Aboard the Anne, Marguerite listens to sailors' lurid tales of sea monsters, leviathans, and shipwrecks. At the captain's table, the conversation is more sober: the Portuguese navigator Jean Alfonse, an experienced astronomer, dismisses such legends and instead fears sickness and starvation on long voyages. He judges the strong winds favorable, predicting a safe passage if they are not delayed.

The fair weather revives Damienne, who earns small payments mending shirts for officers and colonists' wives. Yet at night her despair returns, and she laments the wilderness ahead. Marguerite shares her dread of New France, where Roberval will rule unchecked and possess her. To comfort Damienne, Marguerite recites psalms and recounts stories from a remembered book of virtuous women, including Pamphile, Esther, Dido, and Ruth, before lying awake doubting her own goodness.

At dawn, Marguerite slips up to the quarterdeck and finds the secretary at the rail. They speak of providence and of the sea's hidden life. When she presses him about why he confided his lack of loyalty to Roberval, he admits he loves her, then softens it to admiration. Marguerite recoils—he is a servant, and such words are dangerous treason against her guardian.

The captain's appearance ends their conversation. That evening at dinner, Roberval boasts of subduing natives with firepower and joining Cartier in search of gold in Saguenay, while Jean Alfonse quietly punctures his confidence. The navigator estimates five more weeks at sea. When Roberval calls for music, the secretary plays, his eyes fixed earnestly on Marguerite, who realizes she can no longer ignore him.