[2][3] Scene 1: After midnight At a Witches' Sabbath, the Vampire Master tells Lord Ruthven that if he cannot sacrifice three virgin brides within the next 24 hours, he will die.

The clock strikes one, and Ruthven's first victim, Janthe, arrives for a clandestine meeting, although she is due to marry another on the following day.

Scene 2 Aubry tries to persuade Ruthven to give up his claim to Malwina, but is again reminded of the fate that awaits if he breaks his oath.

Scene 3 Aubry is torn by his choice between breaking his oath and saving Malwina, or keeping quiet and losing her to the Vampire.

Blunt's wife Suse upbraids the men, to the delight of the onlookers, but a dishevelled George arrives, recounting how he followed Emmy and "Marsden", only to find him standing over her dead body.

Suddenly, the clock strikes one, and Aubry, released from his oath, reveals that "Marsden" is Lord Ruthven, the Vampire.

Much of the music is reminiscent of Weber: one example is the Aubry/Malwina duet whose tune also appears in the overture, and there is a marked similarity between the Witches' Sabbath and the Wolf's Glen (Freischütz).

On the other hand, Emmy's Legend of the Vampire prefigures Senta's aria about the story of the Flying Dutchman, and the identical description, "der bleiche Mann" (the pallid man), appears in both.

When his brother, who sang the part of Aubry, complained that the aria "Wie ein schöner Frühlingsmorgen" was not effective enough, Wagner replaced Marschner's original agitato ending with a new allegro of his own.