Act Two. Jean-Baptiste and Madeleine suffer the wrath of an increasingly tightfisted Monsieur Fauchet, whom they nonetheless trick into thinking the troupe has received a handsome sum from a generous donor. The play can thus continue and conclude. The four lovers, united in the garden pavilion as planned, are prematurely interrupted by Géronte and Frosine, who lose all patience with their malingering children and plan to force the marriages that very evening. Drs. Diafoirus and Diafoirus (Scapin and Toinette) return to salvage the situation but are unmasked by the furious parents and tied up to await justice. The four lovers take advantage of the confusion to make their escape. At this inopportune moment, the Vicomte de Villebrequin turns up, not, as Géronte had hoped, to marry Angélique, but rather to call off the wedding because he cannot forget his late wife, Chloé, who drowned herself and their two children in despair years before, after he had left to renew his fortunes abroad. Before Géronte and Frosine can reconcile themselves to this financial blow, the Marquise de Mirepoix arrives to wed Cléante. She faints dead away, however, when she recognizes the Vicomte as her long-lost husband, Anselme, but recovers sufficiently to tell her tale of woe: she did not drown but was instead kidnapped by pirates and separated from the children, whose fate she knows not. Mention of a locket bearing Anselme’s portrait leads to Toinette’s discovery that she is the couple’s long-lost daughter Chloris, which in turn leads to the discovery of a ring proving that Scapin is their long-lost son, Damis. The joyfully, if improbably reunited family departs to celebrate, leaving Géronte and Frosine to rue their financial loss. Happily, their penitent children, Angélique & Cléante return to reveal their beloved Valère & Marianne have each come into money, so all’s well that ends well. Not so, alas, for Jean-Baptiste and his troupe: Monsieur Fauchet has discovered the truth, and his tirade leads to a cacophonous and ignominious conclusion to the performance.