The oily and vain Colonel Ibbetson is trying to flirt with Mrs. Deane, and in an aria insists on reciting an "original" poem. Peter joins the party late and brings in the poem, which is actually by Alfred de Musset, exposing his uncle as a fake. The Colonel curses Peter, and there is a tense moment, but the party resumes as Peter and Mrs. Deane become friends. As Peter recounts his melancholy circumstances, a longing theme, which will return many times in the course of the opera, accompanies the words "only you..." Peter tells Mrs. Deane of his childhood friend Mimsey, "toujours mal a la tete" and of her talent called "dreaming true", whereby one could go anywhere in place or time.