From Speculation: Undercurrents of Treachery:<\/p>\n
“Dee studied the man carefully. “I understand you have information regarding a hoard of Spanish gold – a significant quantity that could be of great value to the crown.”
\nSomething flickered in Seymour’s eyes – satisfaction, perhaps. “Ah, so my letter finally reached the right eyes. I was beginning to think my brother had consigned it to the fire without reading it.”
\n“The Lord Protector takes all matters concerning the realm’s finances very seriously,” Dee replied pompously. “Particularly in these troubled times.”
\nSeymour’s laugh was harsh. “Yes, I imagine he does, considering the mess he’s made of the coinage. Tell me, Master Dee, have you seen what passes for silver shillings these days? More copper than a common pot.”
\nNicholas shifted uncomfortably while Dee struggled to maintain his composure. “The debasement began under the late king’s reign, as you well know. Economic difficulties caused by the debasement are what bring us here today. If this so-called Spanish treasure is real, then the Lord Protector believes it might help alleviate some of the kingdom’s financial strain.”
\n“How charitable of my brother to finally acknowledge my usefulness.”
\nSeymour leaned back and looked at Dee with a calculating gleam in his eyes. “And what exactly am I to receive in exchange for this information? A slightly larger cell, perhaps? An extra candle?”
\n“That depends on the value of your information,” Dee replied. “And its veracity – which I am to determine.”
\nSeymour’s eyes narrowed. “You doubt me?”
\n“I have not seen your letter, so I only know of your claims in the vaguest sense.”
\nThe prisoner studied Dee for a long moment, then nodded as if coming to a decision. “Very well. During my time as Lord High Admiral, I had occasion to… intercept certain Spanish vessels. One in particular, in the summer of ’46. I managed to separate her from her escorts and boarded her. She was carrying something far more valuable than the usual wine and olive oil.”
\n“Gold,” Seymour confirmed, his voice dropping to just above a whisper. “Spanish gold fresh from their New World colonies. But not any ordinary shipment. This was private treasure, not meant for the Spanish treasury, or already stolen by another. I know not. The ship’s manifest listed mining equipment and trade goods, but one of the crew, under persuasion, revealed the existence of a hidden compartment in the hold containing their real cargo. Gold. Lots of it.””<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
From Speculation: Undercurrents of Treachery: “Dee studied the man carefully. “I understand you have information regarding a hoard of Spanish gold – a significant quantity that could be of great value to the crown.” Something flickered in Seymour’s eyes – satisfaction, perhaps. “Ah, so my letter finally reached the right eyes. I was beginning to … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1758,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-predestination"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jadownes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jadownes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jadownes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jadownes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jadownes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1759"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jadownes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1759\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jadownes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jadownes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jadownes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jadownes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}