ere will be great difficulty in calming the general perturbation of
mind."

"But what can these people want?" asked Chamillard, as if he had just
heard them spoken of for the first time, "and by what means can we
pacify them?"

"In my opinion," said the baron, "the king should allow to all his
subjects the free exercise of their religion."

"What! legalise once more the exercise of the so-called Reformed
religion!" exclaimed the minister. "Be sure you never mention such
a thing again. The king would rather see his kingdom destroyed than
consent to such a measure."

"Monseigneur," replied the baron, "if that is the case, then I must say
with great regret that I know of no other way to calm the discontent
which will ultimately result in the ruin of one of the fairest provinces
in France."

"But that is unheard-of obstinacy," said the minister, lost in
astonishment; "these people will destroy themselves, and drag their
country down with them. If they cannot conform to our religion, why do
they not worship God in their own way at home? No one will disturb them
as long as they don't insist on public worship."

"At first that was all they wanted, monseigneur; and I am convinced that
if people had not been dragged to confession and communion by force, it
would have been easy to keep them in that submissive frame of mind from
which they were only driven by despair; but at present they say that it
is not enough to pray at home, they want to be married, to have their
children baptised and instructed, and to die and be buried according to
the ordinances of their own faith."

"Where may you have seen anyone who was ever made to communicate by
force?" asked Chamillard.

D'Aygaliers looked at the minister in surprise, thinking he spoke in
joke; but seeing he was quite serious, he answered:

"Alas, monseigneur, my late father and my mother, who is still living,
are both instances of people subjected to this indignity."

"Are you, then, not a Catholic?" asked Chamillard.

"No, monseigneur," replied d'Aygaliers.

"Then how did you manage to return to France?"

"To speak the truth, sir, I only came back to help my mother to escape;
but she never could make up her mind to leave France, as such a step
was surrounded by many difficulties which she feared she could never
surmount. So she asked my other relations to persuade me to remain.
I yielded to their importunities on condition that they would never
interfere with my be