And when the king's smile is turned to a frown, the fashion of the court is to frown, too.
So Columbus had no friends at the king's court.

Diego, his eldest son, was still one of the royal pages, but he could do nothing.

Without friends, without influence, without opportunity, Columbus began to feel that he should never get his rights unless he could see the king himself.

And sick though he was he determined to try it.
It must have been sad enough to see this sick old man drag himself feebly to the court to ask for justice from the king whom he had enriched.

You would think that when King Ferdinand really saw Columbus at the foot of the throne, and when he remembered all that this man had done for him and for Spain, and how brave and persistent and full of determination to do great things the Admiral once had been, he would at least have given the old man what was justly due him.
But he would not.