Will's new troupe of actors arrive in a plague-ridden London and perform Richard III to great acclaim, but a death in the family jeopardises all. A handsome rogue is not what he seems, luckily for Will.

Will's taking his son to London to introduce him to life and get to know him proves to be a mixed blessing with a tragic ending.

In the wake of Essex's failure to tame the Irish rebels, the actors' brush with politics has catastrophic consequences.

While Will pleads with the dying Queen for suicidal Hal's life, his poems are stolen, printed and distributed without his permission, setting in motion a chain of events that could prove disastrous.