Many persons were privy to the plot.

There was much blundering, there was great public scandal in Madrid, and no one ever had a reasonable doubt as to the instigators and the actual perpetrators of the crime.

Two attempts to poison Escovedo were made by Perez, at his own table, through the agency of Antonio Enriquez, a confidential servant or page.

Both were unsuccessful.

A third was equally so, but suspicions were aroused.