One day a party of the Knights of the Round Table rode into the courtyard. They were going on a great adventure, and stopped by the way to see how Sir Ivaine and his beautiful wife fared. When Sir Ivaine saw them, all his old-time love of fighting came back, and he went to his lady and begged her to let him go with the knights.
"Ah, my Ivaine," she said, "you told me that you would never leave me."
"A knight ought to seek adventures," he said. "And I will return to you."
She paused for a while and then said:
"I will let you go if you will promise to come back in a year and a day; that is, next Whitsuntide."
He gladly promised, and she said:
"If you break this promise, I will never see you again."
But Sir Ivaine was sure he would not break the promise, because he loved her too much for that.
So off he rode with the knights, followed by his faithful lion. The lady and the little maiden waved farewells to Sir Ivaine from the tower until they could no longer see him; then they again took up the life they had lived before he came to the castle.
Sir Ivaine rode with the knights for many months, and had many adventures. At last, just as the year was drawing to a close, he started homeward. On the way, however, he stopped at Arthur's Court to pay his respects to the king and the queen. They both remembered him and greeted him kindly.