The two noblemen carry him to the country house, which is inhabited by Don Gutierre and his wife, Doña Mencía.
Mencía is recognized as the infante's former lover by Arias, but she cautions him to keep quiet, telling him that her honor depends on it.
She sends Jacinta to fetch perfumes and is left alone with Enrique and soliloquizes about her former love for him and the need for her to suppress her emotions to protect her honor.
Enrique, overcome by his emotions, demands that he and his companions leave at once, convinced that his fall was an omen of his impending death due to grief at his lover's marriage to another.
Don Gutierre, Mencía's husband, enters with his lackey Coquín and asks that Enrique honor his humble dwelling (compared to the palace) by staying there while he recovers.
Gutierre inquires as to the nature of this need, so Enrique reads a story about a friend who betrayed him in a matter of the heart, intended to be a message to Mencía explaining his pain at the news of her marriage.
After the king deals with several petitions, Leonor approaches him and explains that she is seeking justice on a matter of honor.
The king sends everyone else away, and Leonor tells the story of how Don Gutierre courted her and proposed marriage, but broke off the engagement.
The king says that he wishes to hear Gutierre's side of the story, and suggests that she hide herself behind a screen and listen while he speaks with him.
Gutierre reveals that one evening he discovered an unknown man sneaking out from the balcony of Leonor's house, and felt he was no longer able to trust her.
Mencía is alarmed to see him, saying that he is violating the honor of herself and her husband by coming to visit her alone, but Enrique claims that he thought her contributions to his false story about his traitorous friend was an invitation.
As they argue, Gutierre and Coquín return home, and Mencía orders Enrique to hide in her bedroom until she can get a door open for him to escape out of.
He hides, and Gutierre explains that the warden of the prison, a relative and friend, let him out temporarily to come see Mencía.
The next scene occurs in Seville, where the king has just returned from making his nightly incognito rounds through the city.
The King confronts Enrique, hiding Gutierre behind a wall so that he himself may hear the Prince's side of the story.
When Enrique confesses he loved Mencía, the King tries to get him to stop talking but he continues to incriminate himself in Gutierre's hearing.
However Mencía fears this will arouse suspicion amongst her neighbours, the court and of course her husband, so she writes to him begging him not to leave lest her reputation be endangered.
Once she has been drained of life, Gutierre takes Ludovico back out onto the street, intending to kill him anyway to tie up the final loose end.
Ludovico upon seeing the King informs him what has happened, and says he left a bloodied handprint on the door of the house so that he may identify it later.