The Strong Room

When John Aumarle, Earl of Bristol, walked out into Tudor England a free man, after eight years' imprisonment in the tower of London, he found himself plunged without warning into the center of a fantastic web of intrigue. Why did the blind and canny Lord Otterbridge offer to make a marriage match between Bristol and the Princess Elizabeth? Why did the Spanish ambassador, on behalf of his sovereign, court Bristol's favor? For what mysterious purpose did John Aumarle's brother Roger disappear to Allington Hall in Kent? What was behind the attacks on the Earl of Bristol's entourage by various stealthy assailants, all wearing the badge of Lord Courtenay? Who was the spy within Bristol's household, whose information reached the Queen's Council and was nearly Bristol's undoing?