They  contained  many  sweet  words  but  no  decision.  They  thought
this  the  best  conr.se,  as  the  ambassador  told  the  Queen  herself  that
the  matter  was  now  so  far  advanced  that  if  it  were  not  carried
through,  Alen^on  could  not  avoid  being  offended.  In  this  way
both  parties  are  weaving  a  Penelope's  web,  simply  to  cover  the
designs  which  I  have  already  explained  to  your  Majesty.
The  Q\ieen  has  received  a  letter  from  the  Governors  of  Portugal
to  the  same  effect  as  I  wrote  on  the  9th  ultimo.     This  duplicate

J        — • — — — ' ^  '

*  De  Vray.
32  SPANISH  STATE  PAPERS.
1580.
was  brought  by  Francisco  Barretn  of  Lima,  as  far  as  Paris,  and
came  thence  by  the  hand  of  a  Portuguese,  with  a  letter  from  the
duchess  of  Braganza  to  the  Queen,  urging  upon  her  the  duty  of
coming  to  the  aid  of  the  person  rightly  entitled  to  that  crown,
without  further  particularising.  The  Queen  replied,  both  to  the
Duchess  and  to  the  Governors,  that  she  would  not  fail  to  aid  the
person  who  had  a  right  to  the  Crown.  I  have  tried  to  discover
whether  the  Portuguese  who  brought  the  letter  came  from  Portugal
on  purpose,  but  I  find  he  only  came  from  Paris,  the  letter  having
been  sent  to  Giraldo  and  forwarded  by  him.
