of the war, and come and live with me at the Tower of London: the safest place in the whole of the kingdom.’

When she said nothing he added, very quietly, ‘I mean marriage, Hester.’

She went quite pale for a moment, and moved her chair back from his a little.

‘You did not expect this? Though I have been such a frequent visitor?’

Mutely, she shook her head. ‘I thought it was just kindness for Mr Tradescant’s family,’ she said softly. ‘As a family friend, as a relation.’

‘It was more.’

She shook her head. ‘I am a married woman,’ she said. ‘I do not consider myself deserted or widowed. Until I hear from John that he is not coming home ever again I shall bear myself as his wife.’ For a moment she looked at him as if she were pleading with him to disagree with her. ‘You may think he has left us forever, but I am sure he will come home. There are his children, there are the rarities, there is the garden. He would never abandon the Tradescant inheritance.’

Alexander did not answer, his face was very grave.

‘He would never abandon us,’ she said again but with less certainty. ‘Would he?’

Before he could answer she rose from the chair and went quickly over to the window with her light, determined step. ‘And if you are thinking that he will die over there, and never return, I must tell you that I would still think it my duty to stay here and guard the house and the garden for Johnnie to inherit when he is a man. I promised John’s father that I would keep the place and the children safe. Nothing would release me from that promise.’

‘You have misunderstood me,’ he burst out. ‘I am so sorry. I was not proposing marriage to you.’

She turned at that. The light of the window was behind her and he could not clearly see her face. ‘What?’

‘I was thinking of Frances.’

‘You were proposing marriage to Frances?’

The incredulity in her voice made him wince. Dumbly, he nodded.

‘But you are fifty-five!’

‘I am fifty-three.’

‘And she’s a child.’

‘She is a young woman, and she is ready for marriage, and these are dangerous and difficult times.’

Hester was silenced, then she turned away from him. He saw her shoulder hunch slightly, as if she were protecting herself from insult. ‘I beg your pardon. You must think me a complete fool.’