Nathan Fox is a gifted boy actor in the same company as William Shakespeare. He is noticed by one of Sir Francis Walsingham’s agents and marked out as a potential spy:

    “The boy was suspended above the stage by a rope and the tall, dark man watched him with some amusement as he twisted and turned with great agility. The boy grasped the rope with one hand and with his other hand he scattered red rose petals over the actors beneath him.
    He’s strong, thought the man and he nodded with approval. His next thought was echoed by a younger man standing next to him in the shadows. “He is the finest boy actor I have ever witnessed, my lord. I have heard him do many foreign accents – he’s played his age and older – female and male. I’ve seen him do spirits and hunchbacks, fairies and monsters. He is a marvel.”