Book 3, Chapter 16
Elaine comes to court. She is young and naïve and dull, and she thinks she can make Lancelot love her. Meanwhile, Arthur is back at court, and this makes Lancelot, whose deepest feeling in life is his love of Guenever, feel that this feeling is evil. He still loves Arthur, and feels very guilty. Guenever has hurt him by not believing him when he explained about Elaine.
Guenever, knowing unconsciously of all the trouble that is to come from her relationship with Lancelot, is restless and turns mean. Arthur, finally, makes everything worse by allowing the situation to continue: he is too kind and free of jealousy to hate his wife or Lancelot. He mostly tries to pretend it isn't happening. He tries to ask Lancelot about the affair, but can't quite bring himself to do it. When Elaine arrives, Guenever tells Lancelot she will stay away from him for a while, to let him see if he could love Elaine after all, since that would be best for all of them.
Topic Tracking: Jealousy 5
Topic Tracking: Love 10
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