In The Shakespeare Stealer by Gary Blackwood, why is Chris Beeston's reference to Leicester important?

Within the context of the story, Chris Beeston's mention of Leicester is important because Leicester is where the mysterious "fearsome stranger" had taken Widge, given him a room and food, and where he met the man with the "hair of an odd, reddish hue," Simon Bass, the man who was to be Widge's "new master."

Beeston's mention of Leicesteris also important because it is in Leicester that Widge receives his "task" and "mission" to...

Within the context of the story, Chris Beeston's mention of Leicester is important because Leicester is where the mysterious "fearsome stranger" had taken Widge, given him a room and food, and where he met the man with the "hair of an odd, reddish hue," Simon Bass, the man who was to be Widge's "new master."

Beeston's mention of Leicester is also important because it is in Leicester that Widge receives his "task" and "mission" to "as surreptitiously as possible" copy the "play called The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark." Leicester is where Widge learns he is to secretly copy the play from a performance while being superintended by the "fearsome" stranger, whose name is given as Falconer, the pursuer of small, fleeing prey.

When Beeston explains that theatrical books "end up in the wrong hands" and says that As You Like It turned up in Leicester with a "touring company," Widge's nervousness with the topic of stolen play books heightens, his throat constricts and his voice sounds "strained." The subjects of missing theatrical books and "wrong hands" in Leicester tie Widge anxiously back to his task and mission and back to the next subject to be brought up: the "reddish" haired, neatly bearded Simon Bass.