Murder at Holyrood Palace

Murder at Holyrood Palace

By S. M. Revolinski

The Trial That Changed History

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Copyright ©2015 by S. M. Revolinski

All Rights Reserved

No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without prior written permission of S. M. Revolinski.  Many of the people, places and events described in this book are historical realities.  However, the primary characters and the story weaving these entities together are purely from the author’s imagination.

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Epilogue

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Murder at Holyrood Palace

Chapter 1

The tiny bell jingled as the door opened.  John Anderson looked up to see an esteemed visitor enter his clock shop.  Lord Leicester was wearing the costume of a common merchant so John feigned non-recognition of the nobleman who had such great favor with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth.  Robert Dudley had been named First Earl of Leicester by the Queen a month earlier, on September 28, 1564, and he had been Her Majesty’s close advisor and not-so-secret consort for the past several years.

John Anderson did not associate with the aristocracy, but he made it his business to know as many of the members of the Royal Court, by sight, as possible.  John had not always been a clock maker in 16th century London.  Back in the early 21th century he had been an English history professor at Duke University...back in the days before he crewed a sailboat from Charleston to Bermuda with a group of friends...back in the days before a waterspout spawned from a spring storm had sucked him from the deck of the sailboat...back in the days before the Bermuda Triangle transported him 450 years from March 2012 to March 1562.

Seeing no possible means to return to his own time, John had turned his hobby of repairing antique clocks into a profession.  His tiny London shop not only sold clocks, but also various mechanical toys and devices of novelty that he invented.  John survived with his knowledge of the period’s history and wondered what had happened to all the other souls that disappeared into the Bermuda Triangle.  He plotted to find a way to search for them in this time.

Good day to you, sir, John said to his visitor, yet pretended an air of disinterest in the man’s noble status.

Robert Dudley glanced around the small, spotless shop.  One wall contained an array of clocks.  These were arranged with the big ones on the lower shelves with the smaller one higher up.  On the opposite wall, more shelves displayed spring driven toys and other mechanical devices whose purpose was not clear upon first glance.  In the back of the shop could be seen a workbench with several half completed projects and the tools with which they were assembled.  Between the two halves of the shop stood a somewhat tallish man of five feet and nine inches with a reddish beard and brown hair. 

The Earl of Leicester’s eyes focused upon the man who was about four years younger than his own 30 years of age.  The commoner wore his beard in the ‘round’ fashion while Leicester’s beard was trimmed to the shape of the spade from a deck of playing cards.  The Earl did not speak.

Perhaps you are interested in the new pendulum clocks.  They are in the fashion, John continued as he wondered what the meaning of this clandestine visit could be.

Another uncomfortable moment passed, and then Leicester spoke.  You are John Anderson?

Indeed, I am, John replied.  His tone turned somber for he now realized that this visitor was not the least bit interested in clocks.  John tested the waters between them when he asked, And sir, whom do I have the honor of addressing?

Leicester ignored the question, but stated his true purpose for the visit with this question, You are the one...the soothsayer?

As a means to continue his survival, the time traveling John Anderson had used his knowledge of this period - of his history - to his advantage.  Several times he had provided advice on coming events.  At first, he had been concerned about how his small changes to the course of history might have butterfly effects – where tiny changes magnified to effect great shifts in the times to come.  Such had been the plot of many science fiction thrillers in his own past.  However, as he was not ever going to see these possible effects, he discarded this concern and used his knowledge to full advantage.  John had longed for an opportunity to test and see if his actions actually had an effect on the flow of time.  He had been waiting for some known historical event to occur that he might alter just to see if he could.

Slightly afraid of what Leicester might know, John humbled voice. Indeed, this is one of the talents the Lord has blessed me with. John always attributed his visions of the future to God’s blessings.  He had to tread a fine line between his predictions and what Christendom would consider as witchcraft.

Has the Lord blessed you with a vision of my purpose? Leicester tested the potential charlatan.

I know you to be Lord Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester. John presented the noble man with the appropriate, courteous bow before continuing.  While it is a great honor to have you in my shop, I took the meaning of your casual dress to imply that you did not want your visit to be known.  And in answer to your question: no, I do not have a vision as to the purpose of your visit.

You are a Scotsman? Leicester abruptly changed the subject.

Sir, yes, that is my heritage, but I have never been to the northern lands.  My family moved to France shortly after I was born, John told the familiar lie.  He had been to Scotland, just not in the 16th century.  John Anderson was his real name and his ancestors had been from Scotland, therefore John had avoided traveling there.  While he did want to test his ability to alter the past, he did not want to risk the traditional time-travel-paradox that he might somehow extinguish the life of an ancestor – and thus, his own life.

With Queen Mary back in residence, he knew that Scotland would soon become a train wreck with the trifecta of sexual, political and religious conflicts, and the people of the land would be thrown into turmoil.  While John’s interest in history made him eager to be a keen observer of the proceedings to come, he had no interest in the risks associated with first hand observations.

John learned to speak fluent French while a 21st century college student which worked to his advantage.  Following his passage through time, he had been rescued by the French explorer, Jean Ribault, offshore Bermuda in March 1562.  Ribault had just completed construction of a new French settlement along the North American coast known as Charlesfort and was on his way back to France for additional supplies.  John imagined that it was not a coincidence that Ribault’s voyage paralleled that of the boat John had been crewing.  Ribault’s crew spotted and picked up the strange nude man adrift in the sea.  John had then endeared himself to the naval officer by repairing his ship’s clock and showing him a method to use time to more accurately determine his ship’s position; a skill that would not be ‘discovered’ for another 150 years.  John had proven to be a stimulating conversationalist and Ribault had taken him as a friend to France.  There, they were soon swept up in the defense of the port city of Dieppe alongside the Protestant Huguenots against the attacks of the Roman Catholics in the first days of the French Wars of Religion.  When the city fell, as John knew it would, he had encouraged Ribault to flee to England, where the Frenchman had been arrested as a spy.  John had used his knowledge of the times to escape capture and settled into a new life as a clock merchant in London. 

