He must, however, wait until the Coronation had actually taken place.
He found the months passed incredibly slowly and his impatience grew day by day until he could finally set out for London.
He had prepared everything ready for the moment he could leave – his clothes, his wide knowledge of Court protocol and, most importantly of all, two pictures that he was taking to the King as a gift.
Finally he arrived at the Palace of Whitehall.
When he told the Lord Chamberlain who he was and what he had brought for King Charles, he was taken into the Royal presence almost immediately.
It took four footmen following behind him to carry the Van Dyck and the Holbein masterpieces he had taken off the walls of Pronett Hall.
They were, he knew, the very best of the real Lord Pronett’s collection.
