As Halla finds herself confronted by Alver, she is further dismayed to realize that Aunt Malva has also invaded the house. Malva mockingly informs her that Sarkis has left with Bartholomew and the scholar Nolan. Halla feels crushed, as if she is right back where she started: imprisoned in her great-uncle’s house. When Alver approaches, she recoils in disgust. Malva claims that Bartholomew told them to come, knowing that Alver was the only one who would still want Halla. Alver insists that once she is pregnant with his child, she will marry him to avoid accusations of “illegitimacy.”

Seeing an opportunity, Halla lies and claims that she and Sarkis were lovers and that she is pregnant with his child. Malva slaps her, and Halla slaps her back. Alver restrains Halla while Malva ties her wrists with rope. They lock her in an unused servant’s room, where she discovers an imprisoned Zale. Zale explains that they were conducting an inventory in the attic when Malva and Alver arrived; after overhearing the pair’s plans for Halla, Zale confronted them and was captured.

Halla clarifies to Zale that she is not actually pregnant. Zale theorizes that Sarkis’s “seed” would return to