A gaudy playbill flapped and tore in the brisk east wind scouring Willow Street.
THE ROSE
THE AMAZING TRAGEDIE OF JULIUS CAESAR
A MOST MARVELLOUS NEW ENTERTAINMENT by
MASTER WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE!
!Please one and please all, Be they great or be they small!
Below, in unfortunate juxtaposition on the same post, was a list of those unlucky enough to have come up against her Majesty’s rule of law, among them “Master William Shaksper”, fined for tax evasion in Bishopsgate.
A mangy dog lifted a leg against the pole and trotted on towards the everlasting sound of hammering. Someone was always building something on the South Bank. Hooves clattered on cobbles. A fine and very angry young gentleman, all in dark green velvet buttoned with emerald and trimmed with lynx, turned out of Cardinal’s Cap Alley riding a spectacular grey. The gentleman stopped by the post to read.
“Tuh!” he said. He reached forward and plucked off the indictment, tearing it up and throwing the pieces to the wind. “Miserly cheapskate! Suppose that’s why he’s moved across near the Clink.” He had a good mind not to hand over Hamlet, the latest play from Marlowe’s pen; it was too good to masquerade under the name of a man who would not pay his dues.
A curly-haired young man stuck his head out of an upstairs window and shouted, “Nick! You’re back! About time – wait there—”
Sir Nicholas Talbot, Earl of Rokesby, sighed and sat quietly. He had hoped to go unnoticed.