It was then, in the convent _parloir_, that the good nuns introduced this young person to de Maisonneuve, who doubtless asked her kindly, gravely and courteously, if she dared brave the ocean and live in a little settlement among rough soldiers and teach school to little Indian children of the forests, and make Christians of them, and thus do good work for God. Needless to say his offer was accepted. All necessary permissions were granted,[71] but Marguerite momentarily hesitated to give herself to the conduct of a strange gentleman whom she had only met on this occasion.
"Fear not, my child," was the reply of her spiritual adviser, who knew the integrity of the upright governor. "Put yourself in his hands as into those of one of the first knights of the Queen of Angels. Go to Ville Marie with all confidence."
Thus she arrived at St. Nazaire, the port of departure, near Nantes; but to her great surprise and pleasure she found a small group of her own sex to accompany her on the voyage--several young girls, and one or two married women accompanying their husbands. The expedition started on June 20th in the Saint Nicholas de Nantes, and barely had it made 150 leagues on its way than it was found necessary to put back to St. Nazaire, for the ship's timbers were rotten and she made water fast. At first it was thought, with so many hands on board, that by working at the pumps they could proceed, there being then over one hundred men of the Montreal party. But "having turned back at last, when they were nearing land they would have perished," says Marguerite Bourgeoys, "without the succour which, by the grace of God, the people of this place (St. Nazaire) gave us."
In the Annals of the Hôtel-Dieu, an instance is related as occurring on this voyage which illustrates the character of simplicity of M. de Maisonneuve, with whom Marguerite Bourgeoys was now to become acquainted. Madame de Chuly had taken care to provide her brother with a wardrobe of very fine linen and such lace work as gentlemen of position then wore. It happened that a few days after the ship had set sail, the package which Marguerite Bourgeoys had made of these was swept into the sea and, despite all her efforts, she was unable to recover it.