It was a similar story in 1553. Cecil subscribed to Edward VI's disinheritance of Mary Tudor in favour of Lady Jane Grey, but he refused to commit wholeheartedly to the new regime and got out just in time. Ever the canny politician, he satisfied Queen Mary by keeping his Protestantism private and attending Mass, but he also stayed in touch with the Queen-in-waiting, both indirectly, as surveyor of Elizabeth's lands, and directly: Alford reveals for the first time a meeting between the two in February 1558.

Cecil's loyalty was rewarded on Elizabeth's accession when she made him her secretary. He was 38, and for the next four decades he dominated the scene. "He was everywhere and everything in Elizabethan government," Alford writes. "No piece of paper, no report, no policy, no event or panic or crisis at home or abroad could escape his attention."

Burghley was, Alford relentlessly drums in, convinced that Elizabeth was under mortal threat from her Catholic enemies. His bête noire was Mary, Queen of Scots, whom he regarded not only as the focus,but also the instigator of plots against Elizabeth. He did not rest until he had sent Mary to her grave. For Burghley, the means (which included torture, smear campaigns and the use of agents provocateurs) were always justified by the end. Mary's execution, which he secured by having the death warrant dispatched to Fotheringhay against the Queen's orders, was one of the few times that Burghley and Elizabeth had a really spectacular falling-out.