“Objectionable?\u00a0 Exactly what are you referring to, might I ask?” <\/p>\n
“Among others, there is this line: ‘Her words felt like a foul blow…”<\/p>\n
“What is objectionable <\/em>about that, Mr. Tilney?”<\/p>\n “Why Mr. Marlowe… a ‘foul blow’ could also be heard as a ‘fowl <\/em>blow’.\u00a0 Fowl blow, sir!\u00a0 Do you think audiences will find oral pleasures <\/em>from a chicken appropriate?\u00a0 Oral pleasures from a chicken!\u00a0 Abomination<\/em>!\u00a0 That’s what this is… an abomination!\u00a0 This play is not fit for the stage!\u00a0 Re-write the offending scenes Mr. Marlowe, or write a new play.\u00a0 Good day, sir!”<\/p>\n And the playwright Christopher Marlowe took his leave.<\/p>\n I heard this exchange from the room next door.\u00a0 My name is William Short… or Will Short, for short…<\/em>\u00a0 I was a junior in the employ of the Lord Chamberlain.\u00a0 It was my first Appointment.\u00a0 At one time the Lord Chamberlain’s Office was responsible for Royal Festivities & Entertainments.\u00a0 With the rule of Henry VIII, however, a separate Appointment of Master of the Revels<\/em> was awarded to Thomas Cawarden.\u00a0 That would have been… let’s see, 1544 I should think.\u00a0 And twenty-five years later Edmund Tilney received the patent as Master of the Revels.\u00a0 Mr. Tilney reports to the Lord Chamberlain.\u00a0 The Lord Chamberlain reports to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth.\u00a0 And I report to Mr. Tilney.\u00a0 I assist Mr. Tilney… <\/p>\n Mr. Tilney maintains a very busy schedule.\u00a0 There isn’t a production at The Curtain or The Rose that he hasn’t first judged for the appropriateness of its content.\u00a0 He watches rehearsals, he supervises productions for the Court.\u00a0 He is forever on the move… and when he’s out on the rounds of the playhouses, I am “in charge,”\u00a0as it were.\u00a0 Which means that I have to respond to inquiries and\/or make the necessary appointments and\/or recommendations in Mr. Tilney’s stead.<\/p>\n One such day when Mr. Tilney was attending a rehearsal of\u00a0The Jew of Malta<\/em>, I responded to the knock on the door.<\/p>\n “Mr. Tilney?”\u00a0the question coming from a woman as she opened the door.<\/p>\n Ignoring the direction of her address, “Can I help you?”<\/p>\n “My card, sir.”\u00a0 Which she proffered to me with a rather lofty air.\u00a0 Unusual for a Lady to have a calling card, a beautifully perfumed <\/em>card at that…<\/p>\n “Mrs. Poodle?”<\/p>\n “Poo-dell.\u00a0 Poodle<\/u>, sir.”<\/p>\n “Quite.\u00a0 How can I be of service Mrs…. uh, Mrs. Poodle?”<\/p>\n Before I proceed with my story, perhaps I should tell you that Mrs. Poodle was married to Reginald Poodle, a wealthy grain merchant.\u00a0 Mr. Poodle spent much of his life elsewhere<\/em>.\u00a0 But he was always sure to keep his wife well appointed… hand carved carriages, homes in the country, a house in London, servants every where, lavish wardrobe.\u00a0 A rare example of what wealth can do, even when it was not connected to Nobility.<\/p>\n Her status preceded her to the door of Mr. Tilney.\u00a0 That she had never crossed paths with the Master of the Revels put me in a position to adopt <\/em>his Office, after all… I did answer the door.<\/p>\n “Mr. Tilney, I understand that you are known to the great writers of our time?”<\/p>\n “Yes, that is correct Madame.”<\/p>\n “Mr. Marlowe?\u00a0 Mr. Shakespeare?”<\/p>\n “Of course.”<\/p>\n “Then there is a matter in which you may be of\u00a0invaluable assistance.\u00a0 It will require a high degree of discretion<\/em>.”<\/p>\n “Mrs. Poodle, you can rely on my integrity.”<\/p>\n Perhaps it was lucky that Mrs. Poodle had by chance encountered me, thinking me my employer, instead of my employer, whose integrity could be challenged on a daily basis… a challenge that, more often then not, could\u00a0put a chink in his vaunted reputation.<\/p>\n In short, he could be bought<\/em>.\u00a0 Either in coin of the realm, or in the case of the lovely and beautifully scented Mrs. Poodle, perhaps in kind…<\/em><\/p>\n I pondered this as I tried to imagine what could bring this woman of social standing to the door of the Master\u00a0of the Revels… on a matter of discretion<\/em>?\u00a0 I closed the door to insure our privacy.<\/p>\n “Now, how can I be of service?”