In 1119 he married Alice, daughter of the Earl of Anjou. A year later he accompanied his father to Harfleur for the purpose of embarking for England. The king set {070}sail the same night, leaving the prince to follow in the "White Ship" the finest vessel in the Norman navy. William went on board with a gay party of young friends, and ordered three casks of wine to be given to the ship's crew. This was a mistake, for the sailors were, for the most part, intoxicated when they sailed. Prince William, desiring to overtake the rest of the fleet, ordered his captain to put up all his sails, and the "White Ship" went rushing through the water with such dangerous speed, that she suddenly struck a rock and began to sink. All was terror and confusion. The life-boat was launched, and the young heir of England, with several of his companions, got into it, and would probably have been able to row back to the Norman shore in safety; but the cries of his half-sister calling on him for assistance reached his ear. He commanded the boat back, and as soon as it neared the ship, such numbers sprang into it that it immediately sank. Out of three hundred persons who embarked on the ill-fated vessel only one escaped to tell the sad tale. This was a poor butcher, who climbed to the top of the mast, and was rescued next morning by some fishermen. The report of the disaster reached England next day, but there was nobody bold enough to carry it to the king, so for three days he was left in suspense. At length his private little page was selected to break the news to the bereaved father. Entering the room with pattering steps and a sorrowful mien, the child knelt down at Henry's feet and told him of the dreadful catastrophe. He sank upon the floor in a swoon, from which he did not recover for many minutes. In all his life Henry I. was never known to smile again. [[A.D. 1120.]] Three years after the death of Queen Matilda he married Adelicia of Louvaine, surnamed the Fair Maid of Brabant, a lady of distinguished beauty and rare {071} [Illustration: 0075] {073}talent. She occupied the English throne too short a time for us to devote a separate chapter to her reign. She was a good, kind stepmother to the little Empress Matilda, and took excellent care of her. But she could not have been very happy as the wife of Henry I., because his troubles made him such a cross, melancholy old man that even his greatest nobles were afraid to approach him. He died in Normandy in 1135, and three years later Adelicia married William de Albini. She had seven children after her second marriage, from one of whom by lineal descent were two of the most unfortunate of all the queens of England,--Anna Boleyn and Katherine Howard. [Illustration: 0077] {074} CHAPTER V. MATILDA OF BOULOGNE, QUEEN OF STEPHEN A.D.1106-1151.