The scene opens with a conversation between the Governess and her assistant. The Governess tells her assistant that she doesn't think of her husband as an affant. She's not angry with him for what he's done to her. She tells him that she'll be there for him any time he needs her. He's tired of talking to her about his marriage. He asks her if she's having sex with another man. She says that she is and that she loves her husband. He won't have sex with her, she says, but she'd still love him if he did.