Rodrigo's advance of the wedding causes Telmo and Lucía to be forced to flee. But Jimena, always on alert, conveys her suspicions to Rodrigo and he has no choice but to put Lucía on the ropes: as a wedding gift, the king will save the beguines from the bonfire. This is how Lucía becomes the Marchioness of Peñarrosa, much to Telmo's immense pain. But Gonzalo is not willing to let the freed women be freed from eternal fire and does everything possible to have them condemned in the auto-da-fé.