Walsingham's agent Thomas Phelippes had orchestrated the entire Babington-Mary letter channel, reading and resealing all correspondence before delivery.

25:33Mary may have written, reading it through, and then he is another of his many talents is that he's able to reseal letters that he's opened and make it look as though they have never been opened. And so because of this he can then forward the these letters that he's read to the intended recipients and they have no idea that the contents have already been read by Walsingham's spy

25:54agency. >> These people are brilliant, Tom, and she has walked right into it. I admire them for this. >> I mean, she has, but you know, she has no choice as I think as she sees it. She's aware that there's a risk. She's very smart. I mean, she you know, she knows what she's up against, but I think she's desperate. As you say, she has walked into it because Phillips um has

26:11had read Babington's letter to Mary with its mention of the six noble gentlemen ready to kill Elizabeth. And so he has been waiting on tenterhooks to find out how Mary's going to reply because he knows that if she replies favorably, if she says, "Oh yeah, let's get the six gentlemen operating," then that's it. They've got her. And so he you know, he gets this letter that's been sent back