The priest turned a deaf ear to the entreaties of an old man pleading for food. At this, several of the clergymen in attendance become enraged. He goes on to say that he entered a cottage where a man cursed the soil that could barely pay his taxes, against God and against man. He focuses on Maddalena and comments on her beautiful features and the compassionate soul that is inside her. He tells her not to scorn his words nor love itself.
Love is the soul and life of the world.
From a distance, voices are heard decrying the miserable conditions in which the lower classes live. The countess looks over the group and asks who has let them in. The Countess assuages her conscience by commenting on her gifts to the poor and the fact that she dresses humbly to avoid embarrassing them. She composes herself and the Gavotte continues. In the background, the cry of the peasants is heard as the act closes.