William Griffith is an agent for the British Crown.
Well, that is a bit indecisive; it would be better to state that he is an agent for the new wearer of the crown although there are a good number of well-positioned individuals in the lands of British Isles who are less than thrilled with that recently self-named monarch and would love to have the old one back. Since that previous fellow, Richard III, is no longer among the living, the call will go out for someone else to rise up and lead the charge to restore the York banner.
The year is 1485. The War of the Roses in England has come to an end, pretty much. The Civil Wars there between the two major branches of the House of Plantagenet, Lancaster and York, had ended with the death of Richard III and the ascension to the throne by Henry VII. Of course those who had backed Richard would like to upseat the upstart using the claim that he really wasn't that much of a Lancaster (the last Lancaster himself had died in a previous battle). So lots of people are unhappy because they were no longer calling the shots and the new shot callers were not so confident yet about their power base.
One of those who are in truth neither Lancaster nor York supporters is William Griffith, Lord of Penrhyn. Griffith would be far happier to be left alone and when he heard of the invasion of England by his cousin Henry VII from exile in France, Griffith thought distance a good thing to have so he hied to his castle in Northern Wales where he hoped to remain sufficiently unseen. Griffith is a proud member of the Tudors of Gwyneed and Anglesey and thus related to the invader, whom Griffith tells us "had my prayers and wishes but nothing more".
Unfortunately for Griffith, the victorious Henry will demand a lot more, wanting Griffith to become his personal agent if not spymaster and to force the issue, he will pull from Griffith his lands and title and monies unless Griffith proves of good service to the new king. Which is why the Lord of Penrhyn becomes an operative for the Crown.
One man of particular interest is Griffith's steward Hywel. "Tall, bald, broad as a barn door, dressed all in black, with a snowy white beard flowing to his waist, he looked like some terrifying preacher." Griffith writes that "he seldom spoke in public or changed his facial expression. Men found him intimidating". While he might look like a man of the cloth, he was in truth "a dicer and a drinker and a roarer with a tireless taste for loose women". He is also one very dangerous man.