<\/p>\n She produced a substantial portfolio, untied its ribbon to reveal numbers of pages in manuscript.\u00a0 “Are you aware that Christopher Marlowe was killed last night in a Depford Inn?” she asked.<\/p>\n “Killed?\u00a0 Why no!”<\/p>\n “I am told it was an argument over a bill…”<\/p>\n “Oh, the vanity, the vanity!”<\/p>\n “It was a bill<\/em>, not the billing<\/em>!\u00a0 I bring manuscripts in his hand that prove his authorship of a number of works that have been attributed to William Shakespeare.”<\/p>\n “How did you come by these Mrs. Poodle?”<\/p>\n “Mr. Tilney… a proper gentleman wouldn’t ask that of a lady.”<\/p>\n If I was going to reveal my true identity to this exquisite lady, it wasn’t going to be at this time.\u00a0 I had a number of ethical <\/em>situations before me… most significantly, that I was representing myself as someone else.\u00a0 Next, that I was now party to proof of plagiarism, or even worse, literary theft… putting at risk the reputation of England’s finest poet and playwright.\u00a0 Lastly, there was the matter of Mrs. Poodle herself… a lady of high standing, very much married, whose compensation\u00a0for a matter of discretion<\/em> would potentially compromise her reputation as well.<\/p>\n I am sure you can see, in short, that this was a complicated issue ripe with hazards.<\/p>\n “Why bring these pages here?”\u00a0 I asked, as I scanned through the manuscripts — and having seen Marlowe’s work before, I could attest to their authenticity.\u00a0 Surely she could have kept them or destroyed them, none to be the wiser.\u00a0 Or turned them over to Master Shakespeare himself.<\/p>\n “It’s about reputation Mr. Tilney.\u00a0 How shall I put this?\u00a0 Mr. Marlowe had been a close friend.\u00a0 A very close<\/em> friend.\u00a0 If it were known that I held these manuscripts for his safekeeping, it would produce questions<\/em> about the nature of our relationship… a relationship which I assure you was strictly literary.\u00a0 <\/em>But still, in the eyes of others, say Mr. Poodle, he might think there was an involvement of a different<\/em> sort.”<\/p>\n At this point the lovely Mr. Poodle\u00a0produced a delicate linen handkerchief from her sleeve and brought it to her cheek to absorb a single tear.\u00a0 She continued, “It would pain me to think that Will Shakespeare, that reprobate<\/em>, will take\u00a0credit for that which rightfully belongs to Kit Marlowe.”<\/p>\n “I see, and what specifically<\/em> would you like me to do, Mrs. Poodle?”<\/p>\n “Mr. Tilney, you’re Master of the Revels.\u00a0 You know Kit Marlowe’s hand.\u00a0 You’re in the position to expose William Shakespeare as a fraud!”<\/p>\n “I see.”<\/p>\n “Don’t you see how important this is?”<\/p>\n I nodded, “I can imagine that you would prefer that your connection in this episode remain, in short, anonymous<\/em>?”<\/p>\n “Mr. Tilney… I knew I could count on your discretion<\/em>.”<\/p>\n You can see that we were at a critical tip point<\/em> in our negotiation.\u00a0 I doubt whether the real<\/em> Mr. Tilney would have been overly troubled by the situation.\u00a0 His concern would only have been, what’s in it for me<\/em>?\u00a0 The real irony here was that the real<\/em> Mr. Tilney\u00a0couldn’t stand Shakespeare.\u00a0 He may not have liked<\/em> Marlowe; but he had contempt<\/em> for Shakespeare and he would have welcomed <\/em>any piece of evidence to shatter his reputation.\u00a0 What Mrs. Poodle didn’t know — Tilney would have done her bidding for nothing.<\/p>\n I, on the other hand, thought very much of Shakespeare, and had no interest in causing him harm.<\/p>\n In terms of what would now take place, in a matter of delicate discretion<\/em>, the reputation of Shakespeare or Marlowe was neither here nor there in my mind.\u00a0 My mind focused on the lovely and fragrant Mrs. Poodle.\u00a0 And if I laboured initially over the ethical questions, I now surrendered body and soul to the presence and aroma that captivated me.<\/p>\n “Mrs. Poodle… let me refresh you with some wonderful wine and perhaps we can share our literary interests…”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" “Objectionable?\u00a0 Exactly what are you referring to, might I ask?” “Among others, there is this line: ‘Her words felt like a foul blow…” “What is objectionable about that, Mr. Tilney?” “Why Mr. Marlowe… a ‘foul blow’ could also be heard … Continue reading