The morning after the banquet, Marguerite tells Damienne she hopes Roberval's voyage will restore their fortunes. Damienne is skeptical. Alys announces that Roberval has summoned Marguerite, who hurries to him. Roberval receives her courteously, explaining he is soon to return to court for a royal commission. When Marguerite asks where she will live and whether she can bring her companions, Roberval says she will stay with him. When she ventures to ask for funds to live on, he is affronted.

Roberval leads her to a small chapel-turned-office, where his dark-eyed secretary works among books. Roberval orders the secretary to give her a beautifully bound copy of Clément Marot's Psalms of David, telling her she will live on these verses. Marguerite is bitterly disappointed, having needed money, not a book. The secretary observes her disappointment and quietly defends the gift's beauty. She privately asks him about Roberval's commission, but he does not answer.

Damienne scolds Marguerite for questioning the secretary. That evening, Marguerite bribes Alys with a silver coin to learn what she can. Alys reveals Roberval is to be Viceroy of New France. Over the following days, creditors hammer at the doors demanding payment, exposing Roberval's deep debt. The grooms claim he is not home, and one night Marguerite hears him ride away.

The next morning, the house is silent—Roberval has fled. Marguerite slips into his great room and encounters the secretary, who says he too will follow. He insists Roberval gave her the Psalms because he is devout, though Marguerite notes the absence of priests and altars, hinting at Reformist sympathies. Pressed, the secretary reveals Roberval's commission: to establish colonies in New France and propagate the Catholic faith, but he must recruit colonists who fear the deadly wilderness, hostile warriors, and unconsecrated ground where the dead are forgotten. Marguerite realizes the secretary too must sail, and senses his unease, though he warns her that his master has been good to him.