"You speak truly, Monsieur Plouernel. Yes, the invention of the press bears the mark of God's hand," observed John Calvin. "But the night advances. Our friends are surely waiting for us. Let us move on, and join them."
With Gaspard of Coligny on one side, and the Viscount of Plouernel on the other, John Calvin, the great promoter of the new doctrines, proceeded to climb the slope of the hill of Montmartre.
Much to his regret, the extreme astonishment that the affable words of the descendant of the Plouernels threw him into, deprived Christian of the power to formulate an answer. He followed John Calvin in silence, without noticing that, for some time, Prince Charles of Gerolstein was examining him with increasing attention. This seigneur, a man in the full vigor of life, tall of stature, of a strong but open countenance, fell a little behind his friends and joined Christian, whom he thus addressed after walking a few steps beside him:
"Believe me, monsieur, if, a minute ago, I failed to render just praise, as my friends did, to the courageous hospitality you accorded John Calvin, I do not, therefore, appreciate any the less the generosity of your conduct. It was that your name fell strangely upon my senses. It awoke within me numerous recollections—family remembrances."
"My name, Prince?"
"Spare me that princely title. Christ said: 'All men are equal before God.' We are all brothers. Your name is Lebrenn? Is Armorican Brittany the cradle of your family?"
"Yes, monsieur. It is."
"Did your family live near the sacred stones of Karnak, before the conquest of Gaul by Julius Caesar?"
Christian looked at Charles of Gerolstein without attempting to conceal his astonishment at meeting a stranger acquainted with incidents that ran back so many centuries in his family's history. The Prince pursued his interrogatory:
"Towards the middle of the Eighth Century, one of your ancestors, Ewrag by name, and son of Vortigern, one of the most intrepid defenders of the independence of Brittany, and grandson of Amael, who knew Charlemagne, left his native land to take up his home in the lands of the far North."