if it werent for her unfliching belief in his deception , the king would doubltess have had him dispatched ; and the generous offer of her rich , delicious food , no matter how regrettable its procurement , was a gift that yodren couldnt deny not when food was so dreadfully scarce that even other scribes , not by far the most undernourished denizens of the castle , cast envious glances at the dishes he carried upon returning from the daily perpetration of his sham .