"Yes, my good lord, I know it," she said. "If I had but let our Lancelot tell the truth, perhaps he would not have been wounded. You would have called on his kinsmen to cease."
For many days the king and Guinevere waited in deep anxiety for news of Sir Lancelot. Meantime, Sir Gawain rode forth and sought for the great knight in vain. At last he came to the castle of Astolat, where he was welcomed by the lord and Sir Torre and the fair Elaine. He told them the result of the tournament, and how the stranger knight had won. They showed him Sir Lancelot's shield.
"Ah!" said Elaine, when he had told them the name of the unknown knight, "I knew that he must be great."
Sir Gawain guessed by the expression of her beautiful face that she loved Sir Lancelot. So he said:
"Fair maiden, when he returns here for his shield, give him this diamond, which is the prize he won. Perhaps he will prize it the more because you put it into his hand."
Then Sir Gawain bade them farewell and rode off, lightly singing. When he told Arthur what he had done, the king said:
"You should have done as I bade you, Gawain. Sir Lancelot deceived me about his disguise, and you have disobeyed me. The kingdom will surely fail if the king and his rules are not honored. Obedience is the courtesy due to kings."
Meanwhile the fair Elaine went to her father and said:
"Dear father, let me go and seek the wounded Sir Lancelot and my brother."
"Nay," said the lord, "it is not a fitting thing for a young maiden like you to seek a wounded knight. He is not your lover. It cannot be."