What happens
Lord Essex, in his struggle with Queen Elizabeth, returns from Ireland and must answer for his actions at court. Mary Howard, a lady in waiting, is drawn into his affairs as Essex trades on a ring the Queen once gave him. The story is part of the Suspense series and was broadcast on December 28, 1953, with James Mason in the lead and Pamela Mason as Mary Howard. Essex's fate rests on the ring, and Elizabeth and Mary each have their own reasons to want it.
England and Ireland in Elizabethan times, including the royal court in London and the Irish campaign.
Characters: Lord Essex, Queen Elizabeth, Mary Howard, Roger, Sean of Lamar
Listen for: The exchanges between Essex and the Queen, and the role of the ring that Elizabeth gave him.
Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.