It was necessary, then, to provide against these contingencies; and the bad conscience of Antonio Pérez devised means of being forewarned against everything; to poison Philip's jealousy by painting D. John's ambitious ideas first, with a tinge of independence and then of treason, which would for ever discredit the hero of Lepanto in the mind of the King. It was necessary, however, to be very cautious in daring anything with Philip II. This care Antonio Pérez used, and it is, in our opinion, the most convincing proof of his false talent, cunning cleverness and wonderful audacity. He was very careful not to attack D. John of Austria, and confined himself to whispering to Philip that Juan de Soto, carried away by his great affection for D. John and his own interests, was inflating D. John's imagination with plans which went far beyond the ideas of Philip II. Antonio Pérez, consequently, thought that it was imperative to remove so dangerous an adviser from the side of D. John, and to put in his place a temperate, energetic man, who would know how to calm these ambitious ideas. In this may be seen the first drop of venom for poisoning Philip's mind against his brother. Antonio Pérez made him out to be a bold, ambitious boy, who could only be relied on while under the rule of an energetic and temperate tutor. Such was the situation which Juan de Soto found at the Court, when sent by D. John with a public mission to ask instructions from the King about the way the fleet was to be employed, and a secret one to tell him about the proposals of Gregory XIII, respecting Tunis, of which in Madrid they had had some secret advices from the Ambassador in Rome, D. Juan de Zúñiga. Philip II could therefore verify the plain truth of what his brother's secretary said, who tranquillised him with respect to the loyalty of the ambitions of both. But the warmth with which Juan de Soto advocated the project of Gregory XIII, and the promptitude with which he explained away the arguments Philip cunningly urged against it, confirmed the stories of Antonio Pérez about stirring up D. John's ambitions, and decided the King to act according to the advice of Pérez, and to separate Soto from D. John. But knowing D. John to be very fond of Soto, and not wishing to alarm or annoy him, nor having reason for not making use of Soto's services elsewhere, D. Philip at once appointed him a naval contractor, and sent him back to Naples, with the instructions for which D. John begged, waiting to relieve him of the duties of secretary, and to separate him from D. John, until the temperate, energetic man Antonio Pérez talked of was found.