ends up accepting the challenge after Stankar threatens to tell everyone that Raffaele is actually a bastard child, not a Count as he claims. Stiffelio arrives and rebukes them for fighting in a cemetery. There is an attempt at conciliation whereby the minister takes Raffaele's hand with the intention to also take Stankar's and have them shake hands. However, Stankar reveals that Stiffelio has touched the hand of the man who betrayed him! Not quite understanding at first, Stiffelio demands that the mystery be solved. As Lina returns asking her husband to forgive her, Stiffelio begins to comprehend the situation (Ah, no! È impossibile! – "No! It cannot be!"). Enraged and devastated, Stiffelio challenges Raffaele to a duel, but Raffaele refuses. Stiffelio as such decides to simply kill him instead, but as he is about to strike Raffaele, Jorg arrives to summon Stiffelio to the church. Inside the church, the congregation sings a hymn asking for forgiveness, which torments Stiffelio. Filled with conflicting emotions, Stiffelio drops his sword and asks God to inspire his speech to his parishioners, but almost immediately thereafter declares that he can never forgive his wife and curses her. Jorg reminds him that Christ forgave all humanity from the cross; Stiffelio, overwhelmed, faints. Act 3 Scene 1: A room in Count Stankar's castle, the next morning Alone, Stankar reads a letter he has intercepted, in which Raffaele tells Lina that he is fleeing the area and asks her to follow him. He is in despair over his daughter's behavior (Lina pensai che un angelo in te mi desse il cielo – "Lina, I thought that in you heaven gave me an angel"). For a moment, he resolves to kill himself and begins to write a letter to Stiffelio. But Jorg enters to give him the news that he has tracked down Raffaele, who will be returning to the castle. Stankar rejoices (O gioia inesprimibile, che questo core inondi! – "Oh, the inexpressible joy that floods this heart of mine!"), as he sees revenge being within reach. He leaves. Stiffelio confronts Raffaele and asks him what he would do if Lina were free, offering him a choice between "a guilty freedom" and "the future of the woman you have ruined". Raffaele does not respond, and the minister tells him to listen to his encounter with Lina from the other room. Once Lina arrives, Stiffelio tells her that