John paused. ‘I wondered if you would like to come with me, to Virginia. You could see our land, you might be interested in that, and by travelling together we would claim another two headrights. We could sell them, or find someone to farm them for us, or you might like to build a house and settle there. Jamestown is bound to be much improved since my first visit and now –’ He broke off.

He had been about to say, ‘Now there is nothing to keep us here’ – but he did not need to say it. Hester, of all people, knew that there was nothing left in Lambeth but the rarities and the plants.

‘What about that woman, the woman you left there?’ she asked flatly.

He bowed his head. ‘I will never see her again,’ he said. It did not have the ring of a promise of a reformed man, his voice had the finality of a man who knows when something is over. ‘She will be with her people, and I will be with mine. The time of the Powhatan dealing kindly with the planters is long gone.’

Hester thought for a moment. ‘Who would keep this place safe while we are gone?’

‘Elias Ashmole would be glad enough to live here for a while,’ John pointed out. ‘He has promised to help make a catalogue of the rarities collection and he has a great interest in the garden.’

Hester made a little face. ‘What if something happens?’ she asked.

‘He could manage. He’s a worldly man, he’s managed bigger estates than this little place.’

‘Why would he be so helpful?’ she asked baldly. ‘Why serve us in such a way?’

‘He likes the rarities, he likes the garden,’ John said. ‘He can do his studies here in alchemy and astronomy. He can use my herbs for his medicines.’

‘I like his wife Mary better than I like him,’ Hester said irrelevantly. ‘And she has been very badly treated by him. She told me that he abused her and now they are separated he won’t give her any money for her keep. And it was all her money in the first place. He had nothing when he came to advise her, and now her fortune is his.’

John shook his head. ‘He’s a lawyer by training,’ he said. ‘I’m not surprised he gives nothing away. He’d make a bad enemy but he’s a good friend to us. He would guard this place for us while we were gone.’

She thought for a moment. ‘No,’ she said reluctantly. ‘He would manage well enough if nothing happened. But if there was a fire or another war or an uprising he would never care for the things as we would. Mr Ashmole would think of his own safety before the collection.’

‘We could box it all up and store it,’ John objected.