Happy Ending for the Undeserved

The answer to Queen Guinevere's question was that women want to rule over their husbands and love (not as in to completely dominate, but as a good ruler would, hence using the word "sovereignty"). During the story, we see the Knight go from being a man, who had completely taken away a maiden's choice when he raped her, to a man who willingly yielded the power over him to his much older wife. The Knight learned his lesson, but no matter how many times I read this, I still can't get over him both living and having his happy ending. Something I'm curious about is whether the old woman knew of his crime. He never tells her why he's searching for what women want, so does she know? If so, why did she want to marry him? If not, I wonder what her reaction would be?

Credit: StoryboardThat by subaca
http://www.storyboardthat.com/storyboards/subaca/the-wife-of-bath%27s-tale