‘IN DAYLIGHT? ON the quayside where anyone might have seen what he was doing? Christ’s tears, Mr Shakespeare, your man Cooper has surpassed himself this time.’
‘It was necessary, Sir Robert. The man was about to blow a hole in Ivory’s head.’
‘Gunfire, blood all over the quayside … If this reached Her Majesty’s ears, she would be most unhappy. She will not have men knifed in her towns and seaports in full view of passers-by.’
‘It was necessary, Sir Robert,’ Shakespeare repeated, slightly too sharply. ‘In defence of the realm …’ His voice trailed off, wondering whether he overstepped the mark in talking to Elizabeth’s first minister in such tones. ‘Forgive me for speaking plain.’
Sir Robert Cecil laughed, a dry little laugh. He was small in stature, not much over five feet tall, with a hunch of the shoulder that he tried to disguise by pulling back his head. He had a tidy spade of a beard and dark, inquiring eyes. John Shakespeare, six feet tall, with flowing hair, towered over him as they walked across the beautiful inner courtyard of Nonsuch Palace. Water gushed from a marble fountain. The walls seemed to close in with their profusion of intricate plaster reliefs of figures both noble and godly. Across the court and dominating all was the statue of the Queen’s father, Great Henry, his menacing, magnificent figure seeming to hold the very gods of Olympus in thrall.
As if on cue, the Queen herself emerged into the sunlight from the state rooms on the far side of the courtyard. She wore a French gown of white pearl, flourished with gold and silver, embroidered with tiny harts and stags. In her hand she carried a fan of white feathers with a handle of ornate gold. She shone in the sun’s glare, an aureole among the courtiers who thronged around her.
The Queen stopped a moment to breathe in the fresh spring air. Her courtiers stopped, too, responsive to her every movement. Chief among them was her favourite, the Earl of Essex, markedly taller than his companions. His eyes flitted from his sovereign to the bosom of a young lady-in-waiting two steps behind. On Elizabeth’s other side stood the bluff, handsome figure of Sir Thomas Heneage, her greatest friend and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. He was whispering some tittle-tattle in her ear and she smiled.
Also there was Sir Edward Coke. As the Queen stepped forward again, Coke moved too, a spring in his step, puffed up from his appointment that very morning as Attorney-General. Cecil’s father, Lord Burghley, hobbled behind, the pain of his gout evident in his expression. Southampton clasped Essex’s arm with one hand and with the other ran his silky fingers through his own long hair. Behind them Shakespeare spotted the squat, white-haired figure of the torturer Richard Topcliffe, and shuddered. No courtier’s elegant attire could disguise that feral, stale-sweat brutality.
Bile rose in Shakespeare’s gullet at the sight of the white-haired Queen’s servant. Their paths had crossed too many times and the loathing between them ran deep. Topcliffe had done his utmost to persecute Shakespeare and his family, believing them tainted by Catholicism. Shakespeare, in turn, had seen the inside of the private torture chamber Topcliffe maintained in his Westminster home. It was there that he had brought the natural father of Shakespeare’s adopted children to the point of death with his foul instruments of rope and iron. Shakespeare could smell the stench of pain and blood that hung there even now, and knew the torturer would not rest until he had destroyed him and all he held dear. As the royal party drew near, Topcliffe caught his eye and smirked. Shakespeare’s expression did not change, did not reveal his revulsion, nor his contempt.
He and Cecil both bowed low and went down on one knee at the Queen’s approach. She looked at them and for the briefest of moments her eye caught John Shakespeare’s. At this proximity he could not but notice what he had not seen from a distance – how marked her face had become by time, how tarnished her glow. Her golden hair was dry, her skin coated white, like a badly rendered façade. She did not acknowledge him, simply looked away and walked on with her courtiers and the ladies in her train. Topcliffe turned as he swept past and threw Shakespeare a half-smile that denoted nothing more than loathing and disdain.
Cecil rose and touched his hand to Shakespeare’s elbow to signify that he, too, should rise. The statesman’s gaze followed the departing group.
‘My lord of Essex has been swearing eternal love and devotion to his virgin queen,’ Cecil said in a low voice in Shakespeare’s ear. ‘Yet before the hour is out, he will have that wanton’s skirts about her waist with never a thought for Her Royal Majesty.’ He nodded towards the woman whose breasts Essex had been contemplating. The corners of Cecil’s mouth turned down in distaste. ‘Come, John, let us walk in the gardens, away from ears.’
Shakespeare was surprised by the note of bitterness in Cecil’s words. His enmity for Essex was well known, but it was unlike him to reveal so much of his inner feelings.
They ambled through the gatehouses. Chaffinches and sparrows sang with the promise of spring. Fruit trees burgeoned with blossom buds. From the outside, the fantastical turrets of Nonsuch Palace dazzled beneath blue slate and red-brick chimneys. Cecil patted the spaniel at his heels and then glanced up at a large lanner falcon that swooped and ranged above them and around them, hunting for food. He shook his neat head in admiration and acknowledged the falconer, who bowed to him. Cecil pointed out the bird to Shakespeare.
‘That is my lanner, John. Is she not comely?’ He paused and looked around. There was no one within earshot. ‘So tell me, now that we are in a quiet place, what do we know about the attacker?’
‘Nothing, except that he wore a large cloak, which concealed a German wheel-lock pistol, which we have. He ran like a hare. Boltfoot, with his club-foot, had no hope of giving chase. Anyway, he was more concerned to stay with Ivory.’
‘Did they follow the blood trail?
‘As far as it went, into the next street. After that, nothing.’
‘Would they recognise the man again?’
‘Unlikely – he closed his cloak about his face. This was no common felon, but a mercenary, a hired man.’
‘From Spain?’
‘We have no way of knowing.’
‘But not a common footpad after Mr Eye’s gold?’
Shakespeare grimaced. ‘No. Mr Ivory confirmed that he demanded the perspective glass. However, there is still a chance of identifying the assassin. Here …’ He withdrew the would-be killer’s pistol and handed it to Cecil. ‘It is a fine-wrought piece.’
Cecil handed it back. ‘Give it to my man, Clarkson. He will pass it on to Frank Mills to deal with. I have other requirements of you. This incident in Portsmouth has worried me greatly. Where are Mr Eye and the perspective glass now?’
‘I have them both safe, Sir Robert.’
‘And you do not think they should be parted? The glass kept safe in the Tower, perhaps?’
Shakespeare shrugged his shoulders. ‘That is for you to decide.’
‘But I would appreciate your opinion, John.’
‘Well, the glass is our priority, but Mr Ivory is also of great value to us. It seems rational to keep them together.’
Cecil smiled briefly. ‘My thoughts exactly. Keep the Eye and the implement secure. Tell no one where they are except Clarkson. And beware of men in cloaks with scarred wrists. I fear we will need Mr Eye again very soon.’
Shakespeare bowed solemnly. There were times when Cecil required obedience, not debate, and this was one of them. Many men loathed him, calling him Robin Crookback or Robertus Diabolus – mocking names, spoken with a tinge of fear – but there were few who did not respect him. Shakespeare went further. He liked to think he understood Cecil. He worked for him because he believed they shared some human creed and aims – peace and justice, the security of the realm, a prosperous commonwealth, the hoped-for triumph of good over evil. And if that sometimes meant being harder and more devious than the enemy, well, so be it.