Fear No More (hardy drew), page 3
part #1 of Hardy Drew Series
Who exactly was “Henry Hatton”? His features proclaimed him to be a Tudor. His resemblance to the portraits of Elizabeth was obvious. The locket bore the coat of arms and motto of Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth’s mother. Elizabeth was known to have still revered her executed mother and despised her father for the state murder. Who would Elizabeth love so much to present that locket to? And the signet ring, so described by Master Power. The pelican on a ruby background. The pelican was one of Elizabeth’s favourite symbols, used to portray her motherly love for England. The legend had it that in times of food shortages, pelicans plucked flesh from their own bodies to feed their dying young. And then there was the ermine-edged cloak-a status symbol which only high nobility and royalty were allowed to wear. The missing sword, with roses on the hilt-Tudor roses?
“Henry Hatton” had been no ordinary person. It was obvious to Master Drew that Hatton had been a Tudor, sent into exile by Elizabeth for safety. Was he Elizabeth’s own son? Sir Christopher Hatton, dead these eleven years, had been known to be her favourite. Was Henry a child by him? Or was Henry a child by someone else, given to Sir Christopher to take care of until such time as he could come forward and be recognised? Did Lady Elizabeth Cecil, during the time that she had been married into the Hatton family, come to learn this dark secret? Certainly, she was instrumental in Henry Hatton’s death. Hearing of his return to London as the queen lay dying, Lady Hatton had arranged a meeting with the young man to identify him. Having done so, she had reported to her uncle, Sir Robert Cecil, the spymaster and chief assassin, who favoured the King of Scots as heir to the English throne. Master Drew had no doubt that Sir Robert had given the orders for his men to kill the young man and remove any evidence that would link him to the Tudors.
Master Drew shivered at how close he had come to being arrested by the Lord Chancellor-or worse.
He was still unsure whether Sir Edward and Sir Christopher had brought him into their conspiracy to investigate as a witness against the Cecils or to give an official pronouncement in support of the footpad theory that would allow them their freedom, proclaiming them innocent of the knowledge of the identity of the young man and therefore the reason for his assassination. Had they expected Master Drew not to realise the truth or to disguise it?
At times, Master Drew reflected, as he stretched before the fire, it was far better to pretend ignorance than boast his talent for gathering and interpreting the facts.
It was in the early hours of Thursday morning, four days later, that it was announced that Elizabeth of England had passed peacefully to death in her chambers at Richmond Palace. She would, as Sir Robert said, fear no more the heat of the sun, for she had fulfilled her worldly task and gone to receive her heavenly wages. The nation was in mourning. Already, a cortege had left Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh and was heading south into England bearing the thirty-seven-year-old James Charles Stuart, King of Scotland, Duke of Rothesay, Duke of Albany, Earl of Ross, and Baron Ardmannoch, who had now been proclaimed Elizabeth’s successor.
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Peter Tremayne, Fear No More (hardy drew)
