Now the squire has sold the land across the river, work on the bridge starts. Guests flock to town for his wedding. Woudstra interests the squire, given the role of Prussian Junkers (nobility) in Hitler's Reich. The beggar-thief Douxdieu (pretending to be disabled) is mistakenly arrested for the bridge site arson he accidentally witnessed. The vicar goes to extraordinary lengths to save him. Dr. Anton Meerdink rows with his wife Loes, who absurdly blames him for her own apparent infertility and refusal to adopt, over sterilizing the mentally disabled.