55 pages • 1 hour read
Geoffrey TreaseCue for Treason
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1940A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 11-14Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 11 Summary: “The House of the Yellow Gentleman”
Kit and Peter bond over their dislike of Sir Philip: They think he is greedy and manipulative, though adult Peter hints that neither of them realizes the true extent of his scheming yet. Shakespeare promises to look after them and Sir Philip soon returns to Cumberland. Kit finally performs Juliet to great acclaim and the company is invited to perform at court before the Queen. This is a great success.
As spring comes, they prepare to move from their indoor venue to the open-air Globe Theater. Shakespeare has a new play, Henry V, which they think will be popular as it is about war and there is currently unrest in Ireland. By now, Peter is used to members of the public recognizing the players in the street, so he isn’t surprised when a gentleman in a yellow doublet stops him. He compliments Peter’s work and says he’s sad he can’t attend the performances of the newest play. He asks if he can borrow the script for a night to read it instead, giving Peter a shilling. Later, Kit tells Peter that the man probably intends to keep the script and sell it on. Another company will rush out a production first. They see him again in the street and Peter confronts him, but the man denies having met him. Kit follows him to find out where he lives, and she and Peter hatch a plan to break in.
Chapter 12 Summary: “Treason on Thames-Side”
At dusk, Peter takes a boat to the man’s house, which backs onto the river. He pushes daggers into the wooden beam ends to make footholds and scales the wall. At the window, he overhears several voices discussing whether they will be caught in a conspiracy. They agree that Sir Philip’s involvement increases their chance of success.
Kit creates a commotion at the front of the house; dressed as a woman, she claims she has been attacked. The men rush out to help and Peter climbs in, finding the script on the table among other papers. As he climbs down, one of the daggers falls with a splash, attracting the men’s attention. It’s nearly dark now, so he mimics the sounds of two lovers flirting in a boat, and rows away safely.
Peter and Kit notice that a phrase in the script about gunpowder has been underlined. A sonnet has been written on the back that states that a hidden meaning can be found in the text, referencing Prosperina, Pluto, and somebody’s birthday. The phrase “26 copies” has been noted and ticked off. Kit says that treason must be afoot.
Chapter 13 Summary: “The Clue of the Sonnet”
Peter and Kit puzzle over the sonnet. It’s poorly written, so it’s suspicious that someone had 26 copies made. In particular, they find the use of the word “Y-wis” at the start of one line affected and clunky. In his narration, adult Peter encourages the reader to try to work out the clues. Young Peter and Kit are convinced something bad is happening, but Peter is reluctant to tell Shakespeare because it would reveal that he gave away the script, and they can’t take their findings to the authorities, because they are both runaways. Peter thinks that Sir Joseph Mompesson, an important man in court, will agree to see them, because he is from Cumberland and went to his old school. Sir Joseph is kindly and takes their story seriously. He says he’ll pass the script on to Sir Robert Cecil, the head of the Secret Service, and instructs them to meet at Cecil’s house the next day, and to stay alert in the meantime.
They tell Cecil their story, and he identifies the man in yellow as Sir David Vicars from Northumberland, also in the north of England. He’s worried that a number of northern families may be plotting a rebellion, though Sir Joseph points out that there are also loyal people in the north, like him, Peter, and Kit. Cecil’s cousin Sir Francis arrives and explains the sonnet: The first letter of each line reads “SENDNEWSBYPEEL” (172). The men wonder if this means using bells, or messages hidden in oranges, but Peter works it out. The conspirators plan to use peels, the defensive towers dotted around the north, as hubs for plotting and communicating. Cecil says they will need to send someone to Cumberland.
Chapter 14 Summary: “Secret Agents”
Peter explains the history of Elizabeth’s extensive Secret Service, now led by Cecil, enabling her to live a public life despite frequent conspiracies. Cecil decides to send an agent to Cumberland: Tom Boyd, a jovial Somerset man. He sends Peter too, as he needs someone who knows the area and the people. He promises that if Sir Philip arrests Peter, he will be protected. Kit joins them.
