But if the king
can learn where he is, he will certainly make him surrender him:
they can rely upon this with confidence.
(Vv. 5199-5256.) They all agreed upon this plan, and started at
once upon their way until they drew near the court where the
Queen and king were. There, too, was Kay the seneschal, and that
disloyal man, full to overflowing of treachery, who has aroused
the greatest anxiety for Lancelot on the part of the party which
now arrives. They feel they have been discomfited and betrayed,
and they make great lament in their misery. It is not a gracious
message which reports this mourning to the Queen. Nevertheless,
she deports herself with as good a grace as possible. She
resolves to endure it, as she must, for the sake of my lord
Gawain. However, she does not so conceal her grief that it does
not somewhat appear. She has to show both joy and grief at once:
her heart is empty for Lancelot, and to my lord Gawain she shows
excessive joy. Every one who hears of the loss of Lancelot is
grief-stricken and distracted. The king would have rejoiced at
the coming of my lord Gawain and would have been delighted with
his acquaintance; but he is so sorrowful and distressed over the
betrayal of Lancelot that he is prostrated and full of grief.
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