Felix

It was surprisingly easy to slip into the real Lord Walsingham’s place. He’d been very sick, after all, and was spending more and more time at home. But he had so much to do, and so few people he trusted to delegate to. There were plots to watch or meddle with, some of which needed to be driven toward public exposure, and some to be quietly destroyed. Catholics to be weaseled out of hiding. Spaniards to intercept. Propaganda to author and distribute. Felix has a beguiling face, the odd bit of experience in espionage, and a conscience totally untroubled by lies. It was even easier when Walsingham suddenly died.

And so, for the last several years, Felix (as Lord Walsingham) has been constructing a web of partially true to outright false rumors that are turning the Queen’s court upside-down with paranoia. Attacks seem to be coming from every side; Jesuit spies peek through every keyhole. It’s all rather fun when you don’t care who’s about to get the ax. Felix’s motivations are a bit opaque to everyone but himself, but it’s safe to assume he’s in it for himself rather than any greater cause. This whole business with Marlowe and Frizer and Skeres is barreling towards disaster, though. Perhaps Frizer is simply jealous, but it’s got Felix worried. Worse, word has gotten out in London that a private ceremony was recently held for Walsingham’s death.