"But come to the point! What did the king say ?" "He did not entirely accept the message of the stars," returned Lilly.
"He does not seem to object to war.

He says there is no time when it is as easy to raise money from the people as in times of war.

I suggested that money in the nation's treasury was not in the privy purse, where the king most wants it.

But he said it was only a short journey from the treasury to the privy purse, and--well, I agreed with him.

If you want to convert a vain, stubborn fool to your way of thinking, don't let him know what your way is." "So the stars have failed ?" asked the Abbe.
"No," returned Lilly, "they have put the king to thinking, but more, they have sowed the seeds of fear, a plant which grows rapidly in a coward's heart by night." "But not rapidly enough to suit our purposes, I fear," returned the Abbe.
"Yes," insisted Lilly.