The Hooded Hawke (23 page)
Authors: Karen Harper
Tags: #Fiction - Historical, #16th Century, #Mystery, #England/Great Britain, #Tudors, #Royalty
For look! The wicked bend their bow,
They make ready their arrow on the string,
That they may shoot secretly at the upright in heart.
They make ready their arrow on the string,
That they may shoot secretly at the upright in heart.
—PSALM 11:2
Every heart with thought disloyal
Will I dislodge from my court royal;
The bad will find no welcome here,
And no good cheer.
Will I dislodge from my court royal;
The bad will find no welcome here,
And no good cheer.
My eyes will be most sharp to find
Dwellers on earth of faithful mind
To me; for he who has true sight
Will serve me right.
Dwellers on earth of faithful mind
To me; for he who has true sight
Will serve me right.
He who takes pains to use deceit
Within my house will find no seat;
Never from me will liar or babbler
Get gift or favor.
Within my house will find no seat;
Never from me will liar or babbler
Get gift or favor.
—FROM A POEM BY CLÉMENT MAROT, QUOTED BY ELIZABETH TUDOR IN HER JOURNAL, 1569
Genealogical Tree
| 1533 | Henry VIII marries Anne Boleyn, January 25. Elizabeth born at Greenwich Palace, September 7. |
| 1536 | Anne Boleyn executed in Tower of London. Elizabeth disinherited from crown. Henry marries Jane Seymour. |
| 1537 | Prince Edward born. Queen Jane dies of childbed fever. |
| 1538 | Francis Drake born in Tavistock, England. |
| or | |
| 1539 | |
| 1542 | Execution of Katherine Howard, Henry’s fifth queen. Birth in Scotland of Mary Stewart, who becomes Queen of Scots as an infant at death of James V of Scotland this year. |
| 1544 | Act of Succession and Henry’s will establish Mary Tudor and Elizabeth in line to throne. |
| 1547 | Henry VIII dies. Edward VI crowned. |
| 1553 | Queen Mary (Tudor) I crowned. She tries to force England back to Catholicism. Weds Philip of Spain. |
| 1558 | Queen Mary dies; Elizabeth succeeds to throne. Elizabeth appoints William Cecil principal secretary of state; Robert Dudley made master of the queen’s horse. |
| 1560 | Death of Francis II of France makes his young wife, Mary Stuart, a widow. Mary soon returns home to Scot land. |
| 1565 | Mary of Scots weds Lord Darnley. |
| 1566 | Mary bears son James, later James VI of Scotland and James I of England. |
| 1567 | Murder of Lord Darnley; scandalous marriage of Mary and Earl of Bothwell. Mary’s forced abdication. |
| 1568 | Mary flees to England; Drake’s ship Judith in Battle of San Juan d’Ulua off the coast of Mexico. |
| 1569 | The Rebellion of Northern Lords. |
I started to write this ninth novel in the series, which begins in Elizabethan London, on the very morning terrorists bombed modern London, July 7, 2005. Ironically, this novel is about early terrorism in the queen’s realm.
London and Londoners have been through many dangers and deadly assaults, but like their current Queen Elizabeth—and the brilliant and bold first Queen Elizabeth—the English not only survive but thrive.
The names of several of the sites bombed, such as Aldgate and King’s Cross, would have been familiar to the English of the Tudor age, such is the living history in that place.
I love London, where my husband and I have often visited, and dedicate this book to the people of that vital city, beloved also of Her Majesty Elizabeth I, who may be my amateur sleuth but who, during her long reign, was a very professional queen.
—Karen Harper
The Fatal Fashione
The Fyre Mirror
The Queene’s Christmas
The Thorne Maze
The Queene’s Cure
The Twylight Tower
The Tidal Poole
The Poyson Garden
The Fyre Mirror
The Queene’s Christmas
The Thorne Maze
The Queene’s Cure
The Twylight Tower
The Tidal Poole
The Poyson Garden
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APRIL 1, 1581
A
rise, Sir Francis Drake,” the queen commanded, and smiled at her friend as he rose from his knees.
rise, Sir Francis Drake,” the queen commanded, and smiled at her friend as he rose from his knees.
Cheers swelled from his crew, her courtiers, and the townfolk of Deptford, into which Drake had sailed his ship, the
Golden Hind.
Over the years, he’d fought the Spanish and returned to England with booty from their great galleons and exotic gifts from afar. They called him
El Draco
now, the Dragon. He had just returned from a three-year voyage, far beyond the Indian Ocean, for he’d circumnavigated the globe, which announced to allies and enemies alike that Elizabeth’s England was a power to be reckoned with.
Golden Hind.
Over the years, he’d fought the Spanish and returned to England with booty from their great galleons and exotic gifts from afar. They called him
El Draco
now, the Dragon. He had just returned from a three-year voyage, far beyond the Indian Ocean, for he’d circumnavigated the globe, which announced to allies and enemies alike that Elizabeth’s England was a power to be reckoned with.
“You may keep the sword,” she told Drake with a smile, “for you may yet need a supply of them in your queen’s service.”
“I have never run from a fight since you took me on, Your Grace, and never shall, even if King Philip sends that armada as he’s been threatening. We shall put it down just as you did that Northern Rebellion years ago—and the threat of the Hooded Hawk.”
“Sometimes I yet regret signing Norfolk’s death warrant, but he never ceased plotting as often as I pardoned him.”
“Some say if you could be convinced to have one cousin executed, the warrant for Queen Mary could also—”
“No! However much she yet tries to connive against me, I
cannot have her beheaded. A woman beheaded—after my mother was—Do not speak of it if we are to be friends.”
cannot have her beheaded. A woman beheaded—after my mother was—Do not speak of it if we are to be friends.”
