I saw you'd written a review about A Dead Man in Deptford--I finished the book a couple weeks ago myself and was curious to get someone else's opinion on the ending:

Right before Marlowe is killed, one of the men (Poley/Ingram/Skeres, not sure which) hints that Marlowe will never know who is responsible for his death,

" One deletes you from life's book as a warning to others, or because he fears your tongue, or for dislike and no more, or as payment for insolence. The other is afraid of a speaking out under duress that will light the powder of his own ruin. Whatever it is, you had best go..."

I realize the first "one" is probably referring to the Earl of Essex, who Marlowe insulted and smarted off to during an interrogation. Then again, it could also be referring to the Earl of Northumberland, Harry Percy, who is part of Raleigh's smoking circle.

But who is the second man? Poley says, "There are two other reasons for your being voided, and you will never know whether it is knight or earl who wishes the voiding." At first I thought Sir Walter Raleigh was the other man--afraid Kit would condemn him as an atheist or traitor. But then I began to wonder if it wasn't Thomas Walsingham, afraid Kit would reveal their homosexual relationship. He was preparing to marry, after all. But I can't seem to determine if Thomas Walsingham was a knight or not. Marlowe usually calls him Tom, and Sir Francis Walsingham was knighted for his service to the queen, so the title wasn't (I don't think?) hereditary...

Lähettänyt: uncultured 2:06 am (EST) Jul 5, 2008