I am afraid I shall not be able to send despatches as freely as before, since the roads to Metz and Nancy are occupied by the soldiers of the two contending parties, who examine and tear to pieces all communications; indeed, I have my doubts as to whether this very letter will be able to get through safely. April 25, 1585. LETTER L. Guise has taken the town of Verdun,[245] slaying several of its defenders. It is believed that Lyons and Nantes have also gone over to the Guises. There is news from England of a fresh conspiracy. The Earl of Arundel,[246] who was concerned in it, has been arrested. April 28, 1585. LETTER LI. The war is thickening apace, yet nothing has happened deserving special mention. The clergy are said to be furnishing the King with 100,000 crowns a month, on condition of his shortening the term within which, according to his previous decree, the Huguenots must leave the country. He has acceded to this demand, as your Majesty will see by reading the enclosed proclamation;[247] but even this has failed to convince the people that the King really and honestly shares the views of the League, and has joined the party; for, according to some, it is only a device to extract money, and when he has gained his object he will turn his coat! Time will show. A small party of Huguenot soldiers, not twenty in number, created a panic by seizing the citadel of Angers;[248] the excitement was increased by the news that the Prince of Condé was coming; he had crossed the Loire, they said, and quartered his soldiers in the suburbs. All the troops that could be got together were hurried off to Angers, as well as the Swiss guard, and thither went all the leaders, Joyeuse, Epernon, Mayenne, and Biron. But Condé, finding himself surrounded by such powerful forces, and seeing that he would not be able to reach the citadel, abandoned his design and retired across the Loire; he then broke up his army, and sought safety in the country occupied by his own garrisons. Meanwhile it was the common talk, and generally believed, that he had been taken prisoner while crossing some river or other, but it soon became clear that the story had no foundation. Shortly after this affair the King recalled his forces, which have suffered severely from the incessant rains and the hardships of an autumn campaign; neither have they altogether escaped the epidemic which is now raging. The inhabitants of Auxonne, a town in Burgundy, have accused their commander[249] of high treason, charging him with intending to admit a Spanish garrison into the citadel, and under cover of this assertion they are pulling down a large part of the fortifications. The men of Lyons levelled their citadel to the ground some time ago, and people say the King has given orders that the citadel of Angers shall be treated in the same way. So there is a great dismantling of fortifications in France, while in other parts new ones are being built.