Acknowledgments

I am indebted to many people, who have helped me in myriad ways. In particular, I would like to thank my agent, Teresa Chris, and Kate Miciak, Vice President and Editorial Director of Bantam Books, for their superb advice and unstinting support. I would also like to thank the toxicologist Professor Robert Forrest (any mistakes are mine, not his); Jean Bray, the archivist at Sudeley Castle; Cosy Bagot Jewitt at Blithfield Hall; and, as ever, my wife, Naomi.

Books that have been especially helpful include Arbella Stuart by P. M. Handover; The Second Cecil by P. M. Handover; Robert, Earl of Essex by Robert Lacey; Arbella: England’s Lost Queen by Sarah Gristwood; Palaces & Progresses of Elizabeth I by Ian Dunlop; Dr. Simon Forman: A Most Notorious Physician by Judith Cook; Roanoke: The Abandoned Colony by Karen Ordahl Kupperman; Roanoke: Solving the Mystery of England’s Lost Colony by Lee Miller; Poor Penelope by Sylvia Freedman; The Lady Penelope by Sally Varlow; St. Thomas’ Hospital by E. M. McInnes; Bess of Hardwick: First Lady of Chatsworth by Mary S. Lovell; Sir Walter Raleigh by Raleigh Trevelyan; and Sir Walter Ralegh by Robert Lacey.