Publisher's Synopsis
London, 1662. For some, the early years of the Restoration are giddy, glorious ones. For Thomas Chaloner, they are uncertain, murky and dangerous. A stranger in his own country, Thomas has just returned from ten years abroad, working as a government spy. Once in the employ of the Commonwealth, he is now seeking to work for his king. The one man who can secure him a position is John Thurloe, Cromwell's feared ex-Spymaster. Still powerful behind the scenes, Thurloe sends Thomas to the Earl of Clarendon, the new Lord Chancellor. His first task seems straightforward: investigate the rumour that there is a secret cache of gold buried in the Tower of London. Yet Thomas is quickly seduced by other mysteries: the death of the last man sent by Thurloe to Clarendon; the wording of a note the man sent to his wife; the emerging evidence of a clandestine Brotherhood; and the sinister significance of the number seven...