The Governess tells the audience that she has heard that the poison has spread throughout the city and that the Governess's father has worked himself into a fit of anger. She is horrified at the thought of her father's death, and she begs him to stop the execution. She tells him that he is the one who broke into the house and stole the ring. She asks him why he came back, and he tells her that he picked up the ring on the roadside. He says that he was going to say that he had picked it up on the side of the road, but that he put it on the road because he had gotten it wrong. He asks if he would allow innocent people to be killed. She says that it is impossible for her to allow such a thing to happen, because most of her power is still with her father. She also says that she is the person who told the truth about the ring, and it is her fault that she lied to the people. She begs him not to hurt his mother any further, and tells him to cease and desist.