And they came, in fact, but at their first meeting, "We are come," they said, "to confer with M.de La Noue, but we do not see him here." La Noue got angry.

"I am astonished," he said, "that you have so soon forgotten one who has received so many wounds and lost an arm fighting for you." "Yes, there is a M.de La Noue, who was one of us, and who bravely defended our cause; but he never flattered us with vain hopes, he never invited us to conferences to betray us." La Noue got more fiercely angry.

"All I ask of you is, to report to the senate what I have to say to them." They complied, and came back with permission for him to enter the town.

The people looked at him, as he passed, with a mixture of distrust and interest.

After hearing him, the senate rejected the pacific overtures made to them by La Noue.