On his departure from Frankfort Knox made his way to Geneva, whither he was followed by a considerable number of those who had adhered to him in the former city. There it seems evident that he was invited by them, and probably also by others who had joined them, to resume his pastoral labours; for at the solicitation of Calvin, the Lesser Council of Geneva granted for the joint use of the English and Italian congregations the church called the Temple de Nostre Dame la Nove; and it is recorded that on the first of November, 1555, when the English Church was formed, Christopher Goodman and Arthur Gilby were "appointed to preach the word, _in the absence of John Knox_." This indicates that Knox was already recognised as one of the permanent pastors of the Church, and that just at that time he was for some reason or other, away for a long season from the scene of his labours. Where he was and what he was doing we have ample means of tracing, for in the September of that {96} year we find him back again in Scotland, for the first time since he had been taken prisoner by the French. But much as he cared for the spiritual interests of his native land, it is probable that his return to Great Britain at this time was more immediately prompted by feelings of a personal nature. We have already referred to his attachment to Marjory Bowes, daughter of Richard Bowes, and of Elizabeth Aske, of Aske, near Berwick, and Dr. Laing has given strong reasons for believing that he came now for the purpose of making her his wife. The precise date of his marriage, indeed, is uncertain. Dr. McCrie has put it in 1553, before he left England on the ground that after that date Knox invariably addressed Mrs. Bowes as his "mother" and spoke of Marjory as his "wife." The truth, however, seems to have been that owing to the strong opposition of her father and other relatives to the alliance, and also, perhaps, to the very uncertain position of the Reformer himself, in these times of unsettlement and peril, they contented themselves in 1553 with formally pledging themselves to each other "before witnesses." But now, immediately on his landing, at a point on the east shore not far from the boundary between England and Scotland, he repaired to Berwick, where he found Marjory and her mother enjoying the happiness of religious society. After this, he visited Scotland, where he laboured for some months, and the marriage may not have taken place until the time when, preparatory to their setting out for Geneva, Mrs. Bowes {97} resolved to leave all her relatives and cast in her lot with her son-in-law.