Lugin sees the Grand Duke and Varya together in the Winter Palace. Konstantin, who is in the same country estate as Elizabeth, intercepts a carrier pigeon with a letter from Okhotnikov. For his silence, he asks Elizabeth for Varya. Alexander reads a note from Napoleon in the newspaper, in which there are obvious hints of his involvement in the death of his father. Ekaterina continues to play the role of Olga's friend.