Ep. 104 The Sea Beggar

"You are an extraordinary man, Tavannes. You see shadows where there is no sun."

   The next morning Steven goes back to the tavern in search of the Doctor.  Finding no sign of him, the young astronaut returns to de Coligny's home to get the help of Nicholas.
   Nicholas and Gaston are discussing the lack of action on the intelligence that Anne, the serving girl, provided, when Steven returns.  Nicholas instantly offers to take Steven to the shop of Preslin.
   As they are preparing to leave, an agent of the Abbot of Amboise arrives and apologizes for the inconvenience created by one of the Abbot's runaway servants.  he explains that the girl had overheard a conversation about Vase and must have made a connection that wasn't in the actual conversation.
   Gaston is his usual reactionary self and tries to get a rise from the agent.
   Anne walks in at this time.  The agent recognizes her and calls for her return.  The Huguenots blatantly lie to his face and say that this is Genevive and that she has been in the employ of the Admiral since he arrived in Paris.
   The agent leaves and meets with the Abbot just outside de Coligny's residence.  Steven and the pair of Huguenots see this.  Steven recognizes the Abbot as the Doctor and goes to meet him.  The others are suspicious and call him out as a Catholic spy.  By the time that they look back out the window, the Abbot and his agent have left.
   Nicholas and Steven leave for Preslin's shop.  Now Steven is trying to prove that he is not a spy.
   They get to Preslin's shop to discover that it's abandoned.  An old woman tells them that he was taken two years ago for heresy and probably burned.  Steven tries to talk Nicholas into letting him go to the Abbot to see if the Doctor has replaced the Abbot for some unknown reason.
   Nicholas doesn't agree and tries to get Steven to come back with him to Gaston.  Steven pushes away and looses him in the crowded streets.
   Steven goes to the Abbot's home and attempts to break in and find the Doctor.  He ends up listening in on an assassination plot.  An assassin codenamed Bondot is to take out a target codenamed "The Sea Beggar".
   Steven runs back to de Coligny's to warn Nicholas and Gaston about the plot.  Gaston tells him to get the hell out.  When Steven doesn't , the hotheaded Huguenot hands him his ass in a sword fight.
   Steven, valuing his neck, leaves.
   He walks through the city for a few hours until curfew is close to ringing.  He heads back to de Coligny's in the hopes of speaking with the more reasonable Nicholas.  He ends up running into Anne, who has run away again. 
   The pair decide to go to Preslin's shop; they should be able to stay the night.
   The cliffhanger is a bit intellectual.  We discover that "The Sea Beggar" is de Coligny, apparently after his approval of the Dutch in their war with Spain.
   Loving it.

Next up: Priest of Death