Villegagnon

Nigel Melvin comes to the Court of France with some letters to deliver. His young cousin Mary Seton is with him in the opening scene, and she introduces him to the young royals who happen to be walking in the same garden. We find that there are several with Protestant leanings even in that setting. Nigel is conducted to a house where he is to find Admiral Coligny, who is setting up an expedition to found a Protestant colony the other side of the Atlantic in the bay now known as Rio de Janeiro, and idea that had been propounded by Monsieur Villegagnon. Nigel is given command of one of the ships. They set off for Havre, where the vessels are, but on the way Nigel overhears a conversation between Villegagnon and a monk, which makes it plain that Villegagnon is no Protestant, and that there is a dubious motive in all these plans.