Thus every day the breach between Elizabeth and her brother-in-law grew wider, and Mendoza followed in the footsteps of de Spes and Guaras. Don Antonio was welcomed at Court with royal honours, and was very soon borrowing money on his jewels to fit out expeditions to the Azores, which still held out in his favour. The Queen herself blew hot and cold. If Antonio succeeded in capturing the throne of Portugal again, she wished him to be beholden to her for it and not to the French, whilst she was determined not to be drawn into open war with Philip for him unless she could manœuvre the King of France into the same position. Philip wrote to Elizabeth himself, begging her to expel or surrender the rebel Pretender, and Mendoza continued to press her, often intemperately, on the subject; but she always countered with Ireland, the refugee Desmonds, Ridolfi, and the Earl of Westmorland; and usually succeeded in getting up a wrangle with the heated ambassador, which placed him at a disadvantage. To prevent Philip from proceeding to extremities against her, and to keep the King of France from breaking away, the marriage dealings with Alençon were carried by her to a point from which all observers believed she could never extricate herself. But her tactics, risky as they really were at this time, were successful in their main object, namely, in weakening Philip’s power on every hand, and making it impracticable for him to avenge himself by force. The English Catholic party had already felt the cruel consequences of the renewed Jesuit activity. Campion, the most fearless of the young missionaries, with two brethren, suffered cruel martyrdom with unshaken constancy in December, 1581, and scores of other priests and laymen were under sentence of death,[234] whilst throughout the country recusants were hunted with merciless vigour, not, of course, for religion, said Elizabeth’s officers, but as disobedient and disloyal subjects. Most of the active Catholic nobles were now in exile, and it was clear that no armed rising in England against the Queen’s Government was now possible, except with very powerful help from abroad. But in Scotland matters were entirely different. Morton had fallen, and the half-French Lennox d’Aubigny, a Catholic, was the most powerful force in the country. His French ancestry had caused the Spaniards to look askance at him for a time; but the declaration of Guise to the Spanish ambassador in Paris, that Mary Stuart in future would look alone to Philip for direction, somewhat disarmed Mendoza, and, despairing of striking at Elizabeth by other means, the ambassador turned to this quarter to aid him in his vengeance.