At the lavish feast, Marguerite cannot taste the food as she watches Queen Marguerite, who appears solemn and unmoved by the entertainments. When the Queen abruptly leaves during the performance, Marguerite fears Roberval has poisoned her chances—but the Queen instructs Lady Katherine to bring Marguerite to her gold chamber.

Presented before the enthroned Queen, Marguerite learns that Her Majesty has already written her story based on Roberval's account. Cleverly flattering the Queen's pride in her scholarship, Marguerite asks her to read it first. The Queen privately reassures her that she praises Marguerite's suffering rather than her sins. The Queen reads a sanitized tale: a base artisan betrayed Roberval, his wife pleaded for his life, they were marooned, the husband died, the wife lived piously fighting lions, and Roberval's men eventually rescued her.

Unable to bear the lie, Marguerite contradicts the Queen, insisting Roberval abandoned her and that Basque fishermen rescued her. The Queen is offended at being contradicted, but Marguerite—rather than retreat—bares her true story: her husband devoured by a white bear, the deaths of Damienne and her newborn, her rage, despair, near-madness, and her struggle to find faith through the Psalms.

Moved, the Queen confesses she too has known doubt and despair, declaring that those who endure the worst have the most to teach. She asks how she might reward Marguerite. Marguerite asks nothing for herself, instead requesting funds for Claire's dowry to enter the convent at Nontron, presenting the recovered signet ring as proof of their bond. The Queen grants the dowry.

Pressed further, Marguerite boldly proposes founding a school for girls—including poor orphans—to teach reading and writing alongside scripture. Though the Queen questions the practicality, she ultimately presents Marguerite with a heavy silver casket of gold écus and promises a royal charter for the school. Afterward, Marguerite changes out of her finery, washes off the cosmetics, and carries her treasures up to her chamber, holding her future in her hands.