"'Tis a little price to pay for my lover."
Villon looking up into her eyes, questioned her:
"Do you think I'm worth it, Kate? 'Tis a big price to pay for this poor anatomy."
She repeated her words.
"'Tis a little price to pay for my lover. Do you doubt me?"
Unheeded a man-at-arms pushed his way through the crowd to the king's dais and whispered some words in the ear of Noel le Jolys, who in turn whispered in the ear of Olivier and Olivier hearing, grew paler than before. Villon caught Katherine by the hand.
"No, Kate, no! The world is wide, our hearts are light. For a star has fallen to me from heaven and it fills the earth with glory."
His words fell on the king's ears like the voice of an oracle. Standing in his place with staring eyes and trembling fingers, he repeated falteringly the mystic words.
"A star has fallen from heaven. My dream, my dream!"
Olivier plucked at his mantle, whispering with twitching lips: