Beauvallet · Chapter
VIII explained
Three months after his return to England, Sir Nicholas Beauvallet travels to Paris to obtain a French pass into Spain from his kinsman, the Marquis de Belrémy.
What happens
Three months after his return to England, Sir Nicholas Beauvallet travels to Paris to obtain a French pass into Spain from his kinsman, the Marquis de Belrémy. After securing a forged pass under the name Gaston de Beauvallet, he and Joshua Dimmock journey south. At a frontier inn, Beauvallet kills a young man who attacks him and discovers the man is a scion of the House of Guise carrying secret papers to King Philip of Spain. Beauvallet decides to assume the identity of the Chevalier Claude de Guise and use the papers as a cover for his mission.
Themes in this chapter
Adventure and Risk
Beauvallet undertakes a perilous journey into Spain with a forged pass, and later assumes a dead man's identity to carry secret papers.
Identity and Disguise
Beauvallet travels under the alias Gaston de Beauvallet and later adopts the identity of the Chevalier Claude de Guise.
Loyalty and Betrayal
The young Guise scion's attack is a betrayal; Beauvallet's loyalty to England and Walsingham drives his actions.
Characters to notice
- Sir Nicholas Beauvallet
Travels to Paris to obtain a French pass, later kills a Guise scion and assumes his identity.
- Joshua Dimmock
Accompanies Beauvallet, grumbles about the dangers, helps bury the dead Guise.
- Marquis de Belrémy
Beauvallet's distant kinsman who procures the forged French pass.
- Sir Francis Walsingham
Grants Beauvallet licence to travel; Beauvallet is closeted with him for an hour.
- Chevalier Claude de Guise
The identity Beauvallet assumes after killing a Guise scion; the dead man carried papers from the Guise to King Philip.
Key passages
“The licence to travel was obtained from Walsingham easily enough. Beauvallet was closeted with this enigmatic man for a full hour, and protested afterwards that the Secretary made him shiver.”
Beauvallet got his travel permit from Walsingham without trouble, but found the Secretary's company unsettling.
Beauvallet's meeting with Walsingham highlights the political tension and secretive nature of their dealings.
“I am become overnight the Chevalier Claude de Guise, do ye mark me?”
Beauvallet announces he will now pose as the Chevalier Claude de Guise.
Beauvallet assumes a new identity after killing the Guise scion.
“A great venture, rogue—the greatest I have been on.”
Beauvallet calls this his most daring mission yet.
Beauvallet's excitement and sense of adventure are evident.