The days spent at Englefield House were bright, invigorating and charged me both physically and mentally. What I had not expected was that after just four days I began to feel a sense of loss and detachment from my normal working life. I surprised myself by missing the cut and thrust of government work and my own position of privy councillor. The next few days after that I began to feel in limbo even as I enjoyed my native countryside and some unexpectedly fine spring weather. If Catherine guessed my feeling of isolation, she said nothing, and I did not attempt to enlighten her. And although grateful for a pleasant break from routine duty, I was not sorry when the time came to return to Westminster.
Now I gaze around the table at my fellow councillors and wonder, idly, what on earth I was
