The knight marries the old woman privately but when his wife comes to bed, she rebukes him for his lack of enthusiasm. He replies by condemning her as ugly, old and of low birth. She retorts that she could amend all of these things within three days, but first she takes him to task for his attitude. She explains at length, (improbably) quoting Dante, Valerius, Seneca, Boethius, Juvenal and the scriptures, that virtue is not a matter of wealth but of character; she speaks more briefly of her age and ugliness.