"So you still suffer great pain?" said Théodore to Calvin.
"The sufferings of the damned, a Catholic would say," replied the Reformer, with the bitterness that colored his least remarks. "Ah! I am going fast, my son, and what will become of you when I am gone?"
"We will fight by the light of your writings," said Chaudieu.
Calvin smiled; his purple face assumed a more gracious expression, and he looked kindly on Chaudieu.
"Well, have you brought me any news?" he asked. "Have they killed a great many of us?" he added, with a smile, and a sort of mocking glee sparkled in his brown eyes.
"No," said Chaudieu; "peace is the order of the day."
"So much the worse, so much the worse!" cried Calvin. "Every form of peace would be a misfortune if it were not always, in fact, a snare. Our strength lies in persecution. Where should we be if the Church took up the Reformation?"
"Indeed," said Théodore, "that is what the Queen-mother seems inclined to do."
"She is quite capable of it," said Calvin. "I am studying that woman."
"From hence?" cried Chaudieu.