A Clash of Spheres
A Sir Robert Carey Mystery
P.F. Chisholm
Poisoned Pen Press
Copyright
Copyright © 2017 P.F. Chisholm
First E-book Edition 2017
ISBN: 9781464208317 ebook
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in, or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher of this book.
The historical characters and events portrayed in this book are inventions of the author or used fictitiously.
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Contents
A Clash of Spheres
Copyright
Contents
Dedication
Cast of Characters
Letter from Sir Robert Cecil to the King of Denmark
Late August 1592
Carlisle, Early December 1592
August 1592
Autumn 1592
December 1592
Autumn 1592
Late Autumn 1592
Carlisle December 1592
December 1592 Carlisle
December 1592 Gilsland
Sometime in Autumn 1592
December 1592
December 1592 Edinburgh
Caerlaverock, December 1592
Edinburgh December 1592
Christmas Week 1592
Christmas Day 1592
Edinburgh, New Year’s Eve 1592
Edinburgh New Year’s Day 159(3)
Glossary
Author’s Note
More from this Author
Contact Us
Dedication
This book is dedicated to all the wonderful people who read my book in draft. I call them my beta-readers. They not only save me a huge amount of time and effort, but make my books so much better. Thank you!
Brenda James
Carol Matson
Chris Luke
Elizabeth Bozzell
Gail Hourigan
Gereg Muller
Hadas Kozlowski
Hilary Silvert Newell
Karen L Black
Kendall Britt
Kier Salmon
Lori Walker
Lorna Toolis
Lorraine Fletez-Brant
Margot McLennan
Michelle Rudd
S M Stirling
Cast of Characters
in no particular order
* historical person
in parenthesis: mentioned, not met
(Christian IV of Denmark, Norway etc) *
Queen Anne, wife of King James of Scotland *
Sir Robert Carey *
Sorrel, his usual hobby
(Henry Carey, Baron Hunsdon—Carey’s father) *
Lord Scrope, Warden of the English West March *
Sir Richard Lowther, Deputy Warden of the English West March *
Lady Elizabeth Widdrington, Carey’s love *
Sir Henry Widdrington, her husband, Deputy Warden of the English East March *
Alexander Lindsay, Lord Spynie, the King’s ex-Minion *
Lord Maxwell, Scottish Border lord *
Henry Dodd, Land-Sergeant of Gilsland, Carey’s henchman
Whitesock, his favourite horse
Sir Robert Cecil, Privy Councillor *
Margeurite Graham
Jonathan Hepburn or Hochstetter
Sir David Graham of Fintry, Groom of the Bedchamber to James *
Wattie Graham of Netherby, Border reiver *
Young Hutchin Graham, nearly a Border reiver *
Archie Fire-the-Braes Graham, Border reiver *
Sooks Graham
Bangtail Graham, man-at-arms, Carlisle castle guard *
Red Sandy Dodd, man-at-arms, Carlisle castle guard
Sim’s Will, man-at-arms, Carlisle castle guard
Bessie’s Andrew Storey, man-at-arms, Carlisle castle guard
Andie Nixon, man-at-arms, Carlisle castle guard (Kate, his wife)
Pringle, Garron, East, Perkins, Leamus—Earl of Essex’s deserters, now new men-at-arms
Nick Smithson, leader of the Earl of Essex’s deserters
(Ritchie Graham of Brackenhill, gangster) *
(Sim’s Jock Graham, Border reiver)
(Solomon Musgrave, gate guard)
George Gordon, 6th Earl of Huntly *
Father William Crichton SJ *
Francis Hay, 9th Earl of Erroll *
Sir George Kerr, Groom of the Bedchamber *
Bessie Storey *
Nancy, her wife *
Thomas the Merchant Hetherington, businessman *
Hughie Tyndale or Elliot, Carey’s valet
John Tovey, Carey’s secretary
James Stuart, King of Scotland, 6th of that name *
Janet Dodd née Armstrong
Bridget, her half-sister
Ellen
Mary, her sister
Katherine, her gossip
Willie’s Simon Amstrong