They make their way north, peddling miscellaneous wares as cover and for extra money. The three get along well, and Kit tells Tom her whole story, revealing she’s a girl. She guides them through East Cumberland where she grew up. They avoid main roads and Peter wears bandages as a disguise. Eventually they get to Peter’s home country near the mountain of Blencathra. His mother is thrilled to see him but is worried for his safety. They explain that Peter has the protection of the Queen’s Secret Service. She still thinks they shouldn’t stay in the house, as the local community will eventually notice their presence and it might get back to Sir Philip. Peter decides they should camp in the Stronghold.
Chapters 11-14 Analysis
This middle section bridges the two halves of the book and marks the narrative point where preparation gives way to action: The protagonists move from various adventures as runaways in the theater, to agents on a mission to protect the country, creating a single overarching quest for the final sections.
The setting of London is important in this, playing a role in Peter’s central adventures, just as the countryside does in the first and last parts of the book. Trease portrays the urban landscape as a challenging and complex terrain. Although this is unfamiliar, Peter is able to use his rural skills: He breaks into the riverside building by rowing a boat and skillfully climbing a wall. Trease also highlights the human danger of the city. Peter notes:
[I]n the mountains, a man’s cry will bring the other men running for a mile, but in London […] a body may lie in the gutter for half an hour before someone is inquisitive enough to turn it over (168).
This passage shows how Trease explores The Impact of Social Structures on Individuals by juxtaposing the connection of small communities with the anonymity of a big city. He shows that these social worlds are very different and uses this contrast to heighten the stakes for his protagonists in this section, who are warned to “walk warily […] look behind you” (167). London is also important as a setting in developing the adventure plot and its suspense at this point. Trease introduces the political machinations that create Peter and Kit’s main quest for the rest of the book. Centering the action in this section in the capital city allows him to raise the stakes to a nationwide level. Trease expands Sir Philip’s role as a villain of national standing, drip-feeding new information to create tension and mystery. Chapter 11 develops the revelation that he is also a threat to Kit, and Peter’s narration hints that he is also “practising even more ambitious villainies which at that time we didn’t suspect” (131). In Chapter 12, Peter learns that the Queen herself has identified Sir Peter as a threat, and that he is involved in a conspiracy. The stakes increase as Peter and Kit gradually learn about Elizabeth’s Secret Service and extensive spy network.
London is also important in Peter’s Coming of Age journey: He is forced to navigate a new environment outside his comfort zone. This gives him clarity about his values and identity: He bonds with Shakespeare over their shared love of their homes, noting that “we seemed like two countrymen meeting in a city crowd” (133). He thinks longingly of the natural beauty of Cumberland and he and Kit agree that, however exciting London is, Cumberland is their true home. Their return at the end of this section confirms this: Peter feels that “people’s voices were more friendly” (181), and he is overjoyed to see “the mountains of home” (183). The comparison of Peter at this point with when he was last in Cumberland demonstrates how much he has learned and matured since he left. The section ends with Peter and Kit officially acting as agents, returning to Cumberland with a mission determining the fate of the country, setting up the rest of the plot. This contrasts with the way they left as lone runaways, highlighting how their time in London has changed them.
The London theater world, with the machinations of stolen scripts, and the heightened stakes of performance, prepares Peter and Kit for the world of conspiracy: It prompts Kit to realize they must retrieve the script and gives them both the acting skills they use to get it back and to adopt their peddler disguises later on their mission. Trease shows The Power of Theater, placing it at the heart of the conspiracy to build dramatic atmosphere. The phrase the plotters underline refers to a “gunner” and a “devilish cannon,” (157) foreshadowing violence. Their use of a sonnet to communicate a hidden meaning reflects the common use of codes in Elizabeth spy networks and counter-networks, but also explicates the idea that an artistic text could carry hidden political meaning. Trease also uses the mystery text as an immersive device: Peter directly addresses the reader, inviting them to try to solve the puzzle. Breaking the “fourth wall” between character and audience was a common feature of Elizabethan theater: Trease draws on the artistic power of theater to communicate with and involve his reader.
This section develops the plot and heightens the stakes, using the setting of London to bring together the world of theater and the underground world of the secret service.
