could be subverted by a foreign force. Writing under the signature of 'Nauris,' from Paris, to one Nicholas Berden alias Thomas Rogers on 31 January 1588 he observed, in reference to the anticipated triumph of the Spanish Armada: When the day of invasion happens, the proudest Councillor or Minister in England will be glad of the favour of a Catholic gentleman. In the same letter he stated that all Walsingham's alphabets or ciphers had been interpreted by him. Brussels In March 1588 Paget entered the service of the Philip II of Spain, and went to live in Brussels, where he remained for the next eleven years. His name appears in the list of English exiles in Flanders who refused to sign the address of the English fathers of the Society of Jesus. He continued his correspondence: I am incited to boldness with you by your favour to my nephew Paget, and the good report I hear of your sweet nature, modesty, and wisdom. I desire ardently to do a service agreeable both to the queen and the king of Spain. I am under obligation to the one as an English subject, and to the other as a catholic prince who has relieved me in my banishment. He added that His Highness ' was willing to treat with allies, and particularly with the queen, that the crowns of England and Spain might return to their old amity On 27 April 1598 Paget wrote from Liège to Thomas Barnes in London: I am unspeakably comforted that the queen inclines to listen to my humble suit. The profits of my land are worth £200 a year to myself; it is a lordship called Weston-upon-Trent. ... I cannot capitulate with the Queen; but the greater my offence has been, the greater is her mercy in pardoning and restoring me to my blood and living, showing the liberality which makes her famous, and obliging me to spend my life at her feet. Paris and the Scottish faction The English Catholic exiles eventually split into two parties, the one, called the Spanish faction, supporting the claims of Isabella Clara Eugenia, Infanta of Spain, to the English crown, while the other, denominated the Scottish faction, advocated the right of James VI of Scotland. Paget was the acknowledged head of the Scottish faction, and in 1599 he threw up his employment under the King of Spain, and returned