He removed John de Soto, who had been Don John's chief councillor and emissary to the Pope, and substituted in his place the celebrated and ill-starred Escovedo.

The new secretary, however, entered as heartily but secretly into all these romantic schemes.

Disappointed of the Empire which he had contemplated on the edge of the African desert, the champion of the Cross turned to the cold islands of the northern seas.

There sighed, in captivity, the beauteous Mary of Scotland, victim of the heretic Elizabeth.

His susceptibility to the charms of beauty--a characteristic as celebrated as his courage--was excited, his chivalry aroused.