But, you do know the way? the Earl of Leicester continued the odd line of questioning about Scotland.

Of course.  However, I don’t know of any family there and I have no interest in making such an adventure.   John began to feel the jaws of a trap form around him.  Political relations between England and Scotland strained to the breaking point when Mary Queen of Scots declared herself to be the heir to the English throne.  Queen Mary had been born Mary Stewart in 1542 and she acceded to the Scottish throne six days after her birth.  However, she spent most of her childhood in France and married the Dauphin of France a year before he became King Francis II in 1559.  He died a year later. The nineteen year old Mary Stuart, now using the French spelling, returned to Scotland, where she assumed her own rightful rein a year ago.  Queens Mary and Elizabeth were first cousins, and the Catholics considered that the younger Mary had the more legitimate claim to the English throne.  Elizabeth, the daughter of Anne Boleyn, had been declared a bastard child by her own father, King Henry VIII.  Since both John and Queen Mary had extensive French ties and, as Queen Elizabeth detested all things French, John thought that Leicester might have been thinking that he was a spy. 

Following a slightest hesitation, John added, I am a subject of our English Queen now.

You are attesting your loyalty to Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth? Leicester snapped.

Indeed, I am making that exact proclamation. But now, I perhaps see the purpose of your visit.  You want to know if you are the future husband of Queen Mary. John ignored social courtesy with his brash statement intended to derail the conversation.  He knew that in November, a month from now, Queen Elizabeth would state her position that she would not consent to Queen Mary’s marriage to anyone except Leicester.  Queen Mary was seeking marriage with Don Carlos, the heir of King Phillip II of Spain.  However, the current social upheaval between the Protestants and the Catholics was preventing Queen Elizabeth from sanctioning the marriage.  Scotland was somewhat peaceful split between Catholics and Protestants, while England was predominately Protestant.  Elizabeth feared that if the Catholic Queen Mary united with the Catholic Spanish prince then they would use the wealth of Spain to defeat the Protestants and press for Scotland to become a Catholic nation.  Queen Elizabeth had no desire for the religious war in France to spread to her isle.  Additionally, such a marriage would unite the French supported Scotland with the wealth of Spain dooming English independence.  Therefore, she insisted that Mary’s suitors be both Protestant and English.

Hump, Leicester grunted his response to John’s statement.  John had effectively altered the purpose of Leicester visit.  He had been intending to press the man into spying for Her Majesty.

Leicester had not known that a marriage to Mary was his beloved Queen’s intention, though the reason for his recent assumption as the Earl of Leicester was now apparent.  This action raised his noble status to become a potential suitor for the Scottish Queen.  However, Leicester could not understand why his lover would send him off to become the husband of her rival.  The notion that she, Queen Elizabeth, would control him and press him to take control of the Scottish realm was a reasonable conclusion.  A wife was subservient to her husband in all matters, thus he would rule Scotland.  Alternately, Her Majesty publicly proclaimed herself to be a virgin and their recent consorting activities had become more obvious.  Perhaps she was once again thinking of seeking a marriage partner for herself.  She had promised to marry Leicester upon the death of his wife, Amy Dudley, a year ago.  However, he had come under suspicion of murdering his wife with the motive being to free himself for this exact marriage contract.  While he had been acquitted, Queen Elizabeth could not marry him now.

And, what does your vision say of the answer to this question that you propose? At last, Leicester asked a specific question.

John knew that Queen Mary would eventually marry Lord Darnley in late July of 1565.  Queen Elizabeth would be forced to accept the compromise of a Catholic Englishman as Mary’s husband, and he understood that this would be the beginning of the great train wreck that would be Scotland.  In less than two years, the unlucky-in-love, Queen Mary, would once again be a widow.  She would then marry James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, who would leave her widowed once again in 1578.  Mary, herself, would be executed nine years later.

However, the time was not yet ripe for John to tell Leicester the future.  After a thoughtful moment, John answered, My Lord, the answer is not yet revealed to me. 

Leicester produced three gold crowns and placed them on the counter, allowing each coin to clink individually.  The money exceeded that which a clockmaker would earn in two years.  My Lord, John complained, only a servant of Satan would accept money for speaking the truth.  As my vision is born from Christ, I cannot accept your gold.  Leicester stepped back and made no move to retrieve the coins.

Perhaps you would desire to purchase a gift for your Queen? John seized the opportunity to keep the money and test his powers at altering the flow of time.  John retrieved a freshly completed arm watch encased in simple pewter and handed it to Leicester.  John knew that history’s first recorded owner of an arm watch was Queen Elizabeth, and that Leicester would give it to her.  However, the historical predecessor of the wristwatch would be gold and heavily jeweled and, in John’s known history, Leicester would not give it to her until 1571. 

Silently, Leicester picked up the arm watch knowing that its value was far less that his three coins. However, the soothsayer had provided valuable insight.  He opened the door and departed the shop without another word.  The soothsayer would be able to keep the money yet remain true to his principle.

John Anderson did not expect to ever know if he had now made it into the history books.  However, he did soon realize that he had made a grave mistake.  In providing such direct information he would soon become of interest to Queen Elizabeth and she was not one to cross.  John knew he would be best served by giving her false information to distract her attention away from himself as quickly as possible.  Yet, John now also realized that this could be his purpose – the reason, if such a