"You are men of the Golden Age; and those who are most irreproachable in their own sight find their self-esteem debased and saddened when they compare themselves with your ideal. Yet it is not possible that all of your party should be such as you are. That you, who are the head and the heart of the religion, should keep a close and strict watch upon your purposes and your acts is necessary and beneficial; but if I throw myself into your cause, it will not be as a leader, but as a common soldier simply. Stains upon the soul only are indelible; those upon the hand may be washed away. I will be your hand,--that's all. I venture to ask, Have you the right to refuse the aid of this bold and daring hand?" "No," said Coligny; "and we accept it here and now, my friend." "And I will stake my life that it will rest upon the hilt of your sword as pure and unstained as it is valiant," added Theodore de Bèze. "The very hesitation," said La Renaudie, "which our rather rough and exacting words caused in your scrupulous heart is our sufficient guarantee. We know how to judge men's characters." "Thanks, gentlemen," said Gabriel,--"thanks from my heart for not depriving me of the confidence of which I am so much in need in the hard task which I have before me; thanks to you especially, Monsieur l'Amiral, who have thus, as you promised, furnished me in advance with the means of punishing a breach of faith, even if committed by an anointed king. Now I am obliged to leave you, gentlemen, and I will say, not adieu, but _au revoir_. Although I may be of those who obey the course of events rather than abstract ideas, I believe, nevertheless, that the seeds you have sown to-day will bear fruit hereafter." "We hope so, for our own sakes," said Theodore de Bèze. "I must not hope so for my sake," rejoined Gabriel; "for, as I have avowed, it will be only bitter misfortune which will drive me to adopt your cause. Adieu once more, gentlemen; I must now go to the Louvre." "I will go with you," said Coligny. "I must repeat to Henri II. in your presence what I have already told him once in your absence. Kings have but short memories; and we must not allow this one to forget or to deny. I will go with you." "I should not have ventured to ask this favor of you, Monsieur l'Amiral," cried Gabriel; "but I accept your offer most gratefully." "Let us go, then," said Coligny. As soon as they had left Calvin's chamber, Theodore took his tablets, and wrote these names:-- Ambroise Paré, Gabriel, Vicomte d'Exmès. "It seems to me," said La Renaudie, "that you are a little hasty in enrolling these two men among us. They have made no promises whatever." "They are ours," replied De Bèze. "One is in search of the truth, and the other fleeing from injustice. I tell you they are ours, and I shall write Calvin to that effect." "This will have been a great day for the religion, then."