Act II. In the Garden of Chenonçeaux, _Queen Marguerite de Valois

receives _Valentine_, daughter of the _Count de St. Bris_. The _Queen_ knows of her rescue from the students by _Raoul_. Desiring to put an end to the differences between Huguenots and Catholics, which have already led to bloodshed, she has conceived the idea of uniting _Valentine_, daughter of one of the great Catholic leaders, to _Raoul_. _Valentine_, however, was already pledged to _de Nevers_. It was at the _Queen's_ suggestion that she visited _de Nevers_ and had him summoned from the banquet in order to ask him to release her from her engagement to him--a request which, however reluctantly, he granted.

Here, in the Gardens of Chenonçeaux, _Valentine_ and _Raoul_ are, according to the Queen's plan, to meet again, but she intends first to receive him alone. He is brought in, the bandage is removed from his eyes, he does homage to the _Queen_, and when, in the presence of the leaders of the Catholic party, _Marguerite de Valois_ explains her purpose and her plan through this union of two great houses to end the religious differences which have disturbed her reign, all consent.

_Valentine_ is led in. _Raoul_ at once recognizes her as the woman of his adventure but also, alas, as the woman whom _de Nevers_ met in the garden during the banquet. Believing her to be unchaste, he refuses her hand. General consternation. _St. Bris_, his followers, all draw their swords. _Raoul's_ flashes from its sheath. Only the _Queen's_ intervention prevents bloodshed.