| “ | And the money? I haven't come halfway across London to leave without it | „ |
| ~ Sir Richard Brooke |
| “ | It's not easy, damn you! I'm sticking my neck out for you, literally! | „ |
| ~ Sir Richard |
Sir Richard Brooke is a secondary antagonist in The Devil and His Boy, by Anthony Horowitz.
Sir Richard was in Elizabeth the First's government and was her play master, reccomending plays for her to watch and was also her play critic. Sir Richard Brooke was, however, very greedy, and was in league with the Spanish Inquisition led by Doctor Mobius who wanted the Queen dead. Sir Richard probably believed that with the Queen killed he would become King in her place. Mobius threatened Sir Richard with the Inquisition, he said "I have far-reaching friends, you can hide from me but not from them."
Sir Richard came to Mobius' ship one night, just after Thomas Seymour, Elizabeth's great-grandson, had come to the ship as one of the play actors, and Thomas, curious about why a "monk" was visiting them, waited and spied on Sir Richard, seeing his treacherous nature. Sir Richard asked about Thomas and what he knew but Mobius said he was nothing. Sir Richard asked for his reward, and Mobius gave him half the money for getting this far.
Another visit from Sir Richard meant they could perform the play at the Whitehall palace, and in front of the Queen. This meant that it would be a grand performance and every chance for Sir Richard to commit his treachery. Mobius had Sir Richard swap the musket models for real, firing muskets, and he was planning for them to aim and kill the Queen. Thomas noticed this, and tried to run onstage to protect the Queen when Mobius shot at her, but to his horror he fell on her, which was considered blasphemy. Mobius tried to shoot the Queen but failed. Sir Richard looked faint with terror his plans had failed, and in a few days he was found as a traitor, and taken to the Tower for interrogation, then had his head chopped off.