At the gates of Aix she found the clergy, the nobility, and the chief magistrates, who received her respectfully but with no signs of enthusiasm.  As the queen advanced, her astonishment increased as she saw the coldness of the people and the solemn, constrained air of the great men who escorted her.  Many anxious thoughts alarmed her, and she even went so far as to fear some intrigue of the King of Hungary.  Scarcely had her cortege arrived at Castle Arnaud, when the nobles, dividing into two ranks, let the queen pass with her counsellor Spinelli and two women; then closing up, they cut her off from the rest of her suite.  After this, each in turn took up his station as guardian of the fortress.

There was no room for doubt:  the queen was a prisoner; but the cause of the manoeuvre it was impossible to guess.  She asked the high dignitaries, and they, protesting respectful devotion, refused to explain till they had news from Avignon.  Meanwhile all honours that a queen could receive were lavished on Joan; but she was kept in sight and forbidden to go out.  This new trouble increased her depression:  she did not know what had happened to Louis of Tarentum, and her imagination, always apt at creating disasters, instantly suggested that she would soon be weeping for his loss.

But Louis, always with his faithful Acciajuoli, had after many fatiguing adventures been shipwrecked at the port of Pisa; thence he had taken route for Florence, to beg men and money; but the Florentines decided to keep an absolute neutrality, and refused to receive him.  The prince, losing his last hope, was pondering gloomy plans, when Nicholas Acciajuoli thus resolutely addressed him: 

“My lord, it is not given to mankind to enjoy prosperity for ever:  there are misfortunes beyond all human foresight.  You were once rich and powerful, and you are now a fugitive in disguise, begging the help of others.  You must reserve your strength for better days.  I still have a considerable fortune, and also have relations and friends whose wealth is at my disposal:  let us try to make our way to the queen, and at once decide what we can do.  I myself shall always defend you and obey you as my lord and master.”

The prince received these generous offers with the utmost gratitude, and told his counsellor that he placed his person in his hands and all that remained of his future.  Acciajuoli, not content with serving his master as a devoted servant, persuaded his brother Angelo, Archbishop of Florence, who was in great favour at Clement VI’s court, to join with them in persuading the pope to interest himself in the cause of Louis of Tarentum.  So, without further delay, the prince, his counsellor, and the good prelate made their way to the port of Marseilles, but learning that the queen was a prisoner at Aix, they embarked at Acque-Morte, and went straight to Avignon.  It soon appeared that the pope had a real affection and esteem for the character of the Archbishop of Florence, for Louis was received with paternal kindness at the court of Avignon; which was far more than he had expected:  when he kneeled before the sovereign pontiff, His Holiness bent affectionately towards him and helped him to rise, saluting him by the title of king.