think that unbecoming which He, who was their Lord and
Master, did for our example when He washed the feet of His apostles. I
doubt not you would very unwillingly perform what the King of England
does; for on Holy Thursday he washes the feet of lepers.'

'Oh, sire,' cried Joinville, in a conclusive tone, 'never will I wash
the feet of such fellows.'

'Now, seneschal,' resumed Louis, still more seriously, 'let me ask you
another question. Whether would you be a leper, or have committed a
deadly sin?'

'Sire,' answered Joinville, frankly, 'rather than be a leper, I would
have committed thirty deadly sins.'

'How could you make such an answer?' said Louis, reproachfully.

'Sire,' exclaimed Joinville, with decision, 'if I were to answer again,
I should repeat the same thing.'

'Nevertheless,' urged Louis, with earnestness, 'you deceive yourself on
the subject; for no leprosy can be so awful as deadly sin, and the soul
that is guilty of such is like the devil in hell.'

It was when the conversation between the King of France and the Lord of
Joinville had reached this stage, that Walter Espec, guided by the
English knight, made his appearance, not without exhibiting symptoms of
agitation when he found himself face to face with the monarch, who, of
all the princes of Christendom, enjoyed, at that period, the highest
reputation in Europe and the East.

But the appearance and aspect of Louis were not such as to daunt or
dismay.

Nothing could have been more plain and simple than the dress worn by the
royal chief of the crusaders. Indeed it was plain and simple to
affectation; and the coat of camlet, the surcoat of tyretaine, the
mantle of black sandal, contrasted remarkably with the splendid garments
of princes who were his contemporaries, especially Henry, King of
England, who, like most of the Plantagenets, was given to magnificence
of attire, and generally regarded as by far the greatest dandy in his
dominions. Nor had Louis been endowed by nature with the qualities which
please the eye and impress the imagination. His figure, it is true, was
tall and well proportioned; but his face and features were not
calculated to dazzle. When compared with men of such noble presence and
regal air as our English Edwards and Henrys, he was decidedly plain. He
had the peculiar face and slanting features which distinguished so many
of the descendants of Hugh Capet, and that large long straight nose,
which, instead of keeping the G