Katherine pleaded warmly:
"There is a man in prison at this hour for whom I would implore your
clemency. His name is Fran?ois Villon. Last night he wounded Thibaut
d'Aussigny--"
Villon smiled a contented smile.
"Thereby making room for me," he suggested.
Katherine went on unheeding:
"The penalty is death. But Thibaut was a traitor sold to Burgundy."
"Did this Villon fight him for his treason?"
"No. He fought for the sake of a woman. He risked his life with a
light heart because a woman asked him."
"How do you know all this?"
"Because I was the woman. This man had seen me, thought he loved me,
sent me verses--"
"How insolent!"
"It was insolence--and yet they were beautiful verses. I was in
mortal fear of Thibaut d'Aussigny. I went to this Villon and begged
him to kill my enemy. He backed his love tale with his sword--and he
lies in the shadow of death. It is not just that he should suffer
for my sin."
Villon turned suddenly upon the beautiful suppliant. A thought had
come into his brain so whimsical and so fantastic that it made him
as dizzy for an instant as if the smooth grass beneath him had
yawned into a sheer and evil precipice.
Pages:
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137