How the King sat at Camelot.
At that time King Arthur received them seated upon his throne with great dignity in the hall of the Castle at Camelot. And the throne upon which he sat was of wrought gold and was cushioned and trimmed with crimson velvet, embroidered in gold with the figures of leopards. And over above the throne was a great canopy of crimson velvet ornamented with the figures of leopards, embroidered with threads of gold. The King was clothed all in white, and he wore a gold chain studded with jewels about his neck and he wore his royal crown upon his head. Upon the left hand of the King stood seven bishops in full canonical robes, and upon his right hand was a throne like to his, and on that throne the Queen should have been seated. But she was not seated there, for otherwise it was empty.
Upon the left hand of the King, but upon the second step below the throne, sat Sir Gawaine, the beloved nephew of the King. And all about the hall were several hundred knights in full armor and armed cap-a-pie with sword and lance, so that that hall glittered and gleamed with the shine of that armor.
So King Arthur sat in state to receive the return of the Queen, and anon she came to that place where the King awaited her. First came the knights and esquires of Sir Launcelot, and these drew up in two parties extending the length of the hall, leaving a line between them. Then came Sir Launcelot and the Queen walking hand in hand up the length of that lane, and the faces of Sir Launcelot and of that lady were both of them exceedingly pale—hers with fear and his with fear for her. Behind these two came the four and twenty ladies in waiting upon the Queen, and these stopped in the midst of that lane and waited, whilst she and Sir Launcelot approached King Arthur.
So Sir Launcelot and the Queen came to the foot of the throne where sat the King, and when they had come to that spot Sir Launcelot kneeled and the Queen stood before King Arthur.
Sir Launcelot speaketh.
Quoth Sir Launcelot, “Dread Lord and King, here I bring to you your Queen as I have promised to do, and if I took her away in sorrow and in haste, then do I return her to you with ten thousand times the joy as compared to what was that sorrow, and in ten thousand times the peace and amity to what was that haste. Lord, for thirteen weeks has she dwelt at Joyous Gard with all the state and circumstance due to her royalty, and she cometh to you now as pure and as virginal as she came to you at Camilard when first you loved her at that place and she loved you. Lord, I pray you that you will take the Queen to your heart, and will cherish her there as you one time cherished her, for, excepting that you pledged me your word that no harm should befall her, she otherwise would not have been thus brought to you as she is brought to-day.”
The King rebukes Sir Launcelot.
Then King Arthur frowned until his eyes disappeared beneath his eyebrows. For a little he answered nothing, then in a little he said, “Messire, one time you were my friend and the best-beloved of all my knights, but that time is past and gone, never to return again, for now it is altogether otherwise with me and with you. Messire, I admire at your coolness and phlegm. For you took my Queen away from me by force and by force have you held her for all these several months. Many knights have died by your hand and through your instrumentality, and several of those knights were knights of my Round Table that one time held you to it in bonds of love and amity. Yet now you stand before me and recommend to me that I shall take back my Queen into my heart again. Messire, wit you not that that which hath been done can never be undone, but is and must remain altogether finished and completed? So it is with this thing that you have done; for it also is and must remain altogether finished and completed. Look you, Messire, here beside me is this throne, which is empty. So it shall remain forever empty for me, for never again shall Queen Guinevere or any other queen occupy it, for I hereby and herewith renounce her utterly and entirely. She hath withdrawn herself from my court and my bed and so she shall forever remain withdrawn from them, for never again will I take her to my heart, or place her in that estate which she once occupied.
The King sendeth the Queen to a convent.