The year is 1588.
"Mary Stuart, the deposed Queen of Scots, polestar of all Catholic intriguers, and a life-long danger to England has met the executioner’s axe. But many of her supporters still hold influential positions in Paris and her death has not endeared England to the French. Unbeknownst to the Queen of England, her spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham, had more than a little to do with manipulating her into finally condemning her cousin. And now a letter has been leaked exposing Walsingham’s secret to the Queen’s ambassador in Paris, Sir Edward Stafford."