in a shambles. Aimable collapses amongst the spilled flour, dough hanging from the ceiling, and burnt loaves of bread. The villagers realize that the town is in danger of being once again without a baker, and they blame the despondent baker's runaway wife for the sorry state of affairs. In the closed bakery, they try to cheer up Aimable and get him baking again by telling him that he's the "Luckiest Man in the World": he's been spared the boredom and arguments of married life. The Marquis enters, telling Aimable that all he needs to cheer up is some "Feminine Companionship," even offering to loan his "nieces". The villagers ask the Marquis if the girls are really his nieces, to which he responds, "What is a niece but the daughter of a brother, and as I consider all men my brothers...." The girls surround the baker, flirting and caressing him. The priest enters and, shocked at the scene, begins feuding with the Marquis. The villagers join in the fray, and the baker throws them all out. At a town meeting in the church, Aimable admits that he knows that Geneviève has run off. He offers the Marquis his life savings to deter him from hunting down the couple. He leaves the church, and the villagers—chastened by the aging man's selflessness even in the face of profound anguish—vow to work together to find Geneviève and persuade her to return to her husband. Alone in the bakery, Aimable decides "If I Have to Live Alone", that he will do so with dignity. The villagers are again at the cafe, and Antoine enters claiming that he has found the young couple at a hotel in a nearby town. They agree to form a search party, and the Marquis, the priest, and the teacher go after the outcasts to persuade the baker's wife to return home. Left behind, the women of the town comment ruefully on the "Romance" that is missing from their own lives. In a small hotel room, Geneviève and Dominique are together, but all is not well. She admits her passion for the young man, but wonders "Where Is the Warmth?" She gathers her things and leaves him asleep. At a bus stop, the villagers encounter Geneviève on her way to Marseille. They beg her to return but, guilt-stricken and ashamed, she tells them that she can never go home again.