The Last Protector
Page 36
‘He asked Mr Williamson if he could recommend someone to provide some designs. I mentioned you.’ Marwood was studying the ground at his feet as if the grass were particularly interesting on this spot. ‘I may have given him the impression that you and Brennan had worked under Dr Wren and Mr May, as well as with Mr Hakesby.’
‘Brennan worked under Wren. At Oxford.’
‘There you are. So much the better. I also implied that poultry houses for ornamental fowl were of particular interest to you both, and you had made a study of the subject. If you wish, I could ask Mr Williamson to put forward your name.’
‘I should be much obliged,’ she said, her mind filling with pictures of a miniature temple with brightly coloured fowl scurrying about its pillars. ‘Thank you, sir.’
They walked up and down the river and among the fields. Sometimes they talked of nothing much, but more often they were silent.
Their boat was coming back. Wanswell and his son had been refreshing themselves at the alehouse in the village. They waited for it at the landing place.
‘That’s a mighty fine peruke, sir,’ Cat said as the boat slid along the side of the jetty. ‘Is it perchance new?’
HISTORICAL NOTE
IN THE EARLY months of 1668, King Charles II and his allies tried to persuade Parliament to vote the money the government needed to service its ever-increasing debts, maintain the extravagances of King and court and fund the expansion of the navy.
The Duke of Buckingham was seen as a valuable ally, though he had shown himself reckless and unreliable on more than one occasion. But he had grown up with the King. He had immense wealth at his command and a considerable following in both houses of Parliament. In the past he had shown himself a friend to religious dissenters; that and his flamboyant generosity had earned him considerable popularity with the citizens of London.
Buckingham’s duel with Lord Shrewsbury at Barn Elms, with its long-drawn-out epilogue, came as an unwelcome distraction. Its timing was significant, for the Duke’s affair with Lady Shrewsbury had been conducted so openly that it had been public knowledge for months. The duel clearly had a political dimension, and the Duke’s chief political rival, Lord Arlington, would have had an interest in the outcome.
The Bawdy House riots occurred much as described, and some historians believe they were at least in part politically motivated. It is not known who wrote the tongue-in-cheek petition to Lady Castlemaine. It was designed to make political capital from the anti-Catholic feelings of the period and to embarrass the King and what Pepys called ‘his great bawdy house at Whitehall’. Its text is as quoted, though the original is longer and the spelling has been slightly modernized. Later in the year there were several equally pseudonymous and satirical replies, including one purporting to be by Lady Castlemaine herself.
Christopher Wren’s plans for a permanent headquarters for the Royal Society at Arundel House have not survived, though we have a description of what he intended in a letter he wrote to Henry Oldenberg, another member of the society. The Royal Society voted for a less expensive version of the Solomon House put forward by Robert Hooke. In the end the entire project was shelved for lack of money. In July 1668, however, Wren received news that more than compensated for any disappointment he might have felt: it had been decided to rebuild the fire-damaged St Paul’s, and Wren’s designs would be used for the new cathedral.
As for the last Protector, Richard Cromwell, it is strange how little is known of his life in exile between 1660 and 1680. During those twenty years he lived in straitened circumstances on the Continent. Apart from a handful of letters and one or two glimpses in other contemporary sources we know nothing about how or where he lived. In 1680 he was at last allowed to return to England, where he lived in obscurity under a false name until his death in 1712.
Keep Reading …
Make sure you’ve read the previous books in Andrew Taylor’s acclaimed series following James Marwood and Cat Lovett:
A city in flames
London, 1666. As the Great Fire consumes everything in its path, the body of a man is found in the ruins of St Paul’s Cathedral – stabbed in the neck, thumbs tied behind his back.
A woman on the run
The son of a traitor, James Marwood is forced to hunt the killer through the city’s devastated streets. There he encounters a determined young woman, who will stop at nothing to secure her freedom.
A killer seeking revenge
When a second murder victim is discovered in the Fleet Ditch, Marwood is drawn into the political and religious intrigue of Westminster – and across the path of a killer with nothing to lose …
Click here to order a copy of The Ashes of London
A time of terrible danger …
The Great Fire has ravaged London. Now, guided by the Fire Court, the city is rebuilding, but times are volatile and danger is only ever a heartbeat away.
Two mysterious deaths …
James Marwood, a traitor’s son, is thrust into this treacherous environment when his father discovers a dead woman in the very place where the Fire Court sits. The next day his father is run down. Accident? Or another murder …?
A race to stop a murderer …
Determined to uncover the truth, Marwood turns to the one person he can trust – Cat Lovett, the daughter of a despised regicide. Then comes a third death … and Marwood and Cat are forced to confront a vicious killer who threatens the future of the city itself.
Click here to order a copy of The Fire Court
A royal scandal …
In the Court of Charles II, it’s a dangerous time to be alive – a wrong move may lead to disgrace, exile or death. The discovery of a body at the home of one of the highest courtiers in the land could therefore have catastrophic consequences.
A shocking murder …
James Marwood, a traitor’s son, is ordered to cover up the killing. But the dead man is known to Marwood – as is the most likely culprit, Cat Lovett.
The stakes have never been higher …
Marwood is sure Cat is innocent so determines to discover the true murderer. But time is running out. If he makes a mistake, it could threaten the King himself …
Click here to order a copy of The King’s Evil
About the Author
Andrew Taylor is the author of a number of crime novels, including the ground-breaking Roth Trilogy, which was adapted into the acclaimed TV drama Fallen Angel, and the historical crime novels The Ashes of London, The Fire Court, The King’s Evil, The Silent Boy, The Scent of Death and The American Boy, a No.1 Sunday Times bestseller and a Richard & Judy Book Club Choice.
He has won many awards, including the CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger, an Edgar Scroll from the Mystery Writers of America, the CWA Ellis Peters Historical Award (the only author to win it three times) and the CWA’s prestigious Diamond Dagger, awarded for sustained excellence in crime writing. He also writes for the Spectator and The Times.
He lives with his wife Caroline in the Forest of Dean.
@AndrewJRTaylor
www.andrew-taylor.co.uk
By the same author
The King’s Evil
The Fire Court
The Ashes of London
Fireside Gothic
The Silent Boy
The Scent of Death
The Anatomy of Ghosts
Bleeding Heart Square
The American Boy
A Stain on the Silence
The Barred Window
The Raven on the Water
The Second Midnight
THE ROTH TRILOGY: FALLEN ANGEL
The Four Last Things
The Judgement of Strangers
The Office of the Dead
THE LYDMOUTH SERIES
THE BLAINES NOVELS
THE DOUGAL SERIES
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