The hour for battle is at hand."
Louis shrugged his shoulders.
"You have done me a good turn, gossip," he said, "and may ask any
grace of me except your life. That depends on your lady."
Villon looked over at the corner where his old boon companions were
huddled together, the miserable centre of a circle of soldiers.
"Sire," he said; "grant me the lives of those rascals. They shall
ride with me and fight for France to-night. It is better than making
them play bob-apple on the evil tree."
The king whispered a few words to Tristan, and Tristan very
reluctantly gave the order of liberation. The comrades of the
Cockleshell were freed of their bonds and bade to stand apart, under
guard and out of earshot, to wait on destiny for future commands. At
this moment Louis, glancing upwards, caught sight between the flower
vases on the terrace of a gleam of crimson, the crimson silk of a
woman's robe. It betrayed the presence of Katherine de Vaucelles,
who had come hard upon the hour of nine to seek for her lover, but
who paused irresolute at the head of the stairs, noting the presence
of the king. Louis beckoned to her amicably, and she began slowly to
descend the staircase.
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