by Karen Harper
“You’ve done a fine job chasing our enemies at sea, Drake,” William Cecil, elevated earlier in the year to the peerage as Baron Burghley, said, and clapped the captain on the shoulder.
“Chasing and catching, but not yet conquering, my lord. By my faith, I have dedicated myself to that cause, just as Her Majesty has devoted herself to her people.”
“Well said!” Elizabeth told him. Then she added more quietly, “But on clear days like this, Sir Francis, I’d almost rather go sailing.”
Since her beloved England was becoming such a seagoing nation, she oft thought of her work as sailing through the good days and the bad, the serene seas and the brutal ones, onward and outward, standing like a figurehead at the very prow of her beloved ship of state.
Author’s Note
The green pillow that Mary Queen of Scots sent to the Duke of Norfolk actually existed, with its cutoff vine and the Your assured Mary signature. Also, I found in my research that “Drake’s movements during 1569 are unknown” (from Sir Francis Drake by John Dugden, p.42). As explained below, the queen actually did take a summer progress to the exact places used in the story. Putting together those historic facts and embroidering them with my imagination got me going on the plot for this ninth novel in the Queen Elizabeth I mystery series.
I believe that Drake’s debacle at the Battle of San Juan d’U-lau was actually the making of him. Just as George Washington’s ignominious defeat at Fort Necessity early in his career made him a stronger, better leader, so did Drake’s first big failure. This battle, by the way, has the dubious distinction of being the first fought between Europeans in the New World.
It is recorded that Queen Elizabeth always bid her ships’ captains farewell with the following words, so no doubt her friend Drake heard these more than once: “Serve God daily, love one another, preserve your victuals, beware of fire, and keep good company.”
Some notes about the key historic events, characters, and places mentioned in the novel:
—The Northern Rebellion the queen had feared for years began shortly after this story ends. It was put down by her by troops led by a cousin she could trust, Henry Carey, first Lord Hunsdon, who was a key character in the first book in this series, The Poyson Garden.
—Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, was not put on trial for treason until January of 1572 and not executed until six months later, because Elizabeth so hesitated to have a relative beheaded. Cecil finally pushed her into signing the death warrant.
—Henry Wriothesley, second Earl of Southampton, was arrested in 1570, and again in 1571 and sent to the Tower in 1573. However, he died a natural death at age thirty-seven. His line lives on royally in that he was an ancestor of Prince William, grandson of the current Queen Elizabeth.
—The places the queen visited during her 1569 summer progress can still be seen today. Loseley House can be toured, though Place House near Titchfield is in ruins. The Church of the Holy Ghost in Basingstoke has recently been refurbished. The Vyne can be visited, and information about all these places is available on the Web. Farnham Castle is now the International Briefing and Conference Centre with guided tours.
Special thanks to Chris Hellier, curatorial assistant of Farnham Castle, for information on Bishop Robert Horne.
And as always, my gratitude to my husband, Don, for proofreading and for living for so long with the queen—Elizabeth, I mean.
In each of the books in this series, I focus on one particular aspect of Elizabethan life, and, of course, this time it is the sports and games of the day. Many books have excellent information on this, but one of the earliest and most complete is Joseph Strutt’s The Sports and Pastimes of the People of England, published first in 1801.
In 1595, Queen Elizabeth I decreed that bows should be converted to calivers and muskets, “because they are of more use than bows.” So, as ever, time marches on.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
THE HOODED HAWKE
Copyright © 2007 by Karen Harper.
Painting of The Armada, 1588 by Nicholas Hilliard, Society of Apothecaries UK / Bridgeman Art Library. Painting of Elizabeth I, Armanda Portrait, c. 1588 by English School Private Collection / Bridgeman Art Library.
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Map and Timeline by Paul J. Pugliese.
eISBN 9781429992374
First eBook Edition : January 2011
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2006050561
ISBN: 0-312-94771-2
EAN: 978-0-312-94771-2
St. Martin’s Press hardcover edition / February 2007
St. Martin’s Paperbacks edition / December 2007