Ekie, 8 year old boy
Mrs Hogg, midwife
Mary Leaholm
Big Clem Pringle, blacksmith
Geordie and Cuddie Armstrong, Janet’s brothers
Wide Mary
Cousin Rowan
Penny, Shilling, Angel, horses
(Samuel the donkey)
Jack, a lymer dog
Teazle, a more experienced hunting dog
(Buttercup, Jack’s mother)
Richard Bell, Scrope’s secretary
Wee Colin Elliot, headman of the Elliot surname
Simon Anricks or Ames
(Rebecca, his wife)
(2nd Earl of Bothwell) *
(Mme Hetherington)
(William Douglas, 10th Earl of Angus) *
(Lord Howard of Effingham) *
(Sir Francis Drake) *
(Sir Francis Walsingham) *
(Medina Sidonia, Spanish admiral) *
(Mrs Grainne O’Malley) *
(Goody Biltock)
(Thomas Digges) *
Dixon
Roger Widdrington, son of Sir Henry *
Young Henry Widdrington, eldest son of Sir Henry *
(Lord Burghley) *
Big Archie Carleton
Maitland of Thirlstane, Lord Chancellor of Scotland *
(Dr Dee) *
Herr Kauffmann Hochstetter
Peter, Mick, Harry, gunners
(Young Hutchin’s Aunt Nettie and Uncle Jim)
Annie
(Jamie Dodd, headman of the Dodd surname)
Widow Ridley
Andy Ridley, her grandson
(Dunstan Ames, Simon Anrick’s father) *
(Dr Hector Nunez, Simon’s uncle) *
(Joshua Ames, one of Simon’s brothers)
Chancellor Melville *
Mrs Proserpina—Poppy—Burn
(Sir John Forster, Warden of the English Middle March) *
(John Carey, Carey’s elder brother) *
Little Archie
Matthew,
Eric, Jeremy, Paul, Peter, Sandy—Spynie’s henchmen
Skinabake Armstrong, Border reiver *
Mrs Elliot, wife to Wee Colin
Letter from Sir Robert Cecil to the King of Denmark
Draft.
To His Royal Highness, Christian IV of that name, King of Denmark and Norway, etc etc. [His Highness is but 16 years and still under regency, be very sure we have all his titles here]
Your most Royal Highness, [check correct address]
You have asked me to make some description and account of Sir Robert Carey and his henchman Sergeant Henry Dodd, of whom you have heard little but rumours and the varied accounts of your spies at the Court of Scotland, which it is my pleasure to supply, being hopeful of your Royal Highness’ favour and regard, and being also certain that when once you have been apprised of Sir Robert’s character and circumstance, you will view him with as much favour as I do, no less and perhaps no more. [be sure the Danish translation is accurate here]
You say that your royal sister, Anne, Queen Consort of King James of Scotland, has written to you of the man, wherefore I will unburden myself perhaps a little less discreetly than I might otherwise have done.
Sir Robert is the seventh surviving son of my Lord Chamberlain, Henry Carey, Baron Hunsdon. It is worth making some explanation of Baron Hunsdon’s antecedents since they are material to the character of Sir Robert.
To be blunt, Your Highness, it is more than likely that Baron Hunsdon is in fact Henry VIII’s natural son, by his erstwhile mistress, Mary Boleyn, older sister of the more famous Ann. [a little touch of scandal may entertain His Highness] Thus Baron Hunsdon is both cousin and half-brother to our most revered Sovereign Liege, Elizabeth of England, Wales, Ireland, and France.
The royal bastardy means that Baron Hunsdon has no claim whatsoever to the throne and nor do his numerous children. Happily, My Lord Baron is not in any way ambitious but serves his mistress the Queen a great deal more faithfully and effectively than most people realise, who think him but a Knight of the Carpet. [perhaps excise, not relevant] Most of his children are or have been at Court and often high in favour.
