for the
coming of the king, when the prince could accompany his father, if his
presence could be spared in Castile. But this explanation served only to
irritate Carlos the more; and, drawing his dagger, he turned suddenly on
the duke, exclaiming, "You shall not go; if you do, I will kill you." A
struggle ensued,--an awkward one for Alva, as to have injured the
heir-apparent might have been construed into treason. Fortunately, being
much the stronger of the two, he grappled with Carlos, and held him
tight, while the latter exhausted his strength in ineffectual struggles
to escape. But no sooner was the prince released, than he turned again,
with the fury of a madman, on the duke, who again closed with him, when
the noise of the fray brought in one of the chamberlains from an
adjoining room; and Carlos, extricating himself from the iron grasp of
his adversary, withdrew to his own apartment.[1442]

Such an outrage on the person of his minister was regarded by Philip as
an indignity to himself. It widened the breach, already too wide,
between father and son; and so great was this estrangement, that, when
living in the same palace, they seem to have had no communication with
each other.[1443] Much of Philip's time, however, at this period, was
passed at the Escorial, where he was watching over the progress of the
magnificent pile which was to commemorate the victory of St. Quentin.
But, while in his retreat, the ministers placed about his son furnished
the king with faithful reports of his proceedings.

[Sidenote: PROJECT OF FLIGHT.]

Such was the deplorable state of things, when Carlos came to the fatal
determination to escape from the annoyances of his present position by
flying to some foreign land. To what country is not certainly known;
some say to the Netherlands, others to Germany. The latter, on the
whole, seems the most probable; as in the court of Vienna he would meet
with his promised bride, and friends who would be sure to welcome him.

As he was destitute of funds for such a journey, he proposed to raise
them through a confidential agent, one of his own household, by
obtaining loans from different cities. Such a reckless mode of
proceeding, which seemed at once to proclaim his purpose, intimated too
plainly the heedlessness of his character, and his utter ignorance of
affairs.

But while these negotiations were in progress, a circumstance occurred,
exhibiting the conduct of Carlos in such a light that it m