"Not a whit. I have been translated without discredit from the tavern to the palace, and if the worse comes to the worst, I may say with the dying Caesar, 'Applaud me.'"
The king grinned sardonically.
"Will the worse come to the worst?" he piped, "How is your suit with the Lady Katherine?"
Villon's smile lingered still on his lips as he answered:
"Sire, no wise man boasts that he knows the heart of a woman, and yet, I hope for the best."
"But if you fail," the king persisted.
Villon's smile grew more philosophical. In his heart he felt fairly confident, but spoke cautiously.
"Why, then, when the housewife moon kindles her pale fire on the hearth of heaven to-morrow, I shall be quiet enough. But either way you have given me a royal week, and I have made the most of it, lived a thousand lives, eaten my cake to the last sweet crumb and have known the meaning of kingship."
Louis laughed.
"You speak as if you had reigned for a century."