all along: “You say you wish to serve me, Guaras; will you tell me the truth? They say that a certain Scottish prisoner of mine has sent you a token of friendship in the form of a painted lion; is it true?” Poor Guaras could only protest that he had never received any such token, as he had not; but the hint, and the more pointed one about the arrest, certainly did not abate his activity as a go-between for Mary and Don Juan. So long as the danger of French interference in Flanders lasted Elizabeth dared not do anything very unpleasant to Spain; but as soon as that difficulty was banished by new negotiations for the marriage of Elizabeth and Alençon, Guaras began to find his position less comfortable. In November, 1575, Egremont Ratcliff, the brother of the Earl of Sussex, who had been a fugitive in Flanders and Italy since the northern rebellion, came to England, with a story of Don Juan’s plans in conjunction with Mary Stuart, and in this, of course, Guaras was involved. His fresh negotiations, too, early in 1576 for the betrayal by the English Catholics of certain of the Zeeland fortresses to the Spaniards was discovered. The Flemish Catholic nobles were now in England praying for support against Philip’s soldiery, and Elizabeth was in mortal fear of French aid being given to them on the one hand and of Don Juan’s reported plans against England on the other, whilst Guaras in his correspondence grew more and more bitter and violent as he saw the fruition of his hopes gradually disappear before Elizabeth’s amiability to the Catholic Flemish nobles and the united opposition now offered to Don Juan’s ambitions.