- Fast forward a bit to the wedding of one of Alexandra's hired girls, Signa. The wedding has just finished and the guests are leaving—only Signa seems reluctant to leave. Finally, she and her husband take off, with two cows as a gift from Alexandra.
- When Marie complains about Signa's marriage to Nelse Jensen, who she thinks is too "grumpy," Alexandra muses aloud that Swedish girls often marry men they're afraid of, because Swedes are a practical people and they think a mean guy will keep them and the household in line (4.2.6).
- This irritates Marie, for some reason. She often gets irritated these days. She tells Emil that he doesn't need to walk her home and leaves.
- Emil runs after her to catch up. He tries to talk with her, asking if she knows how unhappy he is, or whether she really is as indifferent as she seems.
- When he asks whether she feels sorry for him, she says she doesn't. If she had his freedom, she tells him, she would skip town and have all the fun there is to have.
- He already did that, he reminds her, and all he could think about was her. Then he sits her down and asks her specifically why she ran away with Frank.
- When she replies that it was because she was in love with him, Emil is incredulous. She continues, explaining that she chose to see in him what she wanted to, and now she has to pay for it. He, on the other hand, can just leave all the drama behind and move on.
- As their conversation goes on, Emil asks her to run away with him, and she says no. The best thing is for him to go, because she can't take it anymore.
- Emil promises to leave if she will say that she loves him. Marie doesn't directly say that she loves him. "Didn't you know?" (4.2.31), she asks him.