, was not inclined to land. In vain the queen and his
council advised him to disembark.

'No,' said he, 'I will not land till I can do so on my own territory; I
will not disembark till I arrive at Aigues Mortes.'

Everybody looked extremely disappointed.

'Seneschal,' said Louis, turning to Joinville, 'what is your opinion?'

'Sire,' replied Joinville, 'it seems to me that you ought to land; for
Madame de Bourbon, being once in this very port, put again to sea to
land at Aigues Mortes, and she was tossed about for seven long weeks
before she could make that harbour.'

'Seneschal,' said the king, 'you have persuaded me.' And soon after, to
the joy of the queen and all on board, Louis landed at Hieros, and with
Margaret and his children took up his residence in the castle, to rest
from his fatigues ere setting out for his own dominions. Indeed, the
saint-king was so weak, that Joinville had to carry him in his arms; and
for some time he could hardly support the weight of his armour, or
remain on horseback.

But Louis had yet many years of life before him; and after repairing for
a time to recruit his health at Montpellier, where then, as in after
ages, the medical science eminently flourished, he in the autumn arrived
at Vincennes, and after prostrating himself before the altar of St.
Denis and restoring the oriflamme to the abbot, he proceeded to Paris,
where he was received with profound respect. But the saint-king bore on
his brow traces of the sorrow caused by the multiplied disasters of his
expedition, and still wore the symbol of salvation on his shoulder, as
if to intimate that he was not yet done with the Holy Land.

CHAPTER XLIII.

A ROYAL VISIT.

THE countenance of the King of France did not belie his heart. He was
sad, and much more dejected than when he was in captivity and chains at
Mansourah, bullied by the Saracens, and threatened with the bernicles.
Nor was there any affectation in his continuing to wear the cross on his
shoulder; as he proved, sixteen years later, when he undertook his
ill-fated expedition to Tunis, and died, on a bed of ashes, amid the
ruins of Carthage, looking up to heaven, and exclaiming with his latest
breath, 'I will enter into Thy house; I will worship in Thy holy
tabernacle!'

Meanwhile the saint-king appeared inconsolable, and refused to be
comforted. Even the affectionate welcome accorded him by his people
failed to dispel his gloom or cheer his soul. Day and