The Queen passes through a moment of gloom.  She dispels it, exclaiming:  “Be it so, strike where thou wilt, O fate, I am a queen; I shall fight, if need be, until death, to uphold my cause and my womanly honor.  If my wild planet is destined to sink in a sea of blood and tears, the glittering trace I shall leave on the earth will show at least that I was worthy to be thy great queen, O brilliant Provence!”

She descends into the ship, and the rowers resume their song.  Later we arrive at Nice, where the Queen is received by an exultant throng.  She forgets the awful predictions and is utterly filled with delight.  She will visit all the cities where she is loved, her ambition is to see her flag greeted all along the Mediterranean with shouts of joy and love.  She feels herself to be a Provencale.  “Come, people, here I am; breathe me in, drink me in!  It is sweet to me to be yours, and sweet to please you; and you may gaze in love and admiration upon me, for I am your queen!”

The journey is resumed.  We pass the Isles of Gold, and the raptures are renewed.  At Marseilles the Queen is received by the Consuls, and swears solemnly to respect all the rights, customs, and privileges of the land, and the Consul exacts as the last oath that she swear to see that the noble speech of Arles shall be maintained and spoken in the land of Provence.  The act closes with the sentiment, “May Provence triumph in every way!”

The last act brings us to the great hall of the papal palace at Avignon, where the Pope is to pronounce judgment upon the Queen.  Fra Rupert, disguised as a pilgrim, harangues the throng, and two Hungarian knights are beaten in duel by Galeas of Mantua.  This duel, with its alternate cries of Dau!  Dau!  Te!  Te!  Zou!  Zou! is difficult to take seriously and reminds us of Tartarin.  The Queen enters in conversation with Petrarch.  The Hungarian knights utter bitter accusations against the Queen, who gives them in place of iron chains the golden chains about her neck, whereupon the knights gallantly declare their hearts are won forever.  The doors open at the back and we see the papal court.  Bertrand des Baux gives a hideous account of the torture and death of those who had a hand in the death of Andrea.  The Queen makes a long speech, expressing her deep grief at the calumnies and slander that beset her.  The court and people resolve themselves into a kind of opera chorus, expressing their various sentiments in song.  The Queen next reviews her life with Andrea, and concludes:—­

“And it seemed to me noble and worthy of a queen to melt with a glance the cold of the frost, to make the almond tree blossom with a smile, to be amiable to all, affable, generous, and lead my people with a thread of wool!  Yes, all the thought of my mad youth was to be loved and to reign by the power of love.  Who could have foretold that, afterward, on the day of the great disaster, all this should be made a reproach against me! that I should be accused, at the age of twenty, of instigating an awful crime!”