On 12 March 1590 he wrote to Francis Walsingham, undermining Kelley and appealing to a commendation from the King of Poland as proof of his innocence and abandoned his religious vows and former faith.
From this time Perkins was frequently employed as a diplomatic agent to Denmark, Poland, Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor, and the Hanseatic League; his missions dealt principally with commercial affairs.
He says he was acceptable to the Poles generally, and the king tried to induce him to enter his service; but (on his own account) the clergy were bitterly hostile (records of the time[1] show the political world found him troublesome as well), and the Pope offered put a price on his head.
He acted as principal adviser to the government in its mercantile relations with the Baltic countries; on 3 January 1593 he was on a commission to decide without appeal all disputes between the English and subjects of the French king in reference to piracy, and on 3 July was on another to inquire into and punish all abettors of pirates.
On the accession of James I his annuity was increased; in 1603 he was on a commission for suppressing books printed without authority; on 23 July he was knighted by the king at Whitehall, and on 20 March 1605 was admitted commoner of the college of advocates.
Perkins married, possibly for the second time, on 5 November 1617, at St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, London, Anne, daughter of Anthony Beaumont of Glenfield, Leicestershire, and widow of James Brett of Hoby in the same county.