Protestantism in France From Death of Francis I to Edict of Nantes - James Aitken Wylie

in them that confidence which was absolutely
necessary for his own designs."[2] After the
repeated violations of treaties, Pacifications, and
oaths on the part of Catherine and her son, it was
no easy matter to overcome the deeply-rooted
suspicions of men who had so often smarted from
the perfidy of the king and his mother. But
Catherine and Charles dissembled on this occasion
with an adroitness which even they had never
shown before. Admiral de Coligny was the first to
be won. He was proverbial for his wariness, but, as
sometimes happens, he was now conquered on the
point where he was strongest. Setting out from La
Rochelle, in despite of the tears and entreaties of
his wife, he repaired to Blois (September, 1571),
where the court was then residing. On entering the
presence of the king, Coligny went on his knee, but
Charles raised and embraced him, calling him his
father. The return of the warrior to court put him
into a transport of joy. "I hold you now," exclaimed
the king; "yes, I hold you, and you shall not leave
me again; this is the happiest day of my life." "It is
remarkable," says the Popish historian Davila, after
relating this, "that a king so young should know so
306