The King's Deception

Cecil’s first son, Thomas, was more suited to soldiering than government. William himself held the work of an army in low esteem. A reign gaineth more by one year’s peace than ten years’ war. William eventually became high treasurer, was knighted and made a baron, Lord Burghley. He served the queen until his death in 1598 when his second son, Robert, became Lord Burghley and assumed the post as Elizabeth’s chief adviser.

“William Cecil was quite an administrator,” Eva said. “One of the best in our history. Elizabeth owes much of her success to him. He founded the Cecil barony, which still exists today. Two prime ministers have come from that family.”

“But aren’t they all Cambridge graduates?” Kathleen asked, with a smile.

“We won’t hold that against them.

“Robert Cecil was like his father,” Eva said, “but more devious. He died young, age 48, in 1612. He served Elizabeth the last five years of her reign and James I for the first nine of his, both as secretary of state. He was also James’ spymaster. He discovered the Gunpowder Plot and saved James I’s life. The great Francis Walsingham was his teacher.”

She knew that name, the man regarded as the father of British intelligence.

“Walsingham was an odd man,” Eva said. “He constantly wore dark clothes and cast himself in secrecy. He was rude and could be quite crude, but the queen valued his advice and respected his competency, so she tolerated his eccentricities. It was Walsingham who uncovered the treasonous evidence that forced Elizabeth to execute her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots. Walsingham who laid the groundwork for the defeat of the Spanish Armada. Eventually, Elizabeth knighted him. I tell you this because I want you to understand the personalities who trained Robert Cecil. Unfortunately, Robert, like his father, left few written records. So it is difficult to say exactly what Robert Cecil may or may not have known and what he truly accomplished. But there is one thing history confirms.”

She was listening.

“He ensured that James I succeeded Elizabeth.”

How all of this related to Blake Antrim escaped her, but obviously it did. Mathews had sent her here for a reason.

So she kept listening.

“Elizabeth never married and never birthed a child,” Eva said. “She was the last of five Tudor monarchs, reigning forty-five years. Toward the end everyone was nervous. Who would succeed her? There were many contenders, and the prospect of civil war loomed great. Robert Cecil made sure it would be James, the son of Elizabeth’s dead cousin Mary, Queen of Scots, now the Scottish king. There is a series of letters between Robert and James that have survived, which detail how that was accomplished. This happened between 1601 and Elizabeth’s death in 1603. The Union of Crowns, it’s called. Scotland joined with England. The beginnings of Great Britain. When James assumed both thrones, this country began to change. Forever.”

“Robert Cecil made that happen?”

“Indeed, but Elizabeth herself confirmed that.”

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