"Does distance exist for the spirit?" said Calvin severely, regarding the interruption as irreverent. "Catherine longs for power, and women who aim at that lose all sense of honor and faith.—What is in the wind?"
"Well, she suggests a sort of Council," said Théodore de Bèze.
"Near Paris?" asked Calvin roughly.
"Yes."
"Ah! that is well!" said Calvin.
"And we are to try to come to an understanding, and draw up a public Act to consolidate the two Churches."
"Ah! if only she had courage enough to separate the French Church from the Court of Rome, and to create a patriarch in France, as in the Greek Church!" cried the Reformer, whose eyes glistened at this idea, which would place him on a throne. "But, my son, can a Pope's niece be truthful? She only wants to gain time."
"And do not we need time to recover from our check at Amboise, and to organize some formidable resistance in various parts of the kingdom?"
"She has sent away the Queen of Scotland," said Chaudieu.
"That is one less, then," said Calvin, as they passed through the Porte de Rives. "Elizabeth of England will keep her busy. Two neighboring queens will soon be fighting; one is handsome, and the other ugly enough—a first cause of irritation; and then there is the question of legitimacy——"