The Queen's Captive
Page 43
The following are some notes on the fate of other real personages in my book.
In the history of England, Sir William Cecil stands as a mighty oak. Elizabeth was at Hatfield House the day Parliament proclaimed her queen, and on that very day she made Cecil her principal secretary, a position we would equate to prime minister. It was the official beginning of an extraordinary professional relationship, arguably the most successful partnership in English history, and it lasted forty years, until Cecil’s death, in 1598. He worked tirelessly and brilliantly in Elizabeth’s interests, and she, in turn, elevated him to the peerage as Baron Burghley and enriched him with her largesse. She visited his bedside often during his final illness, even feeding him medicinal cordials with a spoon. It was said that the day he died was the only time Elizabeth was seen publicly to weep.
Elizabeth was loyal all her life to people who were loyal to her. She stood by them and rewarded them, none more so than the men who had risked so much for her sake during the failed Dudley rebellion. Upon taking the throne she made Sir William St. Loe captain of the Tower guard, made Sir Nicholas Throckmorton her ambassador to France, and knighted Thomas Parry, her wily administrator during the insecure years when she was a princess. She had been queen for just a year when Parry died. A drawing of him by Holbein survives.
The revolt in Parliament and the subsequent Dudley conspiracy, both depicted in the novel, are true, though I have invented the ways in which they happened. And I bent three facts for the dramatic purposes of my story. First, the House of Commons debated and defeated the Exiles Bill three days after passage of the ecclesiastical revenues bill; I have made it the following day. Second, the revolt in the House of Commons was led by Sir Anthony Kingston; I demoted him to a lesser position and gave this catalyst role to Richard Thornleigh. Third, upon hearing of the planned rebellion, Mary did send her agents to post a guard around Elizabeth’s house, but this happened at Hatfield House; I have changed the locale to Somerset House, Elizabeth’s London home.
Regarding the robbery of the Queen’s treasury—astonishingly, such a robbery did happen, and the master teller was complicit in the scheme. But my research did not uncover the mastermind. I gave that role to Adam Thornleigh.
Fictional characters in the book include the Thornleigh family—Honor, Richard, Adam, and Isabel—as well as John Grenville and his sister, Frances. The Thornleighs all appeared in my previous novels, The Queen’s Lady and The King’s Daughter. Honor’s story as a young lady-in-waiting to Catherine of Aragon forms the heart of The Queen’s Lady. It features Honor’s conflicted relationship with her guardian, Sir Thomas More; the missions she ran to rescue the men he persecuted; and her tumultuous love affair with Richard. The King’s Daughter features Isabel’s adventures with mercenary soldier Carlos Valverde during the Wyatt Rebellion early in the reign of Queen Mary.
I have been gratified and moved by all the mail I’ve received from readers who’ve enjoyed the books. A question sent to me leads to the following note on Honor’s name. Why, this reader asked, did I choose for a Tudor-era character a name that seems to come from a later century when girls were often given such names as Hope, Charity, Patience? Another reader asked why I had used the American spelling for an English character. The answer to both questions is quite simple: Honor’s name comes straight out of the 1530s, and the spelling is Latin. I chose it after researching The Lisle Letters, compiled by Muriel St. Clare Byrne. This is a collection of correspondence from 1533 to 1540, written to and from the family of Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle, who was appointed by Henry VIII as governor of Calais, England’s possession in France at the time. His wife’s first name was Honor.
If you’d like to write to me, I’d love to hear from you. Contact me at bkyle@barbarakyle.com.
A READING GROUP GUIDE
THE QUEEN’S CAPTIVE
Barbara Kyle
ABOUT THIS GUIDE
The suggested questions are included to
enhance your group’s reading of Barbara Kyle’s
The Queen’s Captive.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
In trying to keep Elizabeth safe from Queen Mary’s wrath, Honor decides to become a double agent. She pretends to be Mary’s spy serving as Elizabeth’s lady, but is actually keeping watch on Mary when she reports to her. Did you feel that Honor was taking on something too dangerous with this scheme? Were the stakes worth the danger?
Given Queen Mary’s desperate need to have a child to be her heir, how did her phantom pregnancy make you feel? Did you think she was honestly mistaken, or willfully deluding herself?
Adam falls in love with Elizabeth almost the first moment he sees her. Later, when he is recovering from his arrow wound, he indulges in an erotic flirtation with her. Did you think this was risky behavior on Adam’s part, since she is so far above him in rank?
Honor watches in agony as her friend George Mitford, condemned to burn at the stake, dies a horrible death. Queen Mary’s policy of burning heretics was cruel, yet it was no different from the policy of other European monarchs. How do you view this aspect of the period—as necessary state orthodoxy, or religious paranoia?
Richard battles Queen Mary’s bills in Parliament, which leads Mary to intimidate Honor. Frightened, Honor tells Richard that they must flee England, and she starts packing. But Richard stops her, insisting that they stay and fight. They argue bitterly about it, and he walks out. Who do you believe was right?
Honor gets deeply involved in the planned rebellion led by Sir Henry Dudley and she asks Elizabeth to give the rebels some financial aid, or at least a word of encouragement. But Elizabeth refuses, fearing it will endanger her. Honor accuses her of being selfish, and they argue. Do you think Elizabeth was being cowardly, or wise?
Grenville arrests Honor and threatens her with torture on the rack unless she signs a statement implicating Elizabeth in the Dudley conspiracy. Honor knows that if she signs, the Queen will execute Elizabeth for treason. She decides to endure the torture. How did Honor’s decision make you feel? Was she right to protect Elizabeth?
Frances Grenville is so obsessed with Adam Thornleigh that she blackmails him into agreeing to marry her. Otherwise, she says, she will turn in his stepmother as a convicted heretic. Did you feel any pity for Frances?
Adam finds Elizabeth preparing to flee England to avoid her sister marrying her to a foreign nobleman. Adam gladly offers to take her on his ship, and they set out together. When they stop for the night, they become lovers. In your view, was Adam being irresponsible, or can he be forgiven for hoping that “love conquers all”?
Grenville has tortured Honor and kept Richard in a dungeon for months. When they are back home following their ordeal, Richard tells Honor that he’s had enough, so he’s going after Grenville—it’s kill or be killed, he says. Honor dreads that this can only lead to Richard’s death, and again they argue. Did you think Richard was right?
After Grenville abducts Richard and burns down the Thornleighs’ house, Honor decides to confront Grenville, and kill him. How did Honor’s attack on her enemy make you feel? Was she justified in committing murder?
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Copyright © 2010 by Barbara Kyle
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ISBN: 978-0-7582-6258-5
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