Toussaint was waiting for her. Having reached the capital under an assumed name, the young evangelist at first kept himself in concealment. On hearing of the arrival of the sister of Francis, he asked permission to see her in private; and the princess, as was her custom, received him with great kindness. What a contrast for this poor man, just rescued from the cruel talons of the abbot of St. Antoine, to find himself in the palace of St. Germain, where Margaret’s person, her urbanity, wit, lively piety, indefatigable zeal, love of letters, and elegance, charmed all who came near her! Toussaint, like the poet, was never tired of admiring A sweetness living in her beauteous face Which does the fairest of her sex eclipse, A lively wit, of learning ample store, And over all a captivating grace, Whether she speaks, or silent are her lips.[511] One thing, however, charmed Toussaint still more: it was the true piety which he found in Margaret. She treated him with the kindness of a christian woman, and soon put him at his ease. ‘The most illustrious Duchess of Alençon,’ he wrote, ‘has received me with as much kindness as if I had been a prince or the person who was dearest to her.[512] I hope,’ he added, ‘that the Gospel of Christ will soon reign in France.’[513] The duchess, on her part, touched with the faith of the young evangelist, invited him to come again and see her the next day. He went and he went again; he had long and frequent conversations with Margaret on the means of propagating the Gospel everywhere.[514] ‘God, by the light of his Word,’ he said, ‘must illumine the world, and by the breath of his Spirit must transform all hearts. The Gospel alone, Madame, will bring into regular order all that is confused.’--‘It is the only thing that I desire,’ replied Margaret.[515] She believed in the victory of truth; it seemed to her that the men of light could not be conquered by the men of darkness. The new life was about to rise like the tide, and erelong cover with its wide waves the arid _landes_ of France. Margaret espied tongues of fire, she heard eloquent voices, she felt swelling hearts throbbing around her. Everything was stirring in that new and mysterious world which enraptured her imagination. It was to inaugurate this new era, so full of light, of faith, of liberty, that her brother had been delivered from the prisons of Charles V. ‘Ah!’ she said to Toussaint in their evangelical conversations, ‘it is not only myself that desires the triumph of the Gospel; even the king wishes for it.[516] And, believe me, our mother (Louisa of Savoy!) will not oppose our efforts.[517] The king,’ she protested to the young man, ‘is coming to Paris to secure the progress of the Gospel--if, at least, the war does not prevent him.’[518] Noble illusions! Certain ideas on this subject, in accord with his policy, were running, no doubt, in the king’s mind; but at that time Francis was thinking of nothing but