‘I answered him honestly,’ Titus told me when he returned. ‘Any information I could give him that would help his endeavour to take the upper town, but of course he will not succeed.’

We had been granted the use of Dr Nuñez’s cabin for a game of chess, which we were setting out on the table as he spoke.

‘As for any other matters?’ I asked, lining up the chessmen. It was a beautiful set given to Dr Nuñez by one of his grateful patients. Delicately carved from whalebone, the white pieces had been left the natural creamy colour of the bone, the red pieces had been stained with madder. The board was inlaid with matching squares of plain and dyed whalebone. I coveted it.

‘As for matters intended for Walsingham alone,’ Titus said, ‘he did not press me and I did not volunteer them.’

I nodded. ‘Sir John is aware that I work for Walsingham,’ I said, ‘as is Dr Nuñez. No doubt they will have guessed that you are also in his employ, but unless it should have some bearing on this expedition, I doubt if they will question you further.’

He poured out two tankards of ale and sat down opposite me, looking grave.

‘It is ill-conceived, this expedition, Kit.’

‘I’m well aware of that.’ I shrugged. ‘I have known it from the start, but you will not convince men to abandon their dreams.’

‘And now this attempt to capture Coruña. For what purpose?’

‘None, as far as I can see. For loot? For a brief triumph against Spain? Even if we were to capture it, we could not hold it. We have no means to leave an occupying force here.’

‘And in the meantime, the expedition falters.’

‘Exactly so.’ I sighed, and took a swig of my ale. ‘The problem lies in the divided aims of the leaders. The Portuguese exiles want to drive the Spanish out of Portugal and put Dom Antonio on the throne. On the other hand, Drake wants to inflict the greatest possible damage on the Spanish, especially the Spanish navy, so he can seize their treasure from the Americas. He cares not a farthing what happens to the Portuguese crown. I think Norreys set out with the intention of promoting the Portuguese mission, but he is easily diverted and has fallen in with Drake’s plans.’

‘All of which is very damaging.’ He set down his tankard. ‘It is you to move first.’

I moved one of my pawns.

‘We are here not only to play chess,’ I said, ‘but to discuss in private what you mentioned to me, the night before last. Before I left London, I was told by Sir Francis that you thought you had fallen under suspicion, and you said you thought you had been betrayed.’

He moved a pawn and I moved another. I had only half my mind on the game, but I did not wish to make any careless moves. In the past I had often played with my mathematics tutor Thomas Harriot, though there had been very few opportunities in recent years. Sometimes I played with my father, though his increasing inattention had meant it was no longer enjoyable.

‘You said,’ I reminded him, ‘that you did not believe you had been discovered or betrayed locally, but that something might have occurred at Seething Lane.’ I shook my head. ‘I do not see how that could be. I would trust them all – Sir Francis himself would never endanger one of his agents. Nor would Thomas Phelippes or Arthur Gregory or Francis Mylles, none of those who work at Seething Lane. I am sure of it.’

‘I put it badly.’ He grinned. ‘We were somewhat distracted at the time, you will recall. When I said Seething Lane, I did not mean at the centre of the service itself. The whole organisation has many branches, many agents, many – like your Dr Nuñez – who provide occasional assistance or information. That is partly the danger. Too many people, some of whom may have divided loyalties.’

My heart gave a sudden lurch, divided loyalties, and I hesitated, my hand holding one of my knights over the board.

‘When did you first begin to think you were under suspicion?’

‘It must have been in March.’ I had placed my knight carelessly and he captured it with his queen. ‘It was then that the commander of the garrison summoned me to the fortress, the new fortress on the island, the Castillo de San Antón. At that time the garrison was still quartered there.’

‘You were interrogated?’

‘Nothing so obvious. I was told I would be commissioned to make a number of new uniforms for the soldiers of the garrison. It was a valuable order, so I must understand how important it was that they should know more about me. It was all done in a most friendly, jovial way.’

‘And?’

‘All the time I have been in Spain, I have passed myself off as half Irish, half Spanish, and a Catholic. In truth my mother was herself half Irish, and her mother was Spanish. I simply skipped a generation. I called myself Mendes, my grandmother’s name. She had much of my early rearing, after my mother died, so I am fluent in Spanish. She also started my training as a tailor. My father, of course, was English and I lived with him in Winchester from the age of seven. He felt that tailoring was a useful trade, and had me apprenticed, though I have never earned my living as a tailor at home, having abandoned it to become a merchant’s clerk. I regard myself as English, but my mixed background made me useful to Walsingham.’

‘Yes, it would. Like mine.’ I studied the board, planning my strategy, and set out to lay a trap for Titus’s queen. I moved my remaining knight more carefully and decided how I would deploy my bishops and one of my castles.

Titus had not seen through my intentions and moved a bishop in a way that would not threaten them.

‘March,’ I said. ‘I know of one man who gained his freedom in December from the Tower. A man I would not trust. There has always been a kind of mist obscuring the true nature of his loyalty. Walsingham still continues to use him, though I am not sure how far he trusts him. I know Thomas Phelippes is deeply suspicious of him. I have my own reasons for knowing that he is a liar and a dangerous man.’

His head had jerked up when I mentioned the Tower, and his next move, after my careful one, was made while hardly looking at the board.

‘The Tower? You mean Robert Poley? He has been released?’

‘He was released just before Christmas.’

He let out his breath on a long sigh. ‘Do you know where he is?’

‘I have only seen him once since his release. That would have been early in March, I think. Yes, also March. He had been in the Low Countries and was about to leave for Denmark, carrying despatches.’

‘You are thinking what I am thinking?’

‘Aye.’

‘If he was in the Low Countries early this year, he could have made contact with the Duke of Parma.’

‘It would not be difficult, for a man with Poley’s experience. Besides, many people still believe Poley was really part of the Babington conspiracy, though he pretended to have been infiltrated into their company on Walsingham’s behalf, to spy on them. I know that he lied about that.’

He looked at me inquiringly. We had stopped playing.

‘I had seen him, quite by chance,’ I said, ‘months before, on intimate terms with Anthony Babington, though he claimed to Walsingham that he did not know him.’

‘So he may still be working for the enemy, though for the Spanish now instead of the French.’

‘The French are too much weakened at the moment,’ I said, ‘by the struggles between the Guise faction and the Huguenots led by Henri of Navarre.’

I seized his queen with my knight, and he clicked his tongue in annoyance at himself for leaving her unguarded.

‘Spain has been weakened too,’ he said, ‘by the failure of the Armada.’

‘Aye, but Spain has two great advantages over France – a strong and ruthless leader in King Philip and all the riches of their New World conquests to put money in their pockets. Plenty to buy ships and armaments. Plenty to maintain a large standing army.’