Sir Robert first served Sir Francis Walsingham as a youth in embassies to Scotland and France. During the Scottish embassy he received great favour from the young King, your brother-in-law, James of Scotland. During the French embassy, he seems to have disgraced himself through his carnal appetites with some of the most puissant ladies of the French Court, which ended in a debtors’ prison from which he was extricated with some difficulty and more expense by his esteemed father. I am aware of at least two probable bastards and there may be more. [more to entertain His Highness! Nb. One possible bastard may be a Guise instead.]
He returned to England and served the Queen at Court, although not without incident. There was a fistfight with Sir Walter Raleigh over a tennis match before either of them had become knights, and several duels. He became an MP and gave satisfaction therein.
Against the Armada, he served with his friend, the Earl of Cumberland, on the Elizabeth Bonaventure, where he was able to render incidental but important service to the Queen before succumbing (although not fatally) to a jailfever on board ship. He had also served the Queen in an unusual manner, during the final days of the Queen of Scots, but I am not at liberty to disclose details. [excise?]
He has been to war several more times and acquitted himself well, most notably under the Earl of Essex in France in 1591. There he was knighted by Essex for help in turning aside the Queen’s just wrath with her unworthy favourite.
Last summer in 1592, he decided to become his brother-in-law Lord Scrope’s Deputy Warden in the English West March, despite there already being an incumbent called Sir Richard Lowther. Certes, he was restless at Court and in need of knightly exercise, since he has proved to be an able soldier and a very much better captain than [deleted] many. He also owed considerable sums of money, in particular to his tailor, and there was an entanglement in London from which he urgently needed to flee. However there is also the matter of his extraordinary affection for his cousin, Lady Elizabeth Widdrington, née Trevannion, who lives in the north with her elderly husband, Sir Henry Widdrington, Deputy Warden of the East March.
I am not entirely clear about the progress of this love affair, but as Lady Widdrington is, by all accounts, a woman of principle and determination, it is yet possible that he has not breached her citadel and intends to marry her as soon as her husband is dead. This would be a very foolish mistake on his part because the lady only has a jointure of five hundred pounds and he currently owes three thousand pounds at least. It goes without saying that Sir Henry Widdrington regards him with considerable suspicion, jealousy, and loathing.
On arriving on the Borders, Sir Robert was immediately embroiled in an incident with the Graham surname, the upshot of which was that he somehow prevented the kidnapping of the King of Scots from Falkland palace by the 2nd Earl of Bothwell. Unfortunately, the precise circumstances are murky. Later that summer, after showing his capacities at a coroner’s inquest in Carlisle, he journeyed to Dumfries to meet with the King of Scots while His Highness was on his Justice Raid against the Grahams.
Precisely what transpired at the Scottish Court, I have not been able reliably to make out, except that Sir Robert became involved with an Italian spy and had an affair with her; somehow earned the enmity of the King’s favourite and Minion, Lord Spynie, and also Lord Maxwell, current Warden of the Scottish West March; took extremely foolhardy and potentially treasonous action in the matter of some firearms; and emerged with quite severe injuries to his hands but the renewed favour of the King.
In the autumn, he was ordered to London by his father. There he became involved in a riot at the Fleet Prison during which Sir Thomas Heneage, Vice Chamberlain, had his nose broken [by Sir Robert]. During the ensuing lawsuits, he decided to leave London and head for Oxford, which was then expecting the Queen on her Progress, leaving his mother Ann Carey, Lady Hunsdon, and his henchman, Sergeant Henry Dodd, to deal with the consequences of his dispute with Sir Thos. Heneage, which they did ably and with dispatch. In the course of these events, I was able to be of some service to Lady Hunsdon, a matter of great satisfaction to me.
