A cold day withal, grey and gloomy. Well wrapped up in swathes of garments, topped with fur, we sail down the Thames towards Greenwich Palace. I am seated under the canopy close to Thomas and surrounded by attendants and my ladies. It is so bitter today that blocks of solid ice float on the surface of the water all the way along our route. Fish splash about under the surface but seem reluctant to jump out as they usually do and if the weather continues towards ice and snow I should not be surprised if the entire river freezes over before the Christmas period.
As we pass Blackfriars there is a little knot of people watching our barge from the bank. Whether they know who we are or not, I know not but one young man in a bright, new looking winter coat looks familiar somehow and he seems to b
