Charles Spencer is quoting the most poignant sentence in his new book, and he clearly finds the words deeply moving. They were spoken more than 300 years ago by a king of England to the Catholic priest to whom he owed his life, and believed he would owe his eternity. It was 5 February 1685; Charles II was on his deathbed; and the man he was addressing, Fr John Huddleston, had been pivotal in hiding the monarch from Oliver Cromwell during a nail-biting chase three decades earlier.

Now the king was dying, and Fr Huddleston had arrived to receive him into the Church and hear his last confession.