A despatch had just arrived, addressed to Monseigneur the king’s lieutenant-general: it was from the lords of Berne. The lieutenant-general knew well the value of Swiss intervention. Had not four hundred of them, at the battle of Sesia, after Bayard’s death, checked, by their impetuosity and the sacrifice of their lives, the army of the allies? Monseigneur du Peyrat determined, therefore, to support the prayer of the Bernese, and gave the city secretary the necessary instructions. The effect of the despatch was still greater upon Thomas de la Maisonneuve. Now there could be no more delays! Impatient to see his brother at liberty, imagining that he would succeed better by hurrying the affair, he would not wait a day or an hour. He should have considered that haste increases the chances of failure, and that the impatient man compromises both his character and his cause; but he could see nothing but Baudichon’s sufferings and the injury done to the Genevese reformation by his captivity. He was no longer master of himself: he wanted that very instant to deliver his brother from the jaws of the lion. ‘Set him free immediately,’ he said, ‘so that we may be able to answer the lords of Berne by the courier who is ready to return.’ The vicars-general answered curtly: ‘We are in course to order it, as is right.’[532] This cold formula appeared of evil omen to Thomas, and from that hour his fears increased. On the other hand, Baudichon, informed of what was going on, took courage; and the judges, fully aware that it would not do to condemn on suspicious evidence a man who had such powerful supporters, determined to entice Maisonneuve craftily into some heretical declaration.