lucrecia, now 32, is an english-born beauty with a scandalous reputation, who married the count’s son when she was 18 and was unfaithful to her husband during their marriage, having an affair with a parisian painter. confronting her, the count of albrit, who opposed the match, tells her she killed his son, who died of sadness, loneliness, and shame brought on by her infidelity. lucrecia replies that life is complicated, as are the emotions between men and women. in any case, she vehemently refuses to discuss the matter of her daughter’s paternity.