Act 1, Part 2 Summary

As Nijo and Isabella reminisce about the beginnings of their journeys, Joan tells how she took a lover once she became pope - one of her personal attendants. She thought that being pope would lead her to a deeper spiritual truth but then realized that being pope defined the truth, because what the pope says is the truth. Nijo asks what happened to Joan's baby. Marlene asks whether Joan ever considered not having it, but Joan says that that would have been a greater sin than giving birth. She also says that when she was a girl no one told her about how a woman's body functions (a reference to menstruation) or about being pregnant.

Consequently, as the baby grew inside her, she just thought she was getting fat. Her story about what happened on the day she gave birth is...