The Bishop said, “They will not deliver the Queen to thee, Lord, excepting thou wilt declare upon thine honor that no harm shall befall her. For it is said of all that the life of the Queen is in danger from thee. Yet she is an honorable lady and as pure to thee as the day upon which she came to thee. For she is free from sin or from guilt of any sort. Wherefore, unless thou wilt declare that no harm shall befall the life of the Queen and wilt declare that same in writing, she will not be returned, but otherwise they will lay down their lives to guard her safety.” Then the King sat with his fist upon his forehead, and he considered for a long time what the Bishop had said, and at last he said, as in a smothered voice, “Well, then, let the Queen be delivered to me at Camelot, and I upon my part shall promise that no harm shall be done to her life, either to threaten it or to deprive her of it.” The Bishop said, “Let me have that in writing.” And the King said, “I will do so.” So the King called to him his scribe and he had him write those words; to wit, that if the Queen would return to him, no harm should befall or threaten her life in any way. And the King signed and sealed that document and the Bishop took it with him and entered the Castle of Joyous Gard. [Sidenote: _The Bishop grieveth for the Queen._] Thus the Bishop came before Sir Launcelot and his kindred, and Queen Guinevere was with them at that time. And the Bishop looked at the face of the Queen and he beheld that it was all white and wan with sorrow and that her eyelids were red with continual weeping. And the Bishop was very sorry for the Queen and for her sadness. So the Bishop came to her and took her by the hand and he said to her, “Lady, stint thy sorrow, for the time of sorrow is passed. For here am I with this document that saith that no harm or injury of any kind shall be meditated against thy life, but if thou wilt return to the King all shall be forgiven thee. For wit you well that the King is determined that you shall return to him, even if it cometh to the tearing down of this castle stone from stone.” Then the Queen took the document that the Bishop had and she read it very carefully, and when she had ended she said, “Lord Bishop, how is this? I see here that mine own safety is provided for, but that the safety of no one else is mentioned. How of those good worthy knights and gentlemen who have endangered their safety in my behalf; where is their safety provided for in this parchment?” Quoth the Bishop, “I will bespeak the King that point. Meantime, do you remain here without endeavoring either to attack or to escape.” She said, “I will remain here in peace until this time to-morrow.”