The supple ambassador tranquillised her. She knew, he said, what poor health he had, and how badly the English climate suited him. There was no other mystery behind his going than that. She was coquettishly aggrieved, too, at his wanting to leave her, as they had been such friends; and besides, there was all this talk about a Catholic league against her! Guzman again reassured her; but when he got back to London he found Cecil less easy to calm. He had been told alarming stories by his spies, most of which we now know were untrue, and after assuring Guzman of the grief that his recall would cause to the Queen, he continued that “it confirmed what he had heard from various quarters, that Cardinal Lorraine had arranged a treaty with the Duke of Alba respecting this country and the Queen of Scots, which had been negotiated through me [_i.e._, Guzman] as they could not trust the French ambassador. It was said, also, that the Queen of Scots herself was in communication with me and sent me letters for your Majesty. It was asserted that, now that I had arranged it all, I wished to leave in order that my successor, and not myself, should witness the carrying out of the plan.”[173] Guzman knew that a letter to him enclosing one from Mary to Philip had fallen into Cecil’s hands, so he had to be dexterous in his management of the situation. He affected to laugh at such assertions as absurd;[174] and the interview ended by the highest praise being bestowed upon Guzman, who, said Cecil, had absolutely gained the Queen’s confidence; and many dubious questions were put by Cecil as to what sort of a person Don Gerau de Spes was. Don Gerau soon showed this for himself. He was instructed by Philip to explain to Elizabeth the misdeeds of Dr. Man that had led to his expulsion, and to exonerate the Duke and Duchess of Feria, and especially the English relatives of the latter, from any blame in the matter. He was also to watch the introduction of warlike stores into England and keep in touch with the Duke of Alba in Flanders; but he is emphatically enjoined “to serve and gratify the Queen on every possible occasion, trying to keep her on good terms, and assuring her from me that I will always return her friendship as her good neighbour and brother.” De Spes, however, must have carried secret instructions in addition to this, because when he was passing through Paris, Mary Stuarts ambassador, the Archbishop of Glasgow, recommended to him the care of the imprisoned Queen’s affairs, “as she founded all her hopes on your Majesty’s favour,” and, in reply, de Spes said that he had orders to do everything he could for her. There is no such clause in his public instructions, and it is most unlikely that any ambassador of Philip would have dared to plunge without instructions into conspiracies against the Government to which he was accredited, as de Spes did immediately after his arrival in England.