Act 4 Summary

We are back in the dark recesses of the boardinghouse. The partition that used to form Pepel's room is gone. Kleshtch locksmith anvil is gone, too, but he is still there, this time working on a concertina. Satine, the Baron and Nastya sit at the table drinking. The Actor lies up on top of the stove, coughing. They are discussing how Luka vanished during the middle of the chaos of the fight. Nastya admits she loved him, because he saw and understood everything. Kleshtch calls him merciful, and the Tartar points out that the law of life was the law of his heart—that is, he was good. They discuss goodness, which Kleshtch relates to the Gospels, the Tartar to the Koran, and Satine to the Criminal Code. Nastya, tiring of their conversation, wonders why she stays, and vows melodramatically to leave, naked...