had he known
how little Berenger felt inclined towards his party.

The royal one of course Berenger could not love, but the rigid bareness,
and, as he thought, irreverence of the Calvinist, and the want of all
forms, jarred upon one used to a ritual which retained much of the
ancient form. In the early years of Elizabeth, every possible diversity
prevailed in parish churches, according to the predilections of rector
and squire; from forms scarcely altered from those of old times, down to
the baldest, rudest neglect of all rites; and Berenger, in his country
home, had been used to the first extreme. He could not believe that what
he heard and saw among the _Sacrementaires_, as they were called, was
what his father had prized; and he greatly scandalized Sidney, the pupil
of Hubert Languet, by openly expressing his distaste and dismay when he
found their worship viewed by both Walsingham and Sidney as a model to
which the English Protestants ought to be brought.

However, Sidney excused all this as more boyish distaste to sermons and
love of externals, and Berenger himself reflected little on the subject.
The aspect of the venerable Coligny, his father's friend, did far more
towards making him a Huguenot than any discussion of doctrine. The good
old Admiral received him affectionately, and talked to him warmly of his
father, and the grave, noble countenance and kind manner won his heart.
Great projects were on foot, and were much relished by the young King,
for raising an army and striking a blow at Spain by aiding the Reformed
in the Netherlands; and Coligny was as ardent as a youth in the cause,
hoping at once to aid his brethren, to free the young King from evil
influences, and to strike one good stroke against the old national
enemy. He talked eagerly to Sidney of alliances with England, and then
lamented over the loss of so promising a youth as young Ribaumont to the
Reformed cause in France. If the marriage with the heiress could have
taken effect, he would have obtained estates near enough to some of
the main Huguenot strongholds to be very important, and these would now
remain under the power of Narcisse de Ribaumont, a determined ally of
the Guise faction. It was a pity, but the Admiral could not blame the
youth for obeying the wish of his guardian grandfather; and he owned,
with a sigh, that England was a more peaceful land than his own beloved
country. Berenger was a little nettled at this implication, and bega