The woman entered the room smiling, and
said in a warm voice, “How do you do, I am Cecilia Cranborne, cousin of the
duke.” She is beautiful and desirable.
Luxuriant auburn hair was worn long, almost to her waist. Her dress was for
sleeping, he thought, and her lightly, blue-veined bosom was full and half
revealed. “Now, Master Shakespeare, I have questions to ask you, and do not
fear. My cousin, the Duke, knows that you are in my sessorium and approves. Do
you live in London?”
“I found rooms just this month past.”
“So you were visiting when I saw you
play at, I believe it was The Bell Savage Inn-Yard. I hope your pocket wasn’t
picked. Fortunately, I found a high place with my guests. Here, please let us
sit,” and they did at opposite ends of a comfortably upholstered couch.
“Do you like London?”
“It is quite the Babel after living in
Stratford. When I first saw the severed heads on pikes at London Bridge, I knew
that I’d best not take the primrose path in London town.”
“I’ve learned that you wrote The Two Gentlemen of Verona that we saw
tonight.” Lady Cranborne’s glossy hair fell toward one eye, and she tossed her
head which enchanted Shakespeare. Did you write the play I saw in London?
Wasn’t it titled Titus Andronicus?
Oh, such fearsome goings on, spilling blood. I was moved by the passage that
included the words, ‘rude-growing briers, upon whose leaves are drops of
new-shed blood as fresh as morning dew distilled on flowers,’ a macabre but
accomplished metaphor.”
Thank
you, George, or was it Kit? “Yes,
My Lady, I wrote it for the performance, and it has been retained in a script changed
much since.”
“How long does it take you to write a
play like those I have viewed?”
“I worked on both for much of a year,
and had ideas on them long before that. They update rapidly. I take suggestions
for revisions from my fellow players and other writers who have read or
attended the plays. My friend George Peele helped me with Titus Andronicus and wrote some excellent scenes.”
“What are your inspirations? Do you find
the ideas in books, or from your fertile imagination? You, of course, read well
the classics for Titus Andronicus.”
“Quite true, My Lady, and then I try to
bring my own thoughts to the writing and solicit help all round.”
“Which other writers do you favor? Do
you like Robert Greene’s satirical work?”
“Yes, but Greene does not reciprocate,
calls me an upstart crow and a Shake-scene, perchance he is right.” Shakespeare
smiled and shrugged and was taken by Lady Cranborne’s infectious laughter.
Shakespeare elaborated, “Greene and many
others are contemptuous of writers like me and Thomas Kyd who have not attended
university. They call us yeomen and scriveners and mock us as country bumpkins.
I did not follow the arts and confess to enjoy writing for the clowns, jesters
and silly lovers a trifle too much.
“Be that as it may, I admire many other
writers, Thomas Nashe, although he thinks of me such as Greene. I am also
indebted to Thomas Lodge and have high admiration for Christopher Marlowe.”
Lady Cranborne nodded in agreement. “I
enjoyed Tamburlaine, such goutings of
blood. I find Richard the Third far more interesting for his cunning. Do you
plan a play on him? Do you write poetry or only plays?”
“Yes, My Lady, it will be an adaptation of a
play on King Richard now performed by the Queen’s Men. I do attempt poetry.” Her voice is soft, gentle and low.
“I recall a line from tonight’s play
that spoke of ‘heaven-bred poesy.’ Could you write or say a celestial creation
for me now?” Will told of her charms with the enthusiasm of a longing suitor.
Cecilia sighed, her alabaster breasts heaved, and the natural highlights in her
hair glowed in the candlelight. “That was lovely; but so that you understand
the rules of engagement, this meeting is one of mental, not frolicking
intimacy.”
“I do understand, My Lady, and did not
wish to convey an unwanted advance or step beyond the bounds.” Despite the
words, Will was enamored, If I could
write the beauty of your eyes and number all your graces.
(This vignette was excerpted from Discovering Will's Lost Years and the Marlowe-Shakespeare Lost Play: Uncovering 16th and 21st-Century Mystery, Treachery and Obsession) > http://amzn.to/19QmSVH
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