back to hear the profaned Mass. The aforesaid Guaras at this business said that he himself was an ambassador of a greater person than —— and so did shake his head. ‘What!’ quoth I, ‘do you mean a greater personage than our mistress?’ ‘Na, na,’ said he, ‘I mean not so.’ ‘No,’ quoth I, ‘it were not best for you to make comparisons with the Queen our mistress. Whose ambassador are ye, then?’ quoth I, ‘the Pope’s?’ And then he departed further off in anger. This Guaras was a very busy fellow in this action.”[217] Neither Giraldi nor Guaras was disposed to allow their diplomatic privileges to be violated in this fashion, however; and in consequence of their vehement complaints Fleetwood had to submit to a severe scolding from the Council and was sent to the Fleet. But Guaras’ immunity was not to last much longer. Elizabeth, before many months were over, found herself assiduously courted by the French, and assured by Catharine that Alençon would do nothing in Flanders but with the co-operation of England—it was hoped as Elizabeth’s husband. Don Juan also, during the time that he remained in negotiation with the States, was only too anxious to win Elizabeth’s help, or at least neutrality; so that when suspicion against Guaras became certainty she had no hesitation in closing the toils around him. In January, 1577, Sir Amyas Paulet, the English ambassador in Paris, reported that a dependent of Guaras, a Spanish tailor, named Damian Dela, a resident in London, had passed through Paris with some highly suspicious letters for King Philip. We know now that the King was firmly against Don Juan’s plans to invade England; but this, of course, was not known at the time, and Paulet advised Burghley to put Guaras to the torture to discover what was going on. This only made the English Government more vigilant; but in the spring of 1577 Secretary Wilson was sent to Flanders to endeavour to bring about an agreement between the States and Don Juan. The latter, when jocosely twitted by Wilson on his wish to marry the Queen of Scots, somewhat ungallantly ridiculed the idea as preposterous; but whilst Wilson was in the Low Countries he managed to obtain through St. Aldegonde possession of some intercepted letters from Guaras on the matter. The cipher was difficult, and only some words could be read; but they were enough to prove that Guaras was in constant communication with Mary Stuart and Don Juan, and Wilson wrote to Cecil expressing his surprise that an unofficial person like Guaras should be allowed to act more scandalously than any accredited ambassador would be allowed to do.