ope that he would do so,--we
are not informed. It matters little, however. The marquis, it is
probable, had already learned not to put his trust in princes. At all
events, the promises of the king did as little for the patient as the
prescriptions of the doctor. On the twenty-first of May he
died,--justifying the melancholy presentiment with which he had entered
on his mission.

Montigny was the only victim that now remained to Philip; and he caused
him to be guarded with redoubled vigilance. He directed Ruy Gomez to
keep an eye on all his movements, and to write to the governors of
Navarre, Catalonia, and other frontier places, to take precautions to
intercept the Flemish lord, in case of his attempting to fly the
country.[1229] Montigny was in fact a prisoner, with Madrid for the
limits of his prison. Yet, after this, the regent could write to him
from Brussels, that she was pleased to learn from her brother that he
was soon to give him his _conge_.[1230]--If the king said this, he had a
bitter meaning in his words, beyond what the duchess apprehended.

It was not long, however, that Montigny was allowed to retain even this
degree of liberty. In September, 1567, arrived the tidings of the arrest
of the Counts Egmont and Hoorne. Orders were instantly issued for the
arrest of Montigny. He was seized by a detachment of the royal guard,
and borne off to the alcazar of Segovia.[1231] He was not to be allowed
to leave the fortress day or night; but as much indulgence was shown to
him as was compatible with this strict confinement; and he was permitted
to take with him the various retainers who composed his household, and
to maintain his establishment in prison. But what indulgence could
soften the bitterness of a captivity far from kindred and country, with
the consciousness, moreover, that the only avenue from his prison
conducted to the scaffold!

In his extremity, Montigny looked around for the means of effecting his
own escape; and he nearly succeeded. One, if not more, of the Spaniards
on guard, together with his own servants, were in the plot. It was
arranged that the prisoner should file through the bars of a window in
his apartment, and lower himself to the ground by means of a rope
ladder. Relays of horses were provided to take him rapidly on to the
seaport of Santander, in the north, whence he was to be transported in a
shallop to St. Jean de Luz. The materials for executing his part of the
work were conveyed t