“The Duke of Ossuña[140] was the next who came to greet me, with extraordinary pomp; for he was carried in a chair; he wore an Hungarian robe furred with ermine and a number of jewels of great value; and was followed by more than twenty carriages, filled with Spanish nobles, his relations and friends, or Neapolitan nobles; while his chair was surrounded by more than fifty captain-lieutenants or _alferes reformados_, Spanish or Neapolitan. He embraced me with great affection and cordiality, and, after calling me Excellency three or four times, he reminded me that, at a supper at Zamet’s, at which the King[141] was present, we had made an alliance, and that I had promised to call him father and that he should call me son; and he begged me to continue to do this. So that we afterwards treated one another without any ceremony. After this he was pleased to greet all who had accompanied me from France, speaking to them in French and saying so many extravagant things that I was not astonished at the disgrace into which he shortly afterwards fell.” Next day came more grandees, more ladies, more prelates, and more ambassadors, including those of England and the Emperor; and no sooner had the unfortunate Bassompierre got rid of one batch, than another appeared upon the scene, until by the time the last of his visitors had taken his departure he was quite worn out. However, he was not to be allowed much rest, for in the evening he received a visit from the auditor of the Nuncio, who was conducting the affairs of the Holy See at Madrid during the absence of his chief, who had gone to Rome to receive a cardinal’s hat. This ecclesiastic came to talk politics, and showed Bassompierre the copy of a brief which he had received from Gregory XV on the subject of the Valtellina, in which his Holiness demanded the restitution of the country, “for the sake of the freedom of Italy,” and threatened his Catholic Majesty with the employment of both spiritual and temporal weapons if the latter’s troops were not promptly withdrawn. Altogether, it was quite a courageous letter for a new Pope to write to a King of Spain, and pleased Bassompierre mightily; and he was still more gratified to learn that the demands of France and the Vatican were to be supported by the representatives of England, Venice, and Savoy. However, when once the Spaniard of those days got his claws into anything he coveted, it was no easy matter to induce him to release his prey; and, though very ready to promise, he was exceedingly slow to perform.