“I would be your friend forever, Your Grace.”
“We shall survive and thrive together,” she promised, looking into his eyes, then turning away toward the others. Drake’s proud but shy wife, Mary, was here, beaming. They had no children, either, something else he and the queen shared.
Sim Naseby, Drake’s cabin boy for nearly ten years and now a full-fledged sailor, stood amidships with his brother. Piers was going out soon from Ned’s troupe with his own company, the Queen’s Countryside Players. Meg was sad for that, though her eleven-year-old twin daughters, somehow conceived on that perilous summer progress to Hampshire, kept her busy.
“You’ve done a fine job chasing our enemies at sea, Drake,” William Cecil, elevated earlier in the year to the peerage as Baron Burghley, said, and clapped the captain on the shoulder.
“Chasing and catching, but not yet conquering, my lord. By my faith, I have dedicated myself to that cause, just as Her Majesty has devoted herself to her people.”
“Well said!” Elizabeth told him. Then she added more quietly, “But on clear days like this, Sir Francis, I’d almost rather go sailing.”
Since her beloved England was becoming such a seagoing nation, she oft thought of her work as sailing through the good days and the bad, the serene seas and the brutal ones, onward and outward, standing like a figurehead at the very prow of her beloved ship of state.
T
he green pillow that Mary Queen of Scots sent to the Duke of Norfolk actually existed, with its cutoff vine and the
Your assured Mary
signature. Also, I found in my research that “Drake’s movements during 1569 are unknown” (from
Sir Francis Drake
by John Dugden, p.42). As explained below, the queen actually did take a summer progress to the exact places used in the story. Putting together those historic facts and embroidering them with my imagination got me going on the plot for this ninth novel in the Queen Elizabeth I mystery series.
he green pillow that Mary Queen of Scots sent to the Duke of Norfolk actually existed, with its cutoff vine and the
Your assured Mary
signature. Also, I found in my research that “Drake’s movements during 1569 are unknown” (from
Sir Francis Drake
by John Dugden, p.42). As explained below, the queen actually did take a summer progress to the exact places used in the story. Putting together those historic facts and embroidering them with my imagination got me going on the plot for this ninth novel in the Queen Elizabeth I mystery series.
I believe that Drake’s debacle at the Battle of San Juan d’U-lau was actually the making of him. Just as George Washington’s ignominious defeat at Fort Necessity early in his career made him a stronger, better leader, so did Drake’s first big failure. This battle, by the way, has the dubious distinction of being the first fought between Europeans in the New World.
It is recorded that Queen Elizabeth always bid her ships’ captains farewell with the following words, so no doubt her friend Drake heard these more than once: “Serve God daily, love one another, preserve your victuals, beware of fire, and keep good company.”
Some notes about the key historic events, characters, and places mentioned in the novel:
—The Northern Rebellion the queen had feared for years
began shortly after this story ends. It was put down by her by troops led by a cousin she could trust, Henry Carey, first Lord Hunsdon, who was a key character in the first book in this series,
The Poyson Garden
.
began shortly after this story ends. It was put down by her by troops led by a cousin she could trust, Henry Carey, first Lord Hunsdon, who was a key character in the first book in this series,
The Poyson Garden
.
—Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, was not put on trial for treason until January of 1572 and not executed until six months later, because Elizabeth so hesitated to have a relative beheaded. Cecil finally pushed her into signing the death warrant.
—Henry Wriothesley, second Earl of Southampton, was arrested in 1570, and again in 1571 and sent to the Tower in 1573. However, he died a natural death at age thirty-seven. His line lives on royally in that he was an ancestor of Prince William, grandson of the current Queen Elizabeth.
—The places the queen visited during her 1569 summer progress can still be seen today. Loseley House can be toured, though Place House near Titchfield is in ruins. The Church of the Holy Ghost in Basingstoke has recently been refurbished. The Vyne can be visited, and information about all these places is available on the Web. Farnham Castle is now the International Briefing and Conference Centre with guided tours.
Special thanks to Chris Hellier, curatorial assistant of Farnham Castle, for information on Bishop Robert Horne.
And as always, my gratitude to my husband, Don, for proofreading and for living for so long with the queen—Elizabeth, I mean.
In each of the books in this series, I focus on one particular aspect of Elizabethan life, and, of course, this time it is the sports and games of the day. Many books have excellent information on this, but one of the earliest and most complete is Joseph Strutt’s
The Sports and Pastimes of the People of England,
published first in 1801.
The Sports and Pastimes of the People of England,
published first in 1801.
In 1595, Queen Elizabeth I decreed that bows should be converted to calivers and muskets, “because they are of more use than bows.” So, as ever, time marches on.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 2007 by Karen Harper.
Painting of
The Armada
, 1588 by Nicholas Hilliard, Society of Apothecaries UK / Bridgeman Art Library. Painting of
Elizabeth I, Armanda Portrait
, c. 1588 by English School Private Collection / Bridgeman Art Library.
The Armada
, 1588 by Nicholas Hilliard, Society of Apothecaries UK / Bridgeman Art Library. Painting of
Elizabeth I, Armanda Portrait
, c. 1588 by English School Private Collection / Bridgeman Art Library.
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St. Martin’s Paperbacks are published by St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Map and Timeline by Paul J. Pugliese.
eISBN: 978-1429992374
First eBook Edition : January 2011
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2006050561
ISBN: 0312947712
EAN: 978-0312947712
St. Martin’s Press hardcover edition / February 2007
St. Martin’s Paperbacks edition / December 2007
St. Martin’s Paperbacks edition / December 2007
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
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