Note 620 — Chapter XVI · 1594-1598

Great obscurity still surrounds the case. Apart from his own alleged confession, Lopez’s condemnation depended upon the declarations of the double spies who were his accomplices, and he solemnly asserted his innocence on the scaffold. I have carefully examined all the evidence—much of it hitherto unknown—and although there is no space to enter into the matter here, I am personally convinced that the service that Lopez was to render was to poison Don Antonio—not the Queen—and bring about some sort of modus vivendi between England and Spain.