‘Now these are our rarities,’ she said. ‘These are green parrot tulips, very special.’ Hester indicated the ragged fringe on the green petals. ‘And these are Paragon Liefkens, they have a wonderful broken colour – red and white or red and yellow. The Semper Augustus comes from this family but excels them in shape, it has the true tulip shape and the best broken colour. Here are the Violetten, they come in a different colour in every bulb, very unpredictable and difficult to grow a consistent strain: they can be as pale as a bough of lilac or a true, deep purple-blue like violets. If you were interested in developing your own strain –’ She glanced at him and saw the avidity in his face.

‘Oh, yes!’

‘Then these are the ones I would choose. To get a consistent deep purple would be a wonderful thing to do. Gardeners would thank you forever. And here,’ she led the way to the shelter of the terrace and the tulips standing proudly in the precious pots, ‘these are our Semper Augustus. We believe them to be the only Sempers in England. My father-in-law bought them and gave one to the queen. When she left the palace my husband brought it back here. As far as I know, no-one else has a Semper.’

Lambert’s attention was all that she could have desired. He squatted down so his dark head was on a level with the scarlet and white flower. ‘May I touch?’

‘Gently,’ Hester assented.

He put out a fingertip, the ruby on his hand winked at the scarlet of the petal and he noticed the match of the colour at once. The red of the petal was as shiny as silk shot through with white. One flower, a little more mature than the others, was open and he peered into the cup to see the exotic darkness of the stamens and the sooty black of the pollen.

‘Exquisite,’ he breathed. ‘This is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.’

Hester smiled. Johnnie glanced up at her and winked. They both knew what would come next.

‘How much?’ John Lambert asked.

‘Johnnie, go and ask Cook for some shortbread and a glass of wine for our guest,’ Hester commanded. ‘And bring me some notepaper and a pen. You will want to place a large order, Mr Lambert?’

He looked up at her and grinned, the confident smile of a handsome man whose life is going well for him. ‘You may command my fortune, Mrs Tradescant.’

Summer 1645, Virginia