_ 402 _ If they dissemble with me, it must be because they have been persuaded (it must be by the person who has done the other things) that regarding this request, I am more persistent than I have been commissioned to be by Your Highness, and that is what Borromeo has said to some people. It seems to me that for many reasons, I should not at present show any sign of knowing about this claim, which is so unreasonable and ignorant of its real extent, and let them indulge themselves in discourtesy and the breaking of a word so often given. If he shows more boldness in the matter, I will show more clearly its impossibility. So, I will ignore it, but if His Holiness talks to me about it, I know what to say to him, and he will hear from me, with much modesty, what he has done. While they are still unaware of what is happening in Portugal, I must have letters from Your Highness in reply to the first concession of the monastery and the negation which followed, and the concessions made again, and from what Your Highness writes about it they will understand that it is not my claim. Your Highness must be firm until the end is achieved; and with this, they will understand our side and realise the actual value, which each day they imagine to be greater. They will be clearer in their minds with the information
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