At this point it is worth mentioning his henchman, Henry Dodd, Land-Sergeant of Gilsland who is serving as one of the sergeants of the Carlisle Castle guard.
I have had the pleasure and interest of meeting Sergeant Dodd in his own person and he is considerably more than the simple dour Border reiver he appears to be. It seems he should be the headman of the Tynedale Dodds but is not for reasons that are obscure but connected with a feud between the Dodds and the Elliots in the 1570s. [too much admission of ignorance?]
While he was in Oxford, Sir Robert was commissioned by the Queen to investigate a very delicate matter. During the Queen’s Entrance in State into the City of Oxford, Sergeant Dodd saved the Queen’s life, for which he was well-rewarded.
Shortly after his return to the Borders, with some ex-soldiers of my Lord Essex’s, Sir Robert was involved in an incident at a tower known as Dick of Dryhope’s, in which he called out the Carlisle trained bands, but honourably and skillfully avoided the bloody pitched battle that seemed inevitable.
This has made his name on the Borders and the Queen has now been pleased to grant him his official warrant as Deputy Warden.
He is close to the Queen, who sometimes calls him “her Scalliwag”: to be given a nickname by Her Majesty is a signal of highest favour, so that I am proud to be known by her name for me, slighting though it is. However he has not yet successfully turned her favour into offices nor a pension nor a monopoly, from which I conclude he is either remarkably inept, unlucky, or else as unambitious as his sire. He seems mainly concerned with his affair with Lady Widdrington and with bringing peace to the Borders, rather than profiting personally by his office, a very remarkable and unusual circumstance. [can you think of
another instance?]
I am now extremely concerned at the state of politics at the Scottish Court, particularly with regard to the Catholic earls. I beg of you, Your Highness, if you have any information at all on the King of Spain’s intentions in Scotland, I pray you will tell me it. I have already dispatched a particularly effective and able pursuivant to the Borders and I am considering a journey north, which is not a matter I undertake lightly, owing to the infirmity in my bones from which I suffer. But I believe Spain is plotting against Scotland and England and would give my right arm to know more.
It goes without saying, all of this information is strictly private and not to be shared with anyone.
I remain Your Highness’ most assiduous and secret [?] servant,
Sir Rbt Cecil, Privy Councillor.
[not sent]
Late August 1592
Their dalliance had progressed in a stately fashion from whispers and stolen kisses in corridors, to dancing while the musicians played for them alone in crowded sweaty halls and banqueting tents full of unimportant other dancers, to light-fingered explorations of stocking tops and codpiece and stays, to this. Marguerite was heavy-eyed and languorous and, thank the Mother of God, not inclined to talk too much. Meanwhile the man who said his name was Jonathan Hepburn and that he sometimes worked for the Earl of Bothwell, was lying flat on his back, utterly spent, letting the sweat dry on his skin.
She yawned, stretched like a cat, got up and went to the door of the little servant’s chamber, where the man whose chamber it actually was, waited patiently and counted his cash.
“Do you have any wine?” she asked in a voice that was tinged with a foreign language. For a wonder, it turned out that he did, and for a paltry English shilling would give them some. She brought in two pewter goblets of white wine. Hepburn sat up on his elbow and took the goblet, toasted her, and drank.
It was dreadful, acidic with a suspicious fishy aftertaste, but he got it down.
Of course, Marguerite was a married woman and it showed in the stretchmarks on her stomach and the dark aureoles of her very nibblesome nipples. She had given her lord at least one or probably more children. But her hair was blond and so was her crotch and she had a luxuriousness to her that Hepburn associated more with Southerners. It was business, all business, but, by the God of the World, sometimes you could mix business with pleasure. The fact that she was married to a very dull conscientious man by the name of Sir David Graham of Fintry was what was important. He was not a Border Graham, not one of the notorious clan of five brothers who had gone south in the 1520s, kicked the Storeys off their lands, and helped turn Liddes-
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