Auguste weakens rapidly, unable to eat or drink. To spare him pain, Marguerite stops pleading and promises she will hunt and protect Damienne and the child. He asks about the white fox, then for his cittern, telling her to burn it since she has no use for it; she refuses. Lamenting that there is no priest, he dies in her arms despite her efforts to warm and revive him. Marguerite refuses to accept his death.

The frozen ground makes burial impossible. Determined that Auguste have a grave, Marguerite digs through snow to their empty linen trunk and, with Damienne, places his body inside, covering it with rocks and pebbles arranged into a cross. She collapses into the featherbed, sleeps deeply, and on waking briefly convinces herself his death was a dream.

The women hear scuffling outside and discover a great white bear, bloodied, that has dug up the trunk and devoured Auguste's body. Rage clarifies Marguerite's grief: she dons Auguste's cloak and boots, takes his arquebus, and despite Damienne's protests, loads and fires. Her first shot wounds the bear's shoulder; she reloads and fires again, killing it.

Even after the bear lies dead, Marguerite's fury is unsated. She rushes into the snow, takes Auguste's sword and their axe, and severs the bear's head from its body, drenching herself in blood. Her hands grow numb and her heart empty, but the killing